Defiance was released on the last day of 2008 to mixed reviews and respectable box office returns. For those, like me, who missed it at the cinema, the film tells the story of the Jewish brothers Bielski (Tuvia, Zus, Asael and Aron) who hide out in the forest near their home in 1941 Belorussia. Their parents have been murdered by the Nazi’s and Jews are being hunted day and night. Having been in and out of the forest all their lives, the brothers easily disappear into the thickest parts. While making raids to gather food, Tuvia begins to find and bring back with him other Jews that are on the run and slowly a community and militia begins to form in the middle of the woods. The film covers the first Winter the Bielski partisans spent in the forest and the ensuing events are pretty amazing.
Director Edward Zwick does a phenomenal job with script that he co-wrote with Clayton Frohman. Zwick wisely does not glamorize the brothers in a Hollywood fashion as he also depicts some of the unsavory acts they committed either out of vengeance or to ensure their people’s safety. The actors do a fantastic job portraying their characters. Many have said that this is the performance of Daniel Craig’s career. While possibly true, I would say that is a definite as far as Liev Schreiber. He has a range here that, frankly, I didn’t think him capable of. His performance is my favorite of the film and has earned him a new found respect from me. Another pleasant surprise was Alexa Davalos, who turns in a subdued yet prominent performance. But don’t let those three specific mentions let you think that the other performances were lacking, far from it. Everyone seems to be aware of the import of the story and brings their A game and then some.
The Special Features are few on the DVD, but meaty nonetheless. The Director’s commentary is a must, especially to hear how passionate Zwick is about this film. The same goes for the “Return to the Forest: The Making Of Defiance” featurette which expands to include thoughts from the actors and producers. Perhaps the most poignant feature is “Children of the Otriad: The Families Speak”. This presents the children and grandchildren of Tuvia and Zus talking about the brothers and their own personal thoughts about the film. It’s very insightful as it makes clear that what the Bielski’s did resulted in over 10,000 people existing that would have otherwise never walked the Earth. It’s truly humbling to watch. Lastly, there is a photo montage by Zwick of the survivor’s of the forest taken in November of 2008. Again, something very much worth watching.
Defiance was released theatrical very close to another World War II film, Valkyrie and, as such, I missed the former film entirely. I think now I made a grave mistake. I would even go so far as to say that Defiance is currently my pick for film of the year. Not that Valkyrie is lacking, as they are very different films, but Defiance is one of those rare movies that humbled me and affected me in a very real way. This film is nearly perfect in every way and made even more remarkable by the fact that the events that it depicts actually occurred. It is such a profound journey that as the ending captions reveal the fates of the characters past the time covered in the film, I found myself emotionally overwhelmed by the whole experience. That doesn’t happen to me much at all while watching a film, at least not to that extent. This is a DVD I will watch many more times, both the film and the Special Features and I highly recommend that you make it a permanent part of your own DVD library.
Defiance DVD
Special Features:
Commentary by director Edward Zwick
Defiance: Return to the Forest
Children of the Otriad: The Families Speak
Bielski Partisan Survivors