Defiance

The critics have it wrong: Defiance is an excellent movie. However, to fully appreciate the nuances and depths of this very strong film, it is helpful to have a sense of history, a sense of the horror through which the subjects of this movie survived. The importance of this movie? 1) Survival against the odds, and 2) Yes, some Jews did militantly defend themselves during WWII, despite overwhelming odds. And in this movie, the Jews (both the men and women) still kick ass. Rock on, guys.

Defiance is unapologetic in its sincerity: Harsh times call for harsh measures. The title says it all. At one point, Daniel Craig, as Tuvia, tells the other Jewish refugees he saved, that surviving, despite the maniacal desires of the Nazis and their collaborators, will be the best revenge. The defiance of these hunted souls, their willfulness to survive, to learn to fight for their lives and hold on, while not forgetting their humanity, is the message of Defiance. Daniel Craig is wonderful in the complex and multi-faceted role of Tuvia Bielski, the leader of the famous Bielski Partisans, a group of Jews who lived in Belarussian forests despite being hunted like animals by the Nazi regime and their neighbors. Chased from their homes, witnessing the wholesale slaughter of their families and loved ones, the Bielskis not only saved the lives of more than 1,000 fellow innocent Jewish civilians, but they did so with strength and a sheer will to survive. Defiance is the story of the unflappable strength of the human spirit, the courage of the underdog and the power of the will to survive.

There is no getting around it: Parts of this film are shocking and disturbing. More shocking, though, is the fact that the worst atrocities are based on reality. Millions of Jews were killed during WWII and the Holocaust; this was made possible not only by the Nazis, but by the millions of European collaborators, nameless but clearly in no rush to steam the humanitarian disaster known as the Holocaust. These collaborators happily acted alongside the Germans, despite the fact that many of these Jews were their neighbors, fellow countrymen, even onetime friends. Such a thought today, is frightening indeed.

It struck me that a number of factors could have contributed to the widespread mediocrity attributed to this film, by well-known names. Everyone knows the Germans were the morally bankrupt, evil characters of WWII. But what about the Soviets, and the European collaborators? What Defiance touches on is the fact that not every villain of WWII wore a Nazi uniform; to the contrary, in Defiance, some of the most dangerous characters are those whose loyalties appear ambiguous. This question haunts the leads of this movie, the Bielski brothers, as portrayed by Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. In one instance, the brothers are surprised to find a seemingly anti-Semitic Polish police official who risks his life to shelter Jews. On the other hand, a seemingly innocent farmer, who is spared by the brothers, later leads a troop of soldiers bent on killing the Jewish refugees who are hiding in the forest. The brothers later fight over this, with one (Schreiber's Zus) arguing for less compassion in a horrific time, and the other, (Craig's Tuvia) arguing for the merits of keeping lofty moral dreams alive, despite the constant threat of death.

Defiance is a touching and incredibly moving film. The theater was mainly populated with elderly citizens, many, if not all, of whom were alive during WWII and aware of the courage of the Bielski Partisans, and their sheer will to survive. Amazingly, the viewers are informed that despite near-starvation, the constant threat of death simply for being Jewish, and a raging war with hostility on all European sides, those saved by the Bielskis not only survived, but survived with dignity, building their own school, hospital area and nursery. It is amazing the way in which the human spirit can survive, against striking odds. The moral of this film? Survival is the best revenge.

This film gets 5 out of 5 stars.