Before the outbreak of World War II, the Bielski brothers were simple folks. None of the four were well educated nor were they much in the way of civic leaders. The two eldest brothers had long been involved in smuggling and other, less-than-legal activities. When the Germans arrive and begin killing and rounding up the Jewish population, the brothers, finding their parents and other family members murdered, flee to the woods for shelter while they try and determine what their next move will be. While there, other escapees seem to gravitate to them, perhaps understanding that the Bielski's knowledge of the woods and their powerful will to survive is their best hope in the long run. Though initially they view the additional people as inconvenient and burdensome, the brothers eventually realize that the only real chance of survival is together, as a community.
The movie picks up as two of the four brothers, Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), witness the Germans rounding up the Jews in the local town. They quickly return to their home, finding it destroyed, but also finding their youngest brother still alive and in hiding. They flee to the woods, where they are joined by their eldest brother Tuvia (Daniel Craig). As the stragglers begin joining the brothers in hiding, tension mounts between Zus and Tuvia on how to best handle the situation. Zus eventually leaves to join the Russian troops, while Tuvia stays behind and strives to form some semblance of order. Working together, the ragged band of survivors, many of them women or older men, begin to build a community in the woods. The trials that must be faced include not only surviving contact with German troops, but also discovering how to go about feeding and sheltering all of the people through the harsh Russian winter. In the end, it is a motivational and inspirational story made doubly poignant because it is based upon real people that overcame incredible odds. The number of descendants of the people saved by the Bielski brothers now number in the tens of thousands.
Aside from the gripping story, the movie is extremely well done. The cinematography is exceptional; the violent scenes are extremely visceral without being over the top and the emotion of the actors is well displayed. Craig and Schreiber both give fantastic performances as the older Beilski brothers. The forest becomes almost a character into itself, being portrayed as both a welcome, sheltering presence and a harsh, malevolent entity. The script is well-paced and the story never gets boring. Anytime a movie runs more than two hours and I never find myself looking at the time to see how much longer before the end, I consider that an achievement by the director, and that was definitely the case with Defiance.
As with most modern DVD releases, Defiance includes several bonus features. Unlike many DVD releases, where the bonus features are simply extended or deleted scenes, gag reels and semi-informative featurettes, the bonus features included with Defiance are, in my opinion, well worth viewing, due mainly to the subject matter. Along with the obligatory director's commentary and "Making of..." offerings, there is a nice segment where the children and grandchildren of the Bielski's are interviewed. It is a nice homage to the memory of a truly inspirational family and hearing the story from the descendants is particularly poignant. There is also a small slide show featuring recent photographs taken of some of the survivors of the Bielski Otriad (partisan group). These images are powerful and haunting, both from a technical and emotional standing.
Defiance is most assuredly a Hollywood film, meaning that there are undoubtedly embellishments on the tale. However, the fact that this tale, so expertly shot and acted, exposes the audience to a story often overlooked by the Western world makes Defiance an exceptional piece of cinema, one that I would recommend to not only fans of the WWII genre, but to all persons interested in the history of what has been appropriately deemed "the greatest generation."
