I finally watched Defiance last night. Honestly, it was better then I expected. The actors were great, for the most part, and I think Zwick did a good job with it. And when Daniel Craig is your weakest link...that's a good thing, right?
Well, to be fair, the script was the weakest link. And, ultimately, what sinks the film. Daniel Craig plays Tuvia Bielski. The self-appointed leader of a group of Jews hiding out in the forests of Belarus during World War II. Tuvia was the oldest of three brothers. Tuvia, Zus and Assael. After escaping into the woods...the brothers help others leave the certain death of the ghettos and escape the Nazi's themselves. But, the script couldn't decide what kind of leader Tuvia was or should be, and consequently...neither could he, or we. He made a lot of pronouncements, and then had no follow through. He flip-flopped a lot. It became laughable to me that everyone in the forest keep saying things aluding to him, Tuvia, being Moses-esque, or messiah-like...and all I could see was the weakest of the three brothers.
A lot of Spoilers, and run on sentences, here...
I watched Tuvia's younger brother, Zus, break into the police station to steal medicine for the sick, while Tuvia waited in the car. He was under the weather, you know. And then watched Tuvia lay around in his bunker and cough a lot and then a woman nursed him back to health, and then she got attacked by a German Shepard in the middle of the woods. Then when the German's found them, Tuvia left his little brother to fight them, because I guess he had to be Moses and lead the people away, and then when they came to the water...he just froze and got all indecisive, again, and his little brother who had survived the fire battle with the German's caught up to him sitting at the edge of the river with all the people and his little bro, Assael says "What the hell are you doing sitting here waiting...we have to cross the river". And then Assael is the one who figures out how....but Tuvia still gets credit for it. And THEN there is another fight once they cross the river and Mark Feuerstein has to save Tuvia by sacrificing his life while Tuvia sits behind a tree...and THEN Zus shows up and saves the day by attacking a tank, only to have the Rabbi tell Tuvia that he was sent by God to save them.. Huh?
Anyway, my husband really liked it. And there were some truly powerful moments. I just wish it had been more focused.
What's great about the film, besides the true story, is Liev Schrieber as Zus, Jamie Bell as Assael and I really liked newcomer Mia Wasikowska qs Chaya. Mia is the new Alice in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, so high hopes! Jamie and Liev just are great. Consistently. Someone get them some better movies!
One thing for sure...I don't think you could have paid me enough money to be in this film. It looked extremely cold and wet, and dirty and cold and the trailers must have been too far away to walk to. What kind of craft service could you have in the middle of those woods? I know that the story was about real people who actually had to live in the middle of a forest in Belarus to survive. It is a true story of amazing strength and courage...a handful of Jews defying the Nazis. A handful that grew to number 1200, living in the woods for three years. Incredible. As an actor, to live in the same woods, and experience a portion of what they went through. Ugh...I can barely stand all this cold rain in L.A. No, I'm just not that dedicated for any amount of money. My hat is off to them all.
C+
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