Defiance (I) (2008) User Reviews

A Solid WW2 Tale From A New Perspective

[zkonedog · 7/10 · 10 March 2017]

When I think of World War 2 films, I usually think of graphic war scenes, Holocaust themes, or military strategy. This film takes a completely different approach to the WW2 era, showing it from the point of view of a group of Jewish citizens trying to avoid capture and survive out in the woods.

For a basic plot summary, this film focuses on the two eldest Bielski brothers (Tuvia & Zus), who lead a band of fleeing Jews into the woods when the Germans begin to invade Eastern Europe. While out in the Belarussian forest, the Bielski boys must not only feed hungry mouths and keep away from the Germans, but also navigate through different political/military strategies and the shady Russian army (in which you never know who to trust).

This movie may not be an all-time classic, but it is a very solid WW2 tale told from a perspective I'm not accustomed to (and thus rather fresh). Being based on a true story, it is remarkable to consider the odds that the vagrant Jews faced just to survive each day, nonetheless maintain their freedom.

The two acting leads (Daniel Craig & Liev Schreiber) are very compelling, while none of the auxiliary cast are exceptionally bad. Though it is a bit slow in the beginning, by the end the plot/characters will really have you rooting for success.

Thus, I recommend this film to WW2 enthusiasts of all kind. If you don't expect a masterpiece, and are content with a good story from a new angle, you will enjoy this film very much.

Exciting, Inspirational, Craig and Scheiber are Fine

[Danusha_Goska · 8/10 · 20 January 2009]

"Defiance" is a very entertaining, exciting, suspenseful, and inspirational film about a tough topic: the Holocaust. Its many action sequences are well-paced and well-motivated. You know exactly why Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) breaks into a home and points a gun at a man in front of his family. Daniel Craig and Live Schreiber are terrific as Tuvia and Zus Bielski, who lead a band of Jewish forest partisans during World War Two, thus saying over a thousand lives.

The movie is not perfect. Characters speak English with Slavic accents. In other scenes, they speak Russian or Belarusian. Craig and Schreiber manage very good Slavic accents, both when speaking English and when speaking the Slavic languages, but Craig occasionally lapses into his English accent when speaking English. Female characters are not particularly well drawn, or given much to do. While this film is very good, it doesn't have the production values to be a timeless classic like "Schindler's List." The movie is controversial. Most of the controversies are shallow relative to the most important facts at hand. Many of those attacking this movie have axes to grind, including current events in the Middle East or feuds between Poles and Jews. The most important fact is this: the Nazis committed a genocide of six million Jews. In the midst of this Satanic nightmare, the Bielskis managed to save over a thousand Jews. That's the main, and absolutely true, point here, and it should not be lost in bickering over details.

Compared to other treatments of the Holocaust, this film is fair. It doesn't show Slavic peasants as uniformly Jew-hating collaborators. Nazis, not Slavic peasants, were the authors and perpetrators of the Holocaust. Some occupied peoples collaborated, often out of fear and for financial gain or as payback for old grudges. Some occupied peoples did everything they could to help Jews, as does a Belarusian peasant in this film.

The Bielskis were not immaculate. They did summarily execute captured Germans, as shown here. They did raid peasants for provisions, as shown here. They did work with the Soviets, but so did Uncle Sam. Remember that photo of FDR and Churchill smiling with Stalin at Yalta. The Polish IPN institute is investigating charges that members of the Bielski partisans, but not the Bielskis themselves, participated in the 1943 Soviet massacre of 128 people in Naliboki. Aron, the youngest Bielski brother, was, in 2007, accused of defrauding an elderly Polish woman. These failures of the Bielski brothers to be perfect in no way lessen their achievement, any more than any failure to be perfect lessen any hero's achievement. Again, in the face of genocide, the Bielski brothers managed to save over a thousand people. Were they perfect? No. Were they admirable, heroic, and worth learning about? Absolutely yes.

Preview Screening...

[skerrqc · 8/10 · 13 March 2008]

James Bond and Oscar winning director Ed Zwick take on the Nazis.

Saw a preview screening of DEFIANCE last week in Woodland Hills. Daniel Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski in the true WWII story of three Jewish brothers who hid in the Belorussian forests and built a community of partisan fighters, saving over 1200 Jews by war's end.

Liev Schreiber (Zus Bielski) and Jamie Bell (Asael Bielski) star alongside Craig as his two younger brothers. Both Craig and Schreiber give powerhouse performances as the older brothers competing for leadership, and Jamie Bell, who most recently starred in the abysmal Jumper, gives a surprisingly great performance as well.

Zwick has created one of the most beautiful and thought provoking films of his career and definitely one of the most Oscar worthy movies to hit cinemas in years. War and destruction has never been so captivating and moving. There have been dozens of war movies in recent years but none have left me caring so much or feeling so attached to the characters. My eyeballs wouldn't break from the screen for the full 120 mins, and by the film's end, I wasn't ready to stop watching. I can't wait for the release (which appears to be some time this winter) in order to see it again.

It's a superb film with a nice balance of heavy hitting action and intense drama, but if that's not enough to make you want to see it, just the fact that these on screen heroes existed in real life definitely make it worth the watch.

This is a WWII movie that doesn't hide or glamorize war but shows the intense reality of what happens when people band together against overwhelming evil and survive.

A solid 8.5/10

Good movie based on facts about resistance fighters in the Belarus forests

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 18 April 2010]

This is an interesting film about a bunch of Jews commanded by the Bielski brothers taking the Belorussia forests to shelter themselves from Nazi criminals . It is completely set in the woods which it does some claustrophobic . Splendid acting by all-star-cast . Nicely photographed by Eduardo Serra in colorful palette . Emotive and sensitive musical score by the great composer James Newton Howard. This is a true story , worth telling and stunningly directed in old-style by Edward Zwick .

The picture is inspired on real events based on the novel titled ¨Defiance : The Balski partisans¨ , being well adapted by Clayton Frohman and Edward Zwick . The actual events are the followings : The Bielski group's partisan (three brothers finely performed by Daniel Craig , Liev Schriever , Jamie Bell) activities were aimed to hold the Jewish community together and fight against the Nazis and their collaborators, such as Belarusian volunteer policemen or local inhabitants who had betrayed or killed Jews. They also conducted sabotage missions . The Nazi regime offered a reward for assistance in the capture of Tuvia (Daniel Craig) Bielski, and in 1943, led major clearing operations against all partisan groups in the area. Some of these groups suffered major casualties, but the Bielski partisans fled safely to a more remote part of the forest , and continued to offer protection to the noncombatants among their band . The Bielski group would raid nearby villages and forcibly seize food ; on occasion peasants who refused to share their food with the partisans were the subject of violence and even murder. This caused hostility towards the partisans from peasants in the villages, though some would help the Jewish partisans.The Bielski partisans eventually became affiliated with Soviet organisations in the vicinity of the Naliboki Forest under Russian General (in the movie Panchenko is played by Ravil Isyanov). Several attempts by Soviet partisan commanders to absorb Bielski fighters into their units were resisted, such that the Jewish partisan group retained its integrity and remained under Tuvia Bielski's command. This allowed him to continue in his dedication to protect Jewish lives along with engaging in combat activity, but would also prove a problem later on . The Bielski partisan leaders split the group into two units, one named Ordzhonikidze, led by Zus (Liev Schreiber), and the other Kalinin, commanded by Tuvia (Daniel Craig). According to partisan documentation , Bielski fighters from both units killed a total of 381 enemy fighters , sometimes during joint actions with Soviet groups. 50 members of the group were killed. In the summer of 1944, when the Soviet counteroffensive began in Belarus and the area was taken over by the Soviets, the Kalinin unit , numbering 1,230 men, women and children, emerged from the forest and marched into Nowogrodek.Despite their previous collaboration with the Soviets, relations quickly worsened. The NKVD started interrogating the Bielski brothers about the rumours of loot they had reportedly collected during the war, and about their failure to "implement socialist ideals in the camp". Asael Bielski (Jamie Bell) was conscripted into the Soviet Red Army and fell in the Battle of Königsberg in 1945. The remaining brothers escaped Soviet-controlled lands, emigrating West. After the war, Tuvia Bielski returned to Poland, then emigrated to present-day Israel in 1945. Tuvia and Zus eventually settled in the United States. They operated a successful trucking business. When Tuvia died in 1987, he was buried in Long Island, NY, but a year later, at the urging of surviving partisans in Israel, he was exhumed and given a hero's funeral at the hillside graveyard in Jerusalem. His wife, Lilka (Alexa Davalos), was buried beside him in 2001 . None of the Bielskis ever sought any recognition or reward for their actions.

Great movie, light on facts

[eba-junk · 9/10 · 31 December 2008]

I enjoyed "Defiance" immensely -- there was humor and heartache, with a liberal dose of action. Not a brainless action movie, enough of a story to make it memorable, and fast-paced enough to keep me from becoming bored.

On the other hand, although the movie captures the spirit of the story, it is far from a documentary, and I'd have preferred a more historically accurate film. I'm biased, though -- I read the Peter Duffy book "Bielski Brothers" soon after it was released ("Defiance" is based on a different book), and I found the real story even more compelling than the Hollywood version.

Nonetheless, I live in the real world where directors have to shoot on a budget, and this was a good, diverting peek into a story that was long overdue to be told.

Mastering many languages is normal in Europe

[maryjka-m · 6/10 · 13 May 2012]

I've registered here just to write that I'm amazed by some reviews pointing that Zwick was inaccurate or illiterate when making his film. And it's really amusing to read that 'partisans couldn't speak Russian because Naliboki was a Polish town'.

Naliboki is a town in the very center of present Belarus. It's a point were cultures mixed. For many centuries everybody here mastered at least 3 languages, and elder Belski spoke 6 of them: Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Belarusian, Russian, German. It's not so impossible, I may assure you:)

Actually, Russian is appropriate only in episodes when Zus Belski talks to a Soviet partisans' commander - that guy was from Moscow. I'm pretty sure, that in reality Jews talked to their neighbors in Yiddish and got answers in Polish or Belarusian. As for Belskies, they where the only Jewish family in their village, so they should master Slavic languages perfectly.

Nothing Is Impossible to Survive

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 25 December 2009]

In 1941, in Belorussia, the Jewish Bielski brothers succeed in escaping from the massacre of the German in their village where their parents were killed. They hide in the woods and sooner other runaway Jews join them. Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig), the eldest brother, assumes the leadership of the survivors and plans a camp with tasks for everyone in the community; however, his brother Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber) wants to fight against the Germans and does not agree with Tuvia's directions. Zus decides to join the Russian resistance that believes that Jews do not fight. While Tuvia welcomes any survivor in his camp with his two younger brothers and fight for food and ammunition, Zus finds anti- Semitism among the Russian partisans.

"Defiance" is an excellent movie based on a true story that proves that nothing is impossible to survive. Of course, the plot is romanticized, but the merit of these Bielski brothers is undeniable. The direction of Edward Zwick (from "Blood Diamond") is outstanding, with the journey of a group of survivors that uses human characters in drama, romance and action in realistic scenes (the battle sequences are amazing). The landscapes are extremely beautiful, especially in the winter with the frozen forest. The cast is magnificent, and is difficult to highlight an individual performance. The beauty of the unknown Alexa Davalos is impressive. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Um Ato de Liberdade" ("An Act of Liberty")

Defiance Tells an Important Story

[tillc · 7/10 · 29 January 2009]

Read more at http://FrameRate.blog.com

When most people learn about World War II during their American History classes, they hear all about the major stories and the major players: D-Day, Eisenhower, the Holocaust, Hitler, Axis vs. Allies, Battle of the Bulge, but there are literally thousands of lesser-known stories from that era that many have not yet heard. It was one such obscure story that is the basis for the film Defiance, starring Daniel Craig.

The film begins with a familiar theme -- Nazi soldiers rounding up Jews in Western Europe. The grainy, black-and-white style tells us that this is a true story. However, as events unfold, we realize that this isn't the Holocaust story that we're accustomed to seeing in films like Schindler's List. In fact, it's a story about hundreds of Jews who fight for survival as free men and women in the dense and expansive forests of Nazi-occupied Poland.

Daniel Craig gives perhaps one of his best performances as Tuvia Bielski, the eldest of four Jewish brothers and the eventual leader of the Bielski partisans. Although the Bielski's and fellow Jews are forced to watch as their people are rounded up and killed by the Nazis, Tuvia wants to avoid becoming a group of vigilantes. The conflict arises from younger brother Zus (Liev Schreiber) who desperately wants to avenge the deaths of those he loved. Tuvia is conflicted by the knowledge that in extreme circumstances one must often take extreme measures in order to survive and protect others.

Throughout the film tension is woven by utilizing a number of different methods, all of which make the movie much more compelling. First, as mentioned, is the conflict between fighting and surviving. Second, is the suspense created by the knowledge that the Nazis are closing in around them. Third is the conflict between the Bielskis and the local police who are loyal to the Nazis. Fourth is the inner struggles the Bielskis face when some of their own decide to cause disagreements and divisions. For those unfamiliar with the story, the fate of the Bielskis is constantly in doubt.

The cinematography of the film is gray and muted, reflective of the somber tone of the subject matter. The musical score is reminiscent of John William's score in Schindler's List -- soft and sad with the cello and violin taking the melody. In some ways it feels that Defiance takes its visual cues from Schindler's List as well; there's something about the look of the movie that seems familiar. The battle scenes are similar in style to Saving Private Ryan, complete with the dazed, ringing-in-the-ears experience following a grenade that goes off too close to Tuvia. I would have appreciated a more unique perspective to the aesthetics of the film to coincide with the uniqueness of the story.

In all, Defiance is an important story that needs to be heard. Daniel Craig leads a great cast of characters in an emotional journey of community, camaraderie, and hope.

We may be hunted like animals, but we will not become animals

[mr_popcorn · 8/10 · 7 January 2009]

The movie was good. Not Zwick's best effort though and as for the acting it was Liev Schreiber that delivered the most. Every time I see Craig I see James Bond and that other guy, Jamie Bell, was barely even on screen. I'm guessing most of his scenes were cut out of the film to pave the way for more Craig screen time. The action set pieces were mostly impressive but the problem is, its over before you know it. But I can honestly say, it was impressive nonetheless. Its not brainless by any means, the movie has a profound and compelling story. One can only wonder how these filmmakers come up with more WWII movie ideas every year.

From a visual point of view, the movie looks absolutely beautiful. From the authentic weaponry and uniforms to the rich and colorful Lithuanian locations, Defiance may fall flat during some points throughout the film; as with every other black and white war movies that's been released, the Germans are depicted as war machines of death without remorse, if you can overlook these flaws I think it is an enjoyable film and in its entirety, Defiance is an overwhelming movie that doesn't glamorize the war but shows the intense reality behind it all. A must see for all war movie fans out there.

Lies and Incompetence

[YohjiArmstrong · 13 October 2011]

Plot: A trio of brothers in Nazi-occupied Belorussia hide in the woods to try and save their fellow Jews whilst fighting the Nazis.

Since the Second World War there has always been a certain amount of controversy amongst Jews over the near-total lack of resistance by the Jews to the Holocaust. Many great writers, amongst whom I particularly recommend Vassily Grossman, have tried to work out why the Jews (mostly) didn't fight back. Now comes DEFIANCE which tries to give us heroic Jewish partisans who protect their people and strike out at the Nazis whilst making the sort of speeches about freedom that American films inevitably make, regardless of period or suitability.

Unfortunately the film is a lie, which rather undermines its message. In reality the brothers collaborated with the Soviets during the joint Soviet-Nazi invasion of Poland. Understandably their neighbours loathed them for this so when the Nazis came the Bielskis were attacked and driven into the forest. There they set up a camp which gradually attracted more and more refugee Jews. Far from fighting the Nazis and attacking tanks, as the film depicts, they spent most of the war trying to survive. Which meant banditry as they attacked and robbed local villages. Not only that but they joined up with the Soviets again - one of the brothers might even have entered into the NKVD - and betrayed Polish nationalist (anti-Nazi, anti-Soviet) partisans. They even massacred a whole village of Poles on one occasion, even killing the women and children. So, not exactly the heroic freedom fighters the film depicts.

Of course the film is also terribly made so that doesn't matter too much. Whilst the script is mere fiction the direction is terrible. Moments that ought to be shocking, such as the discovery of a mass grave, are completely lacking in horror or sensitivity. The usual clichés - white horses, re-enactors with overly-clean uniforms, an ambush threatened when the enemy stop and one of them begins to urinate on the exact bush a partisan is hiding behind - are ticked off one by one. Despite costing several tens of millions of dollars the whole thing looks cheap. The film never achieves the horror, the immediacy or the reality of the partisan lifestyle. Nor is there any feeling of what eking out survival in the forest is really like. It doesn't exactly help either that two of the three leads, Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell, both look more like Nazis than the bad guys. The whole thing carries on in a wholly predictable manner to its obvious and unsatisfying conclusion. Watch COME AND SEE instead.

The Bielski Brothers

[p-stepien · 6/10 · 30 December 2012]

During the II World War the Germans invaded the Belarussian soils, initiated there ultimate genocide, partly with the help of local civil servants. Jews are first to be stigmatised, thrown in throes into ghettos from which there is no return. The Bielski family of three peasant Jewish brothers: Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell) are amongst the very few to withstand oppression forming their own brigade in the local forests - aimed at protecting and defending what is left of their kin. Soon become almost folkloric heroes - Jews who fight, not just let themselves be slaughtered by the Nazi forces.

Based on historical figures the story is far from meticulous, instead taking vast creative liberties, which - knowing the true history - seems almost a waste of a good story. Some aspects are 'Hollywoodized', but thankfully the backbone remains strong and never backs away from confronting morality during total war with that during peace. The most striking moment in the movie involves Tuvia having to assert his commanding position in the brigade, else all he constructed would be at risk. Reaction must be brutal and relentless, but the reality justifies even cold-blooded murder of one of his own. Such aspects are touched throughout, when severe choices must be made, and the Bielski brothers are sure to make them, a far cry from the more clear-cut actions of Arthur Schindler.

In Poland the movie received some criticism for omitting the darker side of Bielski actions, inclusive of fighting Polish freedom militia, but honestly I had no issue with this (the 'russicized' English accents of characters and poor grammar of the tidbits of Russian were much more detrimental), as the brigade was portrayed perfectly as a self-serving and brutal unit devoted to saving those whom they protect, irrespective of external pain they bring. "Defiance" ventures into grey areas of heroism, where the saviours are dabbled in blood and far from respectable, instead hateful, vengeful, but at the same time necessary. As the small group expands to a self-sustaining society living in the Belarussian woods, the stance of the brothers grows increasingly and justifiably uncompromising. Although the script attempts to whitewash the Bielskis by offering them lines such as "We will only take from those who can afford it", making them into Robin Hood's seemed to trivialise them, instead it would have been better served to follow the logic of survival needs. The feature could have also probably done better without the trivial inclusions of forced dramaturgy or a big getaway with Bielskis figthing tanks, instead staying with the bare basics...

Nonetheless "Defiance" works best as a fiction, not as a recount of history. Here reading one of the monographes dedicated to the Bielski brothers would be better served.

The Fighting Jews

[rama-28 · 9/10 · 31 December 2008]

Most WWII drama would have the Jews on the victim side, DEFIANCE is one that has The Jews level the playing field. It's a deep, emotional, and riveting tale a true story that deserves to be told. Director Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) once again returns to… what he knows best by dealing with a group of underdogs, outnumbered but putting up a fight. DEFIANCE also proves that the blond James Bond, Daniel Craig, indeed has so much more to offer as an actor. This is the story of The Fighting Jews.

The script is well-written, in my humble opinion. The way the story begins, what motivates the characters and the conflicts along the way. When brothers try to decide what happens next, there's bound to be clash, disagreements and temporary separation. I don't mean this to be bad but the story is about Jews who are walking into the wilderness, trying to stay alive. It sounds a lot like Exodus, and just like that book in the bible itself, DEFIANCE shows how tough it is to stick together. There's a group trying to discourage a number of people, some are complaining, some think it's best to go back to the ghetto, some start questioning the leader, and some decide to take power into his own hand and try to divide and conquer. Edward Zwick's direction makes sure the audience can see that the struggle they face is not just about running away from the Germans, but also the threats from within caused by frustration, fear and lack of good judgment. And just like his previous movies, it ain't a Zwick movie if you don't have a final ultimate battle at the end scene, between two opposing sides, in the middle of a vast field. Another amazing work on the original score by James Newton Howard that gives us an intense, pulse-pounding feeling during the battle and the sad, dramatic mood during their travel. The cinematography by Eduardo Serra beautifully captures the surrounding nature and displays how it takes its toll on the characters.

The story is disturbingly profound and compelling. There's one lead theme that resounds throughout the entire movie "We may be hunted like animals, but we will not become animals". As the leader, Daniel Craig's character, Tuvia, keeps getting confronted by this. He tries to be an idealist, and his brother, Liev's Schreiber's character, Zus, thinks that kind of mindset would only invite threat and danger. But as the story progresses, Tuvia gradually realizes that they're in the middle of war and the lines between justice and humanity have become uncertain in these desperate times. A German officer is caught by the group and he just stands there as they beat the German to death. At one point he's even forced to kill one of his own. What separates us from animals? The ability to have remorse after we commit vengeance and do our violent bidding? Zus believes that Jews, Russians, whichever, are all the same when fighting a common enemy but he comes to terms with the fact that he will never escape the fact that he is a Jew and it's the only values he has left to hold on to, its what kept him from becoming less than a human being.

Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell both give excellent performances and are just right for the role but we can agree that this move belongs to Daniel Craig. He seems to like playing a Jew who kicks ass. As I watch DEFIANCE, I'm reminded by his line from Munich, "Don't F*ck With The Jews" Years from now, he won't be remembered just as another James Bond, but also a talented actor who likes to take on challenging roles and complete them with the utmost respect. Craig in DEFIANCE shows a wide range of ability, you can see through his eyes the burdens of leadership, the not knowing what exactly to do but he's got all these people looking up to him. I wouldn't have thought Craig to be this versatile when I watched him in the movie Lara Croft: The Tomb Raider, years ago.

Inspiring But Not Great

[sddavis63 · 6/10 · 11 July 2009]

No doubt that "Defiance" is a very inspiring movie. Set during the winter of 1941-42, just after Nazi Germany has attacked the Soviet Union, the movie follows the exploits of the 3 Bielski brothers, who watched their father be murdered by German troops and escape into the forest, only to end up becoming a rallying point and leaders for other displaced Jews. The movie portrays rivalries among the brothers themselves, rivalries within the group of Jews they're leading, difficulties in dealing with the Soviet troops, who should be their allies, as well as the hardships of dealing with hunger, cold and illness. Ultimately it leads to a pretty good climactic fight against Nazi troops. Yet, for all that I can't say it's great.

I've seen better and more inspiring Holocaust-inspired movies: think "Schindler's List," "The Grey Zone," and even the fictional "Jakob the Liar." Although the last half hour or so, leading up to the confrontation with the Germans, was quite good, I thought the movie was inconsistent up to that point. It lacked flow, and failed completely to draw me in tightly to the story. If it's at all accurate (and I'm not at all familiar with the events on which it's supposed to be based) then it certainly is a story that deserves to be told, but in truth I can't give it higher than a 6/10.

remotely inspired by fragments of a true story

[aalikka · 2/10 · 25 January 2009]

this film surely merits the two stars.

if you're brave enough to make a movie, you deserve one star. the second is for the pictures. and that's it.

the movie sucked, in general and in detail. and we have noted down quite some of them.

so, if you're not pulled off by the above and want to continue reading go ahead.

first of all, the Bielski family were Polish, not Belorussian, Jews. and Polish Jews spoke Polish, not Russian. Bielski himself spoke poor Russian, he was quite fluent in Polish and Yiddish. so.. the question is... why do they make the characters in the movie talk Russian and write Polish? another thing is, if you make a movie and want to put something in a foreign language in it, make sure it's correct. just a little movie-makers hint. what was written in Polish on a label attached to the hanged farmer said "amant żydów", which translates roughly into, putting it nicely, "someone who enjoys Jews in a sexual way". the English translation said "Jew lover". well.. I'm quite sure they did not mean THAT kind of love here...

the Bielski group never fought Germans. they were never a guerrilla. they lived in the forest alright, and fought mostly Russians. and Polish guerrillas. basically, they would fight anyone.

so... Tewje Bielski is not a Robin Hood. nor would he ever give speeches like that about "freedom", "being chased like animals but not being animals" and all other sort of American rhetoric.

btw, didn't he look just like Braveheart, on his white horse, talking to those tormented Jews? now... we are reaching a very complicated issue with the name Naliboki.

in the movie Naliboki was the name of Bielski's camp. quite an unfortunate name as in reality it was not quite so.

Naliboki was/is the name of a small Polish town that was allegedly massacred and burnt by Bielski's "troops". the truth is though, that the massacre was authored by a Soviet fighting group with the help of some local guerrillas, none of them being even related to Bielski. the blame was put on Bielski by the Soviets years later when investigation was drawn to explain war crimes in that region (many people today still believe the Bielski people are responsible for the massacre.) to include this in the movie might have made a really interesting plot line, instead we have a huge confusion.

the Bielski forming his group and the Naliboki massacre took place during a war, quite uncomfortable for Poland, Soviets, Jews and everyone else Polish-Soviet. this conflict broke out round 1943 in the nowogródek area (a local little war inside the World War II, with no clear division between the "good guys" and the "bad guys".. that's a bit too complicated for Hollywood..).

OK, but referring to the movie, apart from the fact the shots were good, it was historically inaccurate, interpreted in a wooden and iconic way... can't say much.

waste of celluloid.

I'd rather some movie makers didn't wipe their mouth with a "true story" label. if anything, it might have been "inspired by" with the source of inspiration left remotely behind.

(pity you cannot paste links... I've got some really nice ones about the true story.)

The Belorussian band of brothers...

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 28 December 2009]

Although I'm not a religious type and know little of any details from the stories of the bible, the parallels this old-fashioned adventure story draws with Moses leading the chosen are unmistakable (although the events depicted here - based on fact, apparently - are on an undeniably smaller scale: instead of a parting of the Red Sea we get a wade through marshland).

Such lofty aspirations leave Ed Zwick's film open to questions about the wisdom of such a decision at best, and ridicule at worst. Needless to say, it's best to take the film's claims of authenticity with a pinch of salt and perhaps to overlook the pretentiousness at its core.

At the end of the day, Defiance is an old-fashioned war film that could easily have been made back in the forties or fifties. The story has been told a thousand times in a thousand different forms, and its' familiarity means the long running time becomes something of a chore. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber give a good account of themselves as the brothers who find themselves leading a band of Jewish refugees from the Nazis, but the complexities of their relationship are only touched upon, meaning that key moments such as Zus's decision to join the Russian partisans seem to come out of the blue, with no accumulation of incidents to justify his choice.

Most other characters, other than Jamie Bell as the youngest brother, are genre stereotypes: the Jewish teacher, the Jewish intellectual, the stern Russian commander, etc, which lends the entire thing a 'by the numbers' feel that means the audience is never as involved in the refugee's plight as they ought to be. The film has its moments, and often looks beautiful, but you'll watch the end credits with the feeling that you've seen it all before.

Daniel Craig at this best

[chocolatequeen820 · 10/10 · 22 December 2008]

I was able to see this movie before it officially got out, and i was very impressed with this movie. I was dying to see Defiance because i'm a huge Jamie Bell fan, and the story seemed really interesting, but i was kind of worried cause Daniel Craig is not exactly one of my favorite actors, but he really impressed me. I think this is his best movie yet. And it's not just the acting, but i think the way they told this story is very efficient, and the sets were incredible. I think they truly stuck to the story of what really happened back then, and believe me, you will not be disappointed with this movie. Jamie Bell was wonderful as Asael (as usual), Liev Schreiber was great, and Daniel Craig was just as great. In my opinion, this movie is a must-see.

A disappointing waste of an interesting story

[silverbullets · 24 January 2009]

I'd heard an interesting interview w/ Zwick on NPR and thus, looked forward to this film. The reality was utterly disappointing. I couldn't believe how unconvincing and uninvolving it was. But I never was drawn into the story and few of the characters were compelling as they so easily could have been, were the script even a bit better. I watch a lot of foreign films, so I'm usually the last to say a film is boring b/c it's slow--instead, I'd say the poor script, uneven acting, and terrible casting is what did it in. I felt somehow cheated of my $10 when the credits rolled.

Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell, who are both excellent actors, did well with what they were given--in fact, I would have found Schreiber more convincing in the lead role, and it's sad that he didn't get the role due to Daniel Craig's star power being so heavily counted on for the marketing of this film. Craig was, instead, a casting mistake in more ways than one: no WAY could he pass as Schreiber's brother--I know the real Tuvia was supposed to look more white than the others, but I've seen his real photo, and not only did he resemble his brothers--he didn't look even CLOSE to Aryan!) Still, in spite of their commendable efforts to make the often-cheesy script work, the poor choice to make the Jews from Poland and Belarus speak horribly-accented English while the Russians and Germans spoke their native languages was a disaster and hurt the actors' credibility--I thought that the rule of thumb is that you choose one or the other if you don't want to make your film come off as false.

Worse, there was some spectacularly bad acting/lines--almost classic TLC/Hallmark movie stuff...i.e. cheesy choruses of "I'll go." "Me too!" I'll go." "I will also go." Or: "I have a belt." "Me too!" "I have a belt, too." "Take my belt!" The screenwriters also failed many opportunities to develop the other characters, which almost all came off as two-dimensional and sometimes even fake. All the story potential to create moving drama was wasted.

The script stalled and meandered, and failed to make us invest more in the characters. Mediocre photography also didn't help. All this without the fact that there was a ton of tinkering done with the actual historical accounts of these events. The more controversial inaccuracies aside, I still think the melodramatizing and sensationalizing of the story really was a disservice to those who actually lived through it (regardless of whether the brothers were really womanizing bullies or not). Still, it seemed disingenuous to not say "inspired by a true story" in the beginning--instead, now there a ton of people who are taking this Hollywood version as a documentary. Could go on and on, but this was so disappointing on so many levels that there's no point.

Beautiful but rather flawed

[IMDbeans · 7/10 · 6 January 2009]

From a visual point of view, this was beautiful to watch, thanks to the Lithuanian locations, sets, actors and wardrobe. The life experience of the main characters was depicted in a dark yet still somewhat sanitized way, and I think the film was fairly success in that respect with regards to immersing the viewer in this (allegedly true) story which beggars belief at times.

However, there were some misguided attempts at light relief which fell flat, and as with most war-set stories the opposing sides were depicted as far too black and white, with the Germans portrayed as brutal, faceless killing machines. If you can overlook that simplistic bias and a few other flaws, it's a very enjoyable film.

Another Amazing WWII Story

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 30 June 2009]

First of all, this was a very pretty film in high-definition, probably because most of the shots were in beautiful forests. The colors and the details on all the trees was astounding.

Secondly, the two lead performances were excellent. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, who played Jewish brothers ("Tuvia and Zus Bielski," respectively) with different outlooks on how to survive and/or fight the Nazis, were riveting. It reminded me of "Munich," where you also hear two points of view on how to react to terrorists.

The story offered a good mix of action, drama and even some romantic touches. In addition to the two male leads, the women in here were interesting, too.

Although about two hours, 20 minutes in length, I was never bored. Only one short segment in the film - a battle scene with Nazis and a tank out in the middle of a forest - lacked credibility. Otherwise, there were no complaints. It was an amazing based-on-a-true story picture and well done with good production values.

I wonder how many other amazing real-life WWII stories are still out there, that many of us don't know about?

Stupendously manipulative

[movedout · 6/10 · 3 February 2009]

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.

see this film, talk about it and then go and try to learn something new from history

[alerter · 8/10 · 14 January 2009]

First off, what idiot wrote the synopsis?

There were *four* Bielski brothers who escaped into the woods and they were *all* eventually under arms: Tuvia, Zus (third eldest, in fact), Asael (second eldest) and *Aron*.

Secondly, none of the Bielski's intentionally set off to save 1200+ Jews of East Poland and West Belarus. Their struggle was initially and understandably for their own survival after the slaughter of their parents. The "saving" of so many others began by accident and according to conscience, with considerable internal strife. And don't anyone kid themselves, lots of personal scores are settled in wartime.

Thirdly, great liberties were taken with history in the Zwick/Frohman screenplay that does not do justice to the detailed facts of the real story of the Bielski otriad and their checkered history prior to and during WW2. The thuggishness of the older Bielski brothers is only very slightly alluded to in the film, under the heavy cover of the ends justifying the means. Regardless of whether or not the Bielski otriad was in anyway involved, the entire matter of the 1943 Naliboki massacre (by Russian partisans, at the very least) is completely omitted from the film. All done to bolster comparisons between Tuvia and Moses.

All of that said, I found Defiance to be far more moving, suspenseful and entertaining than Valkyrie and Quantum of Solace combined.

The performances by Craig, Schreiber, Bell and MacKay (who plays Aron) combine to deliver a fine piece of ensemble acting.

The use of spoken Russian whenever the Bielski otriad dealt with Russian partisans was dramatically appropriate, in order to emphasize the other-ness of the Jewish partisans within the larger Russian resistance to the Nazi invasion/occupation. The use of Eastern European/Yiddish accented English (as a substitute for Yiddish accented Polish), within the Bielski otriad, invites the audience to sympathize, if not identify more, with them easily.

These fighters and "malbushim" were thrust together to make history, by equal parts circumstance, choice and necessity. Which is how history is more usually made than by Great Man design.

Written history emphasizes that the "success" of the Bielski otriad was rooted in the strategies of survivalism and guerrilla tactics that demanded maximizing evasion and minimizing direct contact and conflict with Nazi forces. The film takes great license with these major points in order to compress the life-and-death stakes of a *three+ year* ordeal into an 137 minute film. The fact that >1200 were saved by the war's end remains undiminished by any of this.

For some, this dramatic mish-mash will be unacceptable. For others, it may become an impetus to further study history.

In any event, I was nearly moved to guy-tears, at several moments, for the emotional truth that the lead actors brought to their roles. There are many unspoken parallels between the racially segregated units of the US Army fighting in Europe during WW2 and this story, too, where black and brown (rather than Jew) were always more expendable than white.

None of the romantic sub-plots offended me, either.

See this film, talk about it and then go and try to learn something new from history, if you were moved.

I have no sympathy for those who luxuriate in "Holocaust fatigue" and I have no patience with those who think only Jews can be the victims of "pogroms."

What happened then is still happening today and what are any of us doing about that? History will judge us no less harshly.

The Bielski Partisans.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 24 February 2009]

1941 Belorussia, fleeing from the invading Nazi forces, the Bielski brothers seek refuge out in the vast forest. As more survivors find there way into the trees, the Bielski's help to form a new community that manages to thrive in spite of the overwhelming odds against them surviving. But the brothers have different ideals, is refuge to be their main goal? Or should they be striking out against the Nazi oppressors?

Defiance is adapted from the novel Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, written by Dr. Nechama Tec. It's a stirringly emotional story that most definitely needed to be told, however the factual content of this adaptation has been called into question by many internet reviewers. It's not my particular want to delve too deep into it as I'm really only interested in the film as an experience, what isn't in doubt is that these were real people, and these incidents happened, their legacy lives on and hooray to that I say.

Defiance as a film relies more on its story than its actual people to deliver the goods, something director Edward Zwick has often been guilty of before. Not that that is a bad thing here, for the story is required to be the main character of the piece, but for sure it feels like holes are dotted throughout the 136 minute running time, justifiable revenge leanings are jettisoned in favour of the usual alternative community draw backs. All the trade marks are in here as Zwick crams them in by the reel, divided aspirations, weight of leadership, romance, jealousy and fractions within the camp, so sadly the film wrongly feels a touch shallow and not fully formed, we have as it were, seen it all before.

However, on the plus side, Defiance is not found wanting for emotional fortitude, it has it in abundance, and not the kind to make the picture sink under the weight of it all, it also has some excellently handled action sequences, something that Zwick is most definitely undervalued for. The acting is solid and totally watchable, Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and the impressive Jamie Bell play the three fighting Bielski brothers, but here lays an itch of sorts. Two Englishmen and an American playing these Eastern European characters begs one to think what the film would have been like if the leads had been played by Eastern Europeans? For I'm sure it would have had added earthy impact. Good support comes from Alexa Davalos and the ever reliable Tomas Arana, while Zwick photographer Eduardo Serra expertly brings the forest refuge vividly to life.

So all in all we are left with a film that's problems are very evident, and really this piece feels like its focus was to educate above all else. But whilst it may not be to everyones entertainment tastes, it's one hell of a story that demands to be seen by as many people as possible. 7/10

"Our revenge is to live."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 12 June 2019]

Based on real events, this is the story of the Bielski Brothers of Poland during the 1941, German occupation of Belorussia, a time during which fifty thousand Jews were murdered and a million more awaited deportation or death. Tuvia (Daniel Craig) is a thoughtful, pragmatic leader while his brother Zus (Liev Schreiber) is more prone to physical action and fighting the enemy directly. This causes some discord between the two when Zus leads a small band of Jewish fighters to join forces with the Russian Red Army against the Nazi forces. Tuvia is left to contend with a daily growing camp of refugees fleeing their former homes and attempting to find safety and a new life in the unforgiving forests of Poland/Belorussia. A particularly compelling sequence involves Tuvia leading the refugees to safety across a huge expanse of swampy wasteland; the parallels to Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt while parting the Red Sea comes to mind. One will be inspired by the perseverance and resolve of the indigents who look to the Bielski's for courage and guidance, as the story demonstrates how important it was for just a handful of men to believe in an almost impossible goal. With great hardship and not without it's fatalities, the roughly twelve hundred survivors held on long enough to witness the end of the Nazi regime and gain the freedom they all longed for.

A Unique WWII Drama Well Told

[J_Trex · 7/10 · 26 January 2009]

This was a compelling film about a group of WWII Jewish refugees hiding out in the forests of Nazi occupied Poland (present day Belarus). The group, lead by Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig), evade the Nazis and do battle with Polish villagers and police, while foraging for food, guns, and medical supplies. While it's true that many of the action sequences were embellished and the Bielski brothers weren't exactly model citizens, the inspiration for the story is beyond dispute: a group of Jewish refugees facing certain death choose to flee into the forests of Belarus, where many of them manage to survive the war. How they are able to survive in the midst of Nazi, Soviet, and Polish partisans trying their best to kill them is what makes this movie work. It was clear in the movie that the Poles were every bit as eager to murder the Jews as their Nazi occupiers. These Jews fought back.

This is a different type of Holocaust film, and one whose story needed to be told. Considering the hundreds of WWII movies dealing with the Holocaust, where the mostly docile and unsuspecting Jewish prisoners were uniformly murdered by the Nazi war machine, it was good to see a film where the Jews fought off the Nazis & their willing executioners (i.e. - the Poles) and managed to survive in the end.

I would recommend this film to anyone with an interest in WWII history, particularly with regard to partisan resistance to the Nazis and their collaborators.

Potentially Good Story But Unfocused Execution

[3xHCCH · 4/10 · 21 February 2009]

This movie tells the story of a lesser known aspect of World War 2 in Eastern Europe, about the Bielski brothers, Tuvia, Zus, Asael and Aron. They were Belarussian Jews who were forced to hide out in the forests because Germans destroyed their village and massacred their families. There they end up leading more than a thousand other Jewish survivors to freedom. Their flight inevitably drew parallelisms to no less than the book of Exodus.

I did not like the storytelling too much as it was too disjointed and episodic. The drama was not told in an emotionally involving way. There were scenes that show the Bielski group rob and kill German sympathizers. There was a scene where the Jews beat a captured German officer to death. There was scene where Tuvia led his band of Jews to cross a river. Then there was the climactic (bur unrealistic) scene where the Jews fight and win over a group of fully-armed Germans with a tank. Yet there seems to be no fluidity that bind these scenes together.

The actors who played the Bielski brothers do not look like brothers at all. Daniel Craig, who played the idealistic eldest brother Tuvia, looked miscast to me in particular. He did not look like he belonged with the rest of the Jews he led. Liev Schrieber (as the more aggressive Zus) and Jamie Bell (as the young Asael) were more realistic and successful in their portrayal.

Technically, the movie looked average and unrealistic. The art direction and make-up looked haphazard. The editing of the gun battles was erratic. Even the Oscar-nominated musical score was not really memorable. And the overall direction by Edward Zwick seemed without a unifying focus, wasting a potentially good storyline.