Wrenching True Story of Impossiblity (NB: I make mention of Schindlers List as a parallel not a comparison)

Rating: 9/10 (5 January 2009)

Movieswhats the point? Why are we so intrigued by watching a story brought to us by someone else's imagination? Many people have there many reasons but let me tell you what is my ultimate raison d'être, I watch this type of artistry because once in a while there comes a movie that reminds us that the world is much bigger than we are, reminds us that what we take for granted today was given to us for the price of someone's life. A movie that deepens your appreciation for freedom. Attenborough's Gandhi did it, Spielberg's Schindler's List did it, and now we have Zwick's Defiance.
I have my own little genre that i like to classify these movies in, i like to call it the "conscious" genre. Because we all at some point need to feel the guilt of our ignorance, so that we can always remember history so it does not repeat itself. Daniel Craig is at his best here, really sinking into his character so as to reflect the human being that Tuvia Bielski was. His accent was good, but i noticed that the English accent did come through a little bit especially when he raised his voice (that why it gets a 9), hardly noticeable, but i look for these type of things. The settings were breathtaking, which is a trademark of Ed Zwick's work (the harsh African continent in Blood Diamond and the lush Japanese vistas of the Last Samurai). I especially enjoyed the light snow floating about like burnt ash during his brothers wedding, this has been done before, but what made this relevant was the conveyance that winter was upon them, and although they were partaking in a joyous celebration, the hardest stretch of their survival was still to come. The editing was superb, showing us what the exiled eldest brother was enduring while the the rescued people struggled for food.
This movie also highlighted how human beings evolve when their very foundation are ripped from beneath us...forget fighting against Germans, how does anyone win when we start fighting amongst ourselves. The contradictory manner in which Tuvia deals with this matter is one you will debate with yourself. You got to watch this, if you are a person lacking compassion, and even if you are deserving of it. I really hope Craig gets a nom for this one. But like we saw Dicaprio and Cruise overlooked for their respective roles, i wont hold my breath. I left this movie captivated, enthralled and symphatetic.
My favorite line in the movie..."We not good for drinking with, fighting with, what are Jews good for...we are only good for dying"