Defiance: A Film of Contrasts

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of seeing a truly great film. Defiance was one of those movies you come across that has everything. It's based on a true story, deals with a tough subject, and tells the timeless tale of fighting all odds. It had emotions, heroism, and the harsh reality of truth and death. It's also one of those films that I knew I was going to like, I sat there watching it thinking "I really like this film," and I walk out of the theater thinking "Wow, that was a really great film." It's simply the kind of story that draws me in; and they would have really had to have done a horrible job of it to disappoint me.

Defiance tells the story of the Bielski brothers who lived in Belorussia during WW2. (Yes, another Nazi movie. What can I say, they're good - albeit hard to watch - films). After their family is murdered, the brothers (Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron, by decreasing age) go to the forest that they know quite well to hide. Other persecuted Jews follow them, and they begin building what is essentially a colony, living and hiding in the forests. Tuvia becomes the leader, as Zus joins another group of Russian fighters, and they continue to move and survive. They defy odds, make it through winter and sickness, fight off the Germans, find love, disagree, join together, but most importantly, simply survive. By the end of the film, we are told they ultimately saved 1200 people, and that upwards of tens of thousands of individuals owe their lives to the brothers today.

As an action, defiance is not easy. It takes courage and resolve; you must fight the odds and fight to stay strong. As a film, Defiance was not easy to watch. It depicted the harsh truths of the Holocaust; the brutality of it all. It begins with stock footage of a village of Jews being raided by the SS policemen and soliders. Children are ripped screaming from their parents arms, and men are shot right and left for sport or trying to escape. But this is not R-rated brutality for the sake of it - it shows what it was like. As in any WW2-related film I've seen (the first I was was It's a Beautiful Life; the most recent was The Reader), I'm left questioning HOW could this have ever happened in our world.

So as a story, Defiance was truly remarkable. As the trailer says, it's a "story that's never been told," which surprises me, as it's a wonderful tale to tell. From that alone, the film had a strong foundation. I also liked the acting. Daniel Craig, of course, can do no wrong in my eyes. When I said I enjoyed Defiance yesterday, a friend mentioned to me that it was hard to imagine Bond as anything other than Bond, but that was the last thing from my mind. Sans the tuxedo and the I'm-better-than-everyone look, and with the ruggedness of war-time, grunginess of living in the forest, and a harsh Russian accent... I promise you, James Bond is nowhere to be scene. The film's other primary actors: Liev Schrieber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, etc were also worth of their roles. Each brought depth and energy to their characters.

From an analytical film perspective, I also found a lot to look at in this film. My experience with the director, Edward Zwick, lies in a similarly difficult film, Blood Diamond, which depicts the terrible atrocities occuring in Africa over the Diamond Trade. Zwick seems to have a real talent for taking a real-life tragedy, one that is hard to watch, yet riveting, and spinning a masterful web of emotions and strong characters.

But I was most struck by the use of contrasts in the film, and I found these contrasts everywhere. They were in the dialogue, as when Tuvia gives a rousing speech to the survivors in the forest, explaining that "If we must die trying to live, at least we will die as human beings." (paraphrased). Or when Lilka attempts to get him to allow a baby in the camp, pointing out the urgency of bringing life into the world when there is so much death. They were in the plot, as when the brothers go on a rampage of revenge shortly after their family was killed, threatening to become much like the Nazi's they were fighting. They were in the editing, the filmmaking, as when Asael's wedding was juxtaposed over Zus' first main military engagement after joining with the Russian fighters. The riveting horror and beauty of the wedding celebrations, then the fighting and shooting, then the wedding, back and forth, was powerful. They were even in the scenery, as the green of the forest was lost to the winter white, then melted through the yellow sunlight.

Defiance was a powerful film. One that I'd highly recommend.