Defiance (2008, R)

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Grade: B—

What’s lacking about Defiance is innovation or creativity in the fashion of its execution, though what is certainly sufficient about it is the telling of the otherwise unknown story of the Bielski brothers who saved the lives of thousands of Jews in the wake of the Holocaust in World War II.  Now granted, it’s clear that Schindler’s List is the definitive cinematic account of the Holocaust, and what Schindler’s List and Defiance manage to share in similarity is how they tell the main frame of their story on those who were saved (and those who saved them).  But whereas Schindler’s List is more methodical and immensely more valuable, Defiance is, inopportunely, sometimes an action film that follows the standard-issue guidelines of an action-drama, and that I suspect is what brought about a mixed critical reaction (and uninspiring box-office performance) to Defiance as a whole.

On the other hand, Defiance did maintain my interest as the story slowly develops, and I was likewise impressed by how well the two leads (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber) focus on their roles to deliver a concentrated, determined performance.  It’s because of this that I cared for their characters, and as a result, I felt compelled to watch Defiance all the way through.  By the end, I felt that, for all the obvious weaknesses in Defiance’s structure, I had still watched a film that let me perhaps a little inspired....

Following the deaths of their parents, three brothers: Tuvia, Zus and Asael Bielski take out revenge on the local police who slew their parents on the order of the Germans.  Now wanted fugitives, they flee into the eastern European forests, slowly gathering together hundreds of Jewish refugees and training them to be a mobile fighting militia as the Germans close in on them.  A sibling rivalry between Tuvia and Zus leads to a rift between the two, to the point of which Zus leaves the others and joins a Russian Partisan group to launch concentrated, strategic attacks on German combat positions (which, for some reason, reminded me of the ambush sequences in 1984’s Red Dawn). 

The combat sequences in Defiance subside as the film progresses, and the film settles, in the middle act, for over dramatization, in the form of Tuvia running and up and down the ranks of the refugees mounted on a splendid white horse, all three brothers finding their own love interests (which overall does not contribute effectively to the film), the feud between Tuvia and Zus reaching formulaic reconciliation, and a generic finale combat scene.

But what’s interesting about Defiance is how director Edward Zwick firmly handles the camera, making the film feel resolute, and unwavering (despite the disadvantages I spoke of in the last paragraph), in the direct attention the film demands for the Bielski brothers.  Not that Zwick’s dense cinematography scores any high marks, but the way he shoots the film itself is what tell us how committed he is to this project. 

Defiance takes it for granted that we already do know what the Holocaust was (everyone should), and so it tells a little-known story of that subject, making a notable, even if sometimes subdued, attempt at bringing this story to the world via the big screen.  At times, Defiance is an action film, and at other times, it’s an inspiration drama, but in completion, it’s an underrated film that, because of its commitment to the well-meaning story it’s telling, should be seen as being worth of at least a little more value.  B—