Defiance
Daniel Craig is in masterful form in Defiance
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Saturday, 03, Jan 2009 11:22
Directed by Edward Zwick, out January 9th, starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, running time 137 mins.
In a nutshell…
Survival, endurance, courage, oppression, power.
What's it all about?
Led by two Jewish brothers, a group of Polish refugees build a forest community in Belarus, having fled their homes and lost members of their family to the invading Nazi armies.
Before long, power struggles begin to divide the group and coupled with harsh weather conditions, ill health and the threat of capture by their aggressors, life becomes more and more difficult in the camp.
The film is based on the true story of four brothers who escaped the Nazis and secured the freedom of thousands of Jews by forming one of the biggest partisan groups to survive the second world war.
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Who's in it?
Daniel Craig attempts to step out of the shadow cast by his 007 alter-ego taking the lead role of Tuvia Bielski and is joined on screen by Liev Schreiber as brother Zus – also soon to be a fanboy favourite thanks to his role as Sabretooth - aka Victor Creed - in next year's Wolverine spin-off.
Former Billy Elliott star Jamie Bell plays teenage brother Asael and relative newcomer George MacKay is youngest Bielski sibling Aron.
Directed and co-written by the man behind Oscar-nominated movies such as The Last Samurai and 2006's Blood Diamond, Edward Zwick takes the helm for this wartime story of courage under the toughest of conditions.
As an example…
"We will start rebuilding the lives you have lost, everyone will work there are no exceptions… our revenge is to live." - Tuvia Bielski (Craig) addresses his new found family of refugees.
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Released in the US on December 31st in order to make the Oscar deadline, this film is already cropping up on a number of experts' award season prediction lists.
As co-writer of Shakespeare In Love, director Zwick is himself no stranger to the Academy and as a true story in the same vein as films like The Pianist, Defiance could expect at least a nomination or two ahead of February.
What the others say
"Defiance is history made over into wish-fulfillment psychodrama, into Exodus. It's stuck in my head, as only a wet-dog-nosed movie can and I feel like adding more stars." - Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York.
"A potentially exceptional story is told in a flatly unexceptional manner ... will attract some action fans and [the] Holocaust-related theme will draw others, but overall commercial prospects appear modest." - Todd McCarthy, Variety
So is it any good?
Once in a while you get to see a film with no pre-installed expectations. Having somehow missed the usual barrage of marketing, trailers and Sunday morning interviews with smug T4 presenters - I am happy to say this is the experience I had with Defiance.
Blissfully ignorant of what the movie had in store, other than a performance from sulky-faced Bond star Daniel Craig, I was treated to a gripping wartime thriller filled with stellar performances throughout.
As Tuvia, Craig gets to flex his acting chops and is supported by Leiv Schreiber, who is superb as the hot-headed second brother, Zus. Jamie Bell also gets to put right his appearance in the appalling Hayden Christensen vehicle Jumper earlier this year.
At every turn, the narrative places its characters in terminal uncertainty and from moments of true drama to scenes of relentless action, Defiance had me baying for Nazi blood.
Despite this, I was still able to leave the theatre feeling as if I had witnessed a genuinely affecting film based on a true story that seemed well worthy of a very entertaining big screen adaptation - which is exactly what it was.
9/10
Noel Mellor