An inspiring movie

Rating: 10/10 (16 November 2009)

This is the true story of 4 brothers; Tuvia(Daniel Craig, Alexander(Liev Schreiber), Assael(Jamie Bell) and Aron(George McKay)Bielski who took to the the forest near their home village to escape the Nazis. Eventually their small group grew to over 1200 refugee Jews.
In the beginning, Alexander(nick-named Zus) and his younger brother Assael witness the destruction of their small village. They rush home to find the rest of the family murdered except for the youngest Aron, who is hiding under some floor boards in a closet. Zus, as portrayed by Liev Schreiber, appears to be a deep emotional man with a pragmatic side. About two days later, they meet up with Tuvia, the oldest. The first refugees that are brought to their small hovel are brought by Aron. They are an old man and his two granddaughters. The youngest dies in the old man's arms. This is the moment that we first see the diametrically opposed view the 2 eldest brothers have of the definition of revenge. Tuvia believes that the best revenge is to "live" and create as normal lives as possible. Zus, on the hand, with several of his friends go to join the Russian Partisans to fight.
In the end, both brothers can see were they were wrong and where they let their pride rule the day.
I was disappointed with Daniel Craig's performance. I've seen him in other movies where the performance was much better. As far as I'm concerned Liev Schreiber stole the show followed by Jamie Bell.
Would I recommend this movie? Without a doubt, but the the subject matter may be incredibly disturbing too some.