The Bielski Partisans.

Rating: 7/10 (24 February 2009)

1941 Belorussia, fleeing from the invading Nazi forces, the Bielski brothers seek refuge out in the vast forest. As more survivors find there way into the trees, the Bielski's help to form a new community that manages to thrive in spite of the overwhelming odds against them surviving. But the brothers have different ideals, is refuge to be their main goal? Or should they be striking out against the Nazi oppressors?
Defiance is adapted from the novel Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, written by Dr. Nechama Tec. It's a stirringly emotional story that most definitely needed to be told, however the factual content of this adaptation has been called into question by many internet reviewers. It's not my particular want to delve too deep into it as I'm really only interested in the film as an experience, what isn't in doubt is that these were real people, and these incidents happened, their legacy lives on and hooray to that I say.
Defiance as a film relies more on its story than its actual people to deliver the goods, something director Edward Zwick has often been guilty of before. Not that that is a bad thing here, for the story is required to be the main character of the piece, but for sure it feels like holes are dotted throughout the 136 minute running time, justifiable revenge leanings are jettisoned in favour of the usual alternative community draw backs. All the trade marks are in here as Zwick crams them in by the reel, divided aspirations, weight of leadership, romance, jealousy and fractions within the camp, so sadly the film wrongly feels a touch shallow and not fully formed, we have as it were, seen it all before.
However, on the plus side, Defiance is not found wanting for emotional fortitude, it has it in abundance, and not the kind to make the picture sink under the weight of it all, it also has some excellently handled action sequences, something that Zwick is most definitely undervalued for. The acting is solid and totally watchable, Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and the impressive Jamie Bell play the three fighting Bielski brothers, but here lays an itch of sorts. Two Englishmen and an American playing these Eastern European characters begs one to think what the film would have been like if the leads had been played by Eastern Europeans? For I'm sure it would have had added earthy impact. Good support comes from Alexa Davalos and the ever reliable Tomas Arana, while Zwick photographer Eduardo Serra expertly brings the forest refuge vividly to life.
So all in all we are left with a film that's problems are very evident, and really this piece feels like its focus was to educate above all else. But whilst it may not be to everyones entertainment tastes, it's one hell of a story that demands to be seen by as many people as possible. 7/10