Daniel Craig Stars in a True Holocaust Story Worth Watching
Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond), Defiance (2008) stars Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. The movie is based on the nonfiction book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec. The story is set in 1941-42 in a part of the western Soviet Union occupied by invading Nazis. The Germans and their local collaborators are killing many Jews and rounding up the rest for use as slave labor. Four Jewish brothers named Bielski flee into a forest, and there they manage to found a community that eventually rescues over 1200 Jews. But the resisters have to fight to survive, and they must deal with a number of moral issues.
Defiance is an honorable and earnest film that does many things right. Shot on evocative locations in Lithuania, the cinematography by Eduardo Serra is excellent, and the musical score, featuring violin solos by Joshua Bell, was nominated for an Academy Award. Craig and Schreiber are good as two of the Bielski brothers, and they are supported by an able cast. Also, Zwick handled the action sequences well, although this is not really an action movie.
The film has powerful individual scenes, but overall it fails to deliver strong emotional resonance. Nevertheless, the movie is thought-provoking and brings to a wide audience a deserving story.
Bonus Materials on the DVD
Perhaps the most interesting DVD extra is the 14-minute "Children of the Otriad," in which children and grandchildren of Tuvia Bielski (played by Daniel Craig) and Zus Bielski (played by Liev Schreiber) talk about two of the real-life brothers depicted in the film. After World War II, Tuvia and Zus moved to the United States, where they lived for decades.
There's also the two-minute "Bielski Partisan Survivors," a series of black-and-white stills taken by Edward Zwick in 2008. There are photos of about 21 people, all of course elderly, who were in real life members of the community founded by the Bielski brothers.
Another DVD bonus material is "Defiance: Return to the Forest," a 26-minute making-of documentary.
Finally, there is a feature-length audio commentary by director Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay. He states that the filmmakers had the Jewish characters speak English with a Polish accent, a justifiable movie convention since the area where the story takes place was part of Poland for many years up until 1939. (Today the area is in the country of Belarus.)
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the DVD containing Defiance.
Release Date: June 2, 2009
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Violence and Language
Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
English 5.1 Dolby Surround
Spanish-Dubbed Soundtrack
French-Dubbed Soundtrack
English Subtitles
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Director Edward Zwick
Defiance: Return to the Forest (26 min.)
Children of the Otriad (14 min.)
Bielski Partisan Survivors (2 min.)
