| Overall Grade: |
C |
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| Story: |
B- |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
D+ |
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| Visuals: |
C+ |
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Can't see the trees for the forest
by Jim B (movies profile)
Dec 30, 2008
31
of
55 people found this review helpful
“What is a Jew best at?” … a rhetorical question spoken by actor Liev Schreiber (Zus Bielski) to his new Russian comrade in a moment of relaxation and drunkenness after a hard day of pilfering bits of harvest from local farmers, fighting Nazi’s and Polish Police; answer, … “Dying”.
Defiance is based on fact, a true tale of incredible sacrifice and courage by a band of several hundred to over a thousand Polish and Lithuanian Jews who traverse the interior of a great forest bordering on Russia, Lithuania, and Belarus, keeping away from the Germans who would eradicate them if found. Director Zwick tries to build a great story with this march for life by imbuing small triumphs as large victories instead of discovering the small triumps and celebrating those, causing the film to feel empty and false. Outside of the sheer size of the feat, there is just not enough big story to tell, and Mr. Zwick seems to be allergic to the little stories which are far more interesting. Even the enormous talents of Liev Schreiber, and to a certain extent mega star Daniel Craig, is just not enough to save this film from Mr. Zwick.
Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig (Tuvia Bielski) carry the weight of this film. They are brothers, who will eventually suffer through competitive sibling rivalry, come home to their family’s farm to find members of their family have been murdered by the local police. Their two younger brothers, Aron and Aseal have survived the pogrom and the four quickly gather what little they have and flee into the deep dense forest they know well, escaping with their lives to ponder their destinies. These young men and boys are Jews and they are survivors; they know how to fight and are willing to kill. The film tells a horrifying story of hardship and certain death at the hands of Mother Nature, the Nazis, and turmoil beginning in the late Autumn invasion of Poland in 1939 lasting for almost three years.
Once in the forest, the brothers encounter other Jews who have become wandering strays in search of escape but now need rescuing. Zus and Tuvia gather the tired and meek escapees, feeding them and building shelters for them instructing them on how to survive in the forest. These strays are intellects and violinists who have no understanding of their dire predicament and are often seen playing, dancing and singing as though it were summer camp. It appears Mr. Zwick is emulating the late Otto Preminger and has borrowed a few pages from Preminger’s script on the telling of Exodus, only this does not carry the same weight or interest.
This is an actors dream film to be in; the extras and lesser characters are encouraged to emote hunger, or fear, or outrage, or the effects of cold, and they ham it up far past the point of being believable. People just don’t behave this way unless they are in a film where the director asks them to portray these Stanislavski, or Actors Studio style sense memory moments. The score is heavy handed trying desperately to lead the viewer, forcing an emotional attachment to events not well realized. The camera work is staid to cloistered.
False too were the well made rustic looking domiciles built by these hapless renegades and refugees, hands of bankers and bookworm physical might. The woodland homes appeared to have been built by a professional hand not these wayfarers who are to be believed as nothing close to skilled craftsmen. Beautiful sets and poor costume choices often detract from this film.
Not everything is done poorly here, the main story of survival and resolve is worth the viewing along with the strong to wonderful performance of Liev Schreiber and the sincere performance by Daniel Craig. |
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