Jewish Resistance Gets Its Story Told

Defiance is another in a storm of World War II films coming out this year. While the premise has been done ad nauseum, this is a powerful story playing a different angle.

This is a true story of the Bielski brothers, who led a resistance movement in Eastern Europe during World War II. The three men aided over 1,000 people in escaping the Holocaust, setting up a makeshift community with schools, a hospital, and an armory.

At the outset of the film, the brothers flee into the woods after their parents are murdered, and pick up more people as they go. As the party grows, it transforms from a group of frightened refugees into a family unit that refuses to break in the face of overwhelming odds.

The film stars Daniel Craig, known mostly for being the new James Bond. Craig also starred in Steven Spielberg's Munich, the film about the murder of Jewish athletes in the 1972 Olympics. It's directed by Edward Zwick, whose credits include The Last Samaurai and Glory. This is a director who knows how to set a mood, and recreate periods of history.

This story plays an angle that hasn't been told on screen before, and it brings a new perspective to the constantly growing landscape of WWII dramas. While the plot twists are predictable, the battle scenes are elegant, and the acting is great.

While most period films portray Jews as victims in camps, this one portrays them as freedom fighters, and gives a voice to the vibrant resistance that went on during the Holocaust.