"Our revenge, is to live."
For the first time ever, the amazing, and inspirational true story of the four Bielski brothers has been told to a wide audience through the eyes of director Edward Zwick.
In August 1941, Nazi SS troopers terrorize Jewish villages in Belarus (Formerly East Poland) by either murdering Jews, kidnapping them for concentration camps, or for extermination camps. Four brothers are away in the forest at the time of the events, and are forced to continue thriving there to avoid detection from the Nazis. Though the different paths the brothers want to take conflicts with their leadership skills among a makeshift community of runaway Jewish refugees that look to them for help in the forest. And for first the eight months the film covers out of thirty-two total, the refugees suffer the most, and accomplish the impossible.
Daniel Craig delivers his best performance yet as Tuvia Bielski, the main character of the film who decides to make it his moral mission to guide as many refugees to the safety of his campsite in the forest. And no matter how many logical problems they face, he continues his daring mission by even venturing into the ghettos to save refugees. As the film progresses, so does Tuvia's temper and determination to always be leader of the camp. Not even his brothers Zus, Asael, and Aron can derail or redirect his determinations. Daniel was so convincing in this role that he was easily worthy of an Oscar win and nomination. By far his best role which'll probably remain his best for a long time to come.
Liev Schreiber also delivers a powerful performance as Zus Bielski, whom unlike Tuvia, wishes to exact revenge against the Nazis for the murder of his wife and child. Actually seeing this wish come to fruitition helps to kill the old stereotype of Holocaust Jews being resigned to their fate, as many Holocaust films portray them as unwilling to attempt to fight back, even when they know death is literally around the corner (something that still puzzles me to this day--i mean Auschwitz had the stench of death so bad that somebody might as well have broken Mengala's nose as they walked through, but nooo). Ultimately Zus joins a division of the Red Army in Belarus where he finds ways to assist Tuvia's camp, but their frequent disagreements with each other get the fellow refugees doubting Tuvia's leadership skills. The story arc of Zus is decent, though also slightly expected, even with the semi-theatrical ending to it. All considered, Liev was excellent in the role, and was my favorite character in the film.
23yr old Jamie Bell plays Asael Bielski, whom in reality was a decade older at the time of the events, and was the eldest of the four brothers. However, for dramatic purposes, or more so to create a contrast between him and his two brothers focused on heavily in the film, Asael looks to be around twenty years old, and acts accordingly as second in command of the camp, which doesn't really mean much. Even when Tuvia's in failing health, Asael has little control over the camp's inhabitants, and more or less looks after the youngest brother, 14yr old Aron (George MacKay) who's traumatized by the events of August 1941. Jamie and George were both good choices for their roles. Especially George, who pulled off the role of a convincingly traumatized teenager perfectly.
Allan Corduner plays Shamon Haretz, the former school-teacher of Tuvia and Zus who reveals to the viewer that the brothers were never that bright, and that they could careless for their school subjects, as they frequently got into trouble with local police. Unsurprisingly, Shamon brings the younger refugees together and teaches them about their Jewish heritage, and oddly enough, despite that Tuvia isn't fond of him, Shamon becomes a friend and reliant of Tuvia's throughout the harsh winter months. Overall he was the calmest of the characters focused upon, and always remained optimistic once the reality of their situation was becoming all the more obvious to the refugees.
The visuals of the film were the most powerful, as after some reel footage of an SS attack on a village, the screen seamlessly melts away into the real thing, which looks too real, but is of course the same as we've always seen it depicted in Holocaust movies. The paper used for snow in the forest was good enough to convince you that the refugees were thriving in the same harsh winter weather that halted the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, and ultimately lost them that war. Although, due to the dictatorship in Belarus and the political implications the production would have, Edward Zwick was forced to relocate a few hundred kilometers away from the real forest to another one in Lithuania near the border of the two countries. As for the violence, it was real, and it was pleasing to see Nazi SS fall to Jewish guns after a lifetime of it being the other way around.
Overall, with the acting, visuals, violence, story, and the entire concept of Jews fighting back with guns, "Defiance" is by far the most engaging Holocaust film I've ever seen, though is still too depressing to see more than once or twice. And considering that "Inglorious Basterds" is the only other film to depict the vengeful murder of Nazis this decade, (despite being for the sake of glorified entertainment) then this film will be remembered for a long time, as will the most important aspect...the true story.
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