Film: Defiance
Cast includes: Daniel Craig (Casino Royale), Liev Schreiber (The Painted Veil), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot)
Director: Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond)
Genre: Historically based WWII drama
In brief: It’s 1941, and the German army has just rolled over Belorussia, heading for the Soviet capitol. As the Nazis start rounding up and brutally murdering the area’s Jews, the Bielski brothers manage to escape. Hiding out in the forest, they soon find they’re not the only escapees. Torn between helping the others vs fending for themselves, Tuvia and the band of brothers can’t seem to turn away each new group of helpless escapees. Wandering through the forest, collecting escapees, Tuvia seems to be a WWII Pide Piper. But as the group grows and needs to become a community, many look to Tuvia to become their Moses.
Based on actual events, this movie dramatizes the first year of a three-year struggle for survival against tremendous odds. The challenges are many, such as surviving the elements... starvation, disease, emotional hardships, in addition to staying hidden and fighting the Nazis.
As I left the theater, I overheard someone say, “I kept seeing Daniel Craig as James Bond without the high-tech gizmos.” To be honest, I was thinking the same thing. That’s because the story development focused so strongly on the action sequences rather than the character development. Character arcs were so abbreviated that their actions sometimes seemed to come out of left field… leaving the viewer to fill in the blanks about why the character had evolved. If you like character-driven stories, this one may fall short. If you’re looking for adventure, Defiance has it.
1 popped kernel
Popped kernels for production values. Unpopped kernels for a truly awful story with lots of stuff that made no sense. How did they get these actors to sign on to this one.
