I have to admit, there have not been a whole lot of World War 2 movies coming out these days. I guess that whole “greatest generation” buzz just kinda wore off in the face of a depression that’s looking like it’ll make the thirties look like the nineties. This is why I was actually pretty happy to find a copy of great war movie Defiance, featuring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber.
Craig and Shreiber play the Bielski brothers, a pair of Jews who witnessed the complete destruction of their hometown at the hands of the Germans. At least they looked like Germans–they seemed to be wearing the right uniform. But anyway, following the slaughter of all they knew and loved, these simple farmers became freedom fighters, escaping into the woods around their houses, picking up strays as they went. Eventually, the steadily growing collective built a camp in the woods with shelter for its residence, food storage and dispersal, and even fighting positions. Sure, there was infighting and privation and sacrifice and everything else, but by and large, they got along well. In fact, given the state of a lot of OTHER Jews in Europe at the time they were doing pretty nicely indeed. But of course, this couldn’t last, and eventually the Germans grew tired of the Bielski group’s constant raids and sabotages and killing of German soldiery, so they launched all out war, eventually sending an entire division in a time when every man Hitler could muster was being either thrown at the Russians or at the Americans.
And I’ll be honest with you, this is a GREAT movie. It’s got a huge runtime by today’s standards—just over two hours in fact—but you will almost barely notice it go by. There is not a dull moment in this, whether they’re building their camp or blasting Nazis or running from same, there’s always something interesting going on here.
It’s a downright inspirational piece, as people in the midst of a horrible situation grapple with the very worst parts of their humanity, facing greed and rage and the craving for revenge, and yet at the same time, they also struggle to reaffirm their humanity in a time when they’re hunted like animals.
I love how this movie can switch so rapidly and so seamlessly between the most tender feelings humanity can muster for each other and the sheer blinding rage of hatred and warfare and bloodshead. The dichotomy is just amazing, and watching this is like a blistering mix of themes and flavors all at once, that combines to make a whole far, far greater than the sum of its parts.
We need more movies like Defiance. We need more characters willing to stand in the breach the way these characters do and willing to face down all the horrors that modern man can generate. We need a little more uplifting in our movies…but just a little more. It’s the kind of thing that’s so very easy to overdo. Maybe Defiance didn’t, but it wouldn’t be hard for anyone else to do it. It wouldn’t have been that hard for even Defiance itself to overdo it. But it didn’t, and that’s the great news for all of us.
Basically, Defiance is an amazing movie with top-notch performances, a great cast, and a plotline so uplifting it’s a wonder there isn’t a hole in my ceiling right now just from watching this thing. It’s definitely worth your time to see this.
