Defiance (2008)

It's somewhat surprising to encounter a Holocaust film that breaks new ground and tells a story that hasn't really been told before. In telling the true story of the Bielski partisans, Edward Zwick's Defiance does just that, and decently so at that.

Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber star as Tuvia and Zus Bielski, brothers who lead a group of Polish Jews into the forests to evade Nazi persecution after a series of grisly hunts and raids. As they begin to make camp, more survivors trickle in (the highest number quoted in the film is 1200) and tensions begin to grow between the Bielski brothers, who hold different beliefs about how best to react to their plight.

Aside from the originality of a surprisingly heretofore untold true story, there are two things that really stand out in this fim and are thus meritorious of comment here on this blog: the casting and the pacing. First, the casting. Craig and Schreiber are excellent casting choices, valuable assets to any film for which they're selected. Though they're not quite on the level of Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (still the pinnacle of Holocaust performances for me), they perfectly draw the distinction between their characters - Craig as the level-headed do-gooder Tuvia and Schreiber as the more vengeance-seeking guerilla fighter Zus. The rest of the supporting cast is solid, though nothing stands out like the two powerhouse performances fronting the film.

The pacing, however, is less creditable. The cinematography on the film is beautiful, especially with a good quality television, but at about two-and-a-quarter hours, Defiance starts to feel a little long, dragging its feet in a few places and ultimately sacrificing content for character. For the actors, this is a good thing - they get to hone their craft and turn in a more than decent performance - but for the audience it feels like Defiance is waiting to get started. A few well-done action sequences and several tense moments with Nazi patrols do a fair amount to break this deliberate and unhurried pace, though it felt like a few moments in the film could have been shortened without hurting the overall integrity of the piece.

For good performances and a new facet of the Holocaust, Defiance is a creditable two-some hours on film. For exciting shoot-em-ups, fans of Craig and Schreiber might want to stick with the Bond flicks (Casino Royale more than Quantum of Solace) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Defiance is rated "R for violence and language." Though not as gory as most post-Saving Private Ryan WWII fare, this film does have a few violent shoot-out scenes, as well as occasional objectionable language and brief discussion of rape.