Defiance (2008)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers (WGA):

Clayton Frohman (screenplay) and
Edward Zwick (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

Freedom begins with an act of defiance!

Plot:

Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and about 1,000 Jewish non-combatants.

Plot Keywords:

Forest | Brothers | Jewish | Partisan | Hiding

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Daniel Craig	...	Tuvia Bielski
Liev Schreiber	...	Zus Bielski
Jamie Bell	...	Asael Bielski
Alexa Davalos	...	Lilka Ticktin
Allan Corduner	...	Shamon Haretz
Mark Feuerstein	...	Isaac Malbin
Tomas Arana	...	Ben Zion Gulkowitz
Jodhi May	...	Tamara Skidelsky
Kate Fahy	...	Riva Reich
Iddo Goldberg	...	Yitzchak Shulman
Iben Hjejle	...	Bella
Martin Hancock	...	Peretz Shorshaty
Ravil Isyanov	...	Viktor Panchenko
Jacek Koman	...	Konstanty 'Koscik' Kozlowski
George MacKay	...	Aron Bielski

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44522) | Australia:M | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Czech Republic:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Sweden:15 | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:16 | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Lithuania

Company:

Paramount Vantage

Trivia:

The makers considered shooting in Poland and Romania before settling upon Lithuania.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The movie talks about Israel several times, but even though the modern nation of Israel wasn't officially founded until 1948, the Jews have always referred to themselves collectively as Israel in reference to the ancient Israelite kingdom and their ancestry.

Quotes:

Shamon Haretz: Merciful God, we commit our friends - Ben Zion and Krensky - to You. We have no more prayers, no more tears; we have run out of blood. Choose another people. We have paid for each of Your commandments; we have covered every stone and field with ashes. Sanctify another land. Choose another people. Teach them the deeds and the prophesies. Grant us but one more blessing: take back the gift of our holiness. Amen.

Movie Connections:

References Idi i smotri (1985)

Soundtrack:

Oy, Pri Luzhku, Pri Luzhke

Stupendously manipulative

Edward Zwick continues giving backhanded Hollywood compliments to oppressed minorities in the "Defiance", headlined by the newly minted A-list presence in Daniel Craig as a blond-haired, blue-eyed saviour to hunted Jews in 1941 Belarus. Just as in "Glory", "The Last Samurai" and most egregiously in "Blood Diamond," Zwick finds little but potent ways of insulting his through a veil of good intentions and it doesn't show signs of stopping here. But surprisingly, Zwick manages to create a grim world here based on true events and characters – making it more than a little affecting – set in the claustrophobic forests, brought down to earth with swirling ideas about the price of survival in a time hardly worth living in.

For all its over-the-top pitches, it is stupendously manipulative in how much effective pathos it wrings out of its leading men. It revolves around a dynamic of quiet anger and deep convictions to what four brothers believe should be the best way to lead their people into the brighter light that they know has to shine one of these days. The eldest, Tuvia Bielski (Craig) advocates an agrarian society that depends on a more defensive approach of elusive subsistence of growing, stealing and rationing food. His two youngest siblings, Asael Bielski (Jamie Bell) and Aron Bielski (George MacKay) join this form of resistance. However, Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber) – by far the most appealing character – chooses to fight back with the help of the scheming remnant Soviet Army, at times even letting his desire for continued vengeance obscure the idea of his identity in a period when that's all that is needed to be exterminated.

At its most melancholic, "Defiance" asks questions of the deep paradoxes in being Jewish. It questions, quite relevantly, the necessity of killing in order to survive – a raid on Nazis is juxtaposed with a joyous wedding of young Jews – and the expendability of present humanity to preserve future generations. But for its entire story's intrinsic worth, Zwick does bring a sledgehammer approach to most of the proceedings. When Nazis or Jews aren't getting gunned down, the silence is filled with rousing speeches on valour in the face of adversity, romantic gazes and religious iconography (courtesy of an old rabbi) of Moses/Tuvia leading his people towards the Promised Land. It does draw away the idea of victimisation and fatality of a Nazi period film but doesn't do very much to create a lasting intent of realism, just the pursuit of idealism.