Defiance (2008)

When Hollywood sinks its claws into a piece of history, you never know what the end result will be. In some cases, the finished product makes us marvel at what ordinary people can accomplish under the most difficult of circumstances. We’re also just as likely to get a movie which tosses the facts to the side, preferring instead to fill the silver screen with dramatic-yet-contrived shootouts and explosions. Defiance, directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, Glory), is a little bit of both.

Based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, the film begins with the powerful, grainy image of Hitler giving his infamous Nazi salute. From there, newsreel and original footage informs us of the German occupation of Belorussia in 1941. Jews were rounded up like cattle, and more than 50,000 were murdered within a week. Another one-million residents would be captured and face deportation and death.

The film’s focus then narrows to show Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber) and his brother, Asael (Jamie Bell), hiding in the woods while the Jewish residents of their village are either killed or led away. Rushing home, they find their own father murdered and their youngest brother, Aron (George MacKay), cowering in an underground hiding place.

With little time to mourn, the brothers flee into the Lipiczanska Forest and reunite with their eldest sibling, Tuvia (Daniel Craig). Other survivors also wander the woods, and the Bielski brothers soon find themselves caring for an endless array of hungry and frightened refugees. As winter inexorably approaches, the impromptu Jewish community is faced with challenges ranging from building shelter to finding enough food to nourish their growing numbers. Meanwhile, the longstanding rivalry between the eldest brothers begins to worsen, with Zus becoming convinced that violent opposition is the only policy for dealing with the Germans and their conspirators.

It’s interesting to note that Nechama Tec, who wrote the book on which the film was based, admitted to being shocked by Defiance on her first viewing. Why? Well, it seems that most of the battles depicted–especially the one involving a tank–never actually happened, as the partisans focused more on survival and evasion than actual combat. Of course, good luck getting a two hour film made about a group of Jews just hiding out in the woods.

Daniel Craig projects intensity upon demand with his ice-blue eyes and rugged features. But despite his character’s hard exterior, there’s little doubt that Tuvia is the kinder of the two elder Bielski siblings. Zus, on the other hand, is willing to cross almost any line to survive, and he still holds a grudge against the upper-class Jews who would’ve once looked down their noses at his family. The contrast between Tuvia and Zus is one of the more interesting elements of Defiance, but the script ultimately deprives us of seeing the relationship fully explored.

The Clayton Frohman/Edward Zwick screenplay also gets a bit heavy-handed when it comes to making Tuvia a hero on par with Moses. When he’s not leading his people to the promised land, he’s being bathed in golden rays of sunlight or emerging dramatically from smoke or mist. There’s also an inspirational speech delivered from the back of a white horse, complete with rousing music and slack-jawed admiration from his followers. In fact, there are a number of these moments, and their effectiveness becomes diminished through repetition.

The winter sequence seems to drag on as long as the actual season, and the movie completely sells out down the stretch with heroic battles, a stereotypical villain within the camp, and a just-in-the-nick-of-time rescue. Things are wrapped up nice and neat by the end credits, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Defiance is a good launching point for those interested in tales of heroism during World War II, and it’s my hope that a few viewers will take the initiative to further explore what really happened with the Bielski brothers. For the rest of you, Defiance should provide a largely satisfying viewing experience, despite its tendency to use war movie clichés as a convenient crutch.