“Defiance” deserves two hours of your time, if only for making you familiar with the true story of three Jewish brothers who survived in a Nazi-occupied forest, now known as Belarus, during World War II.
They escaped the first assault of the SS death squad who murdered their parents and thousands of their neighbors, but they know Nazis are coming for them and that the local police are “hunting” Jews.
In sharp focus, director Edward Zwick centers on Tuvia and Zus Bielski, the eldest brothers who struggle between killing for bittersweet revenge and foolishly provoking a bloodbath in which trained Nazi soldiers outnumber their makeshift resisters.
Three out of five stars
» Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell
» Director: Edward Zwick
» Running time: 137 minutes
» Rated: R for violence and strong language
Tuvia (a smoldering Daniel Craig) favors diplomacy.
“We may be hunted like animals,” he declares. “But we will not become animals.”
Zus (an astounding Liev Schreiber) supports brute survival.
Do you kill the German civilian traveling from the market who has milk you could use? Or take the milk and allow the man to lead the Nazis back to them?
For moviegoers who have had too much war in and out of the theater, “Defiance” depicts how the Bielski brothers’ ethereal forest haven grows into a community complete with a school and cabins.
Having heard of the brothers’ resistance, men, women, children, old and sick risk their lives to travel to the forest and join what becomes known as the Bielski Otriad. Rules are imposed, such as no pregnancies. Alpha males compete. And normal events such as taking a wife still occur in their new reality.
After Tuvia comes seconds away from smashing a rock into Zus’ head during a heated confrontation about which upper-crust Jews, some now in the forest, would have interacted with them if not for the Holocaust, the two split. Zus fights with the Red Army against Nazis. Tuvia leads a group of Jews out of the ghetto.
They battled disease, starvation and harsh winters, but we’re not reminded enough of the Nazi threat and the constant fear of the people. Their feats don’t translate to the silver screen as the Bielskis deserve. There’s one too many “Braveheart”-esque rousing speeches, and the action scenes, where the movie soars, are too far apart.
Nevertheless, the film leaves you contemplating real acts of courage versus what we consider courageous by today’s standards.
