Synopsis:
Three
Jewish brothers escape from Nazi-occupied Poland
into the Belarussian forest, where they join
Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to
build a village in order to protect themselves
and others in danger.
The Freak's
Rating: B : As I sat down in the
theater watching the trailers I started thinking
about the theme to Defiance and why it is used
over and over again successfully. The Nazi
regime was recent and inexplicable to so many
that it is purely fascinating to see evil at its
core and those that chose to resist it. At
any given moment you can probably find a film in
release about Nazis (there are two currently,
including Valkyrie). Those alive to see
WWII are destined to never forget it and
determined to make those of us who were not
learn about it so that something similar never
occurs again.
Daniel Craig has solidified himself as an action
star and ventured time and time again into
semi-dramatic roles, but this is definitely his
deepest foray. Craig is decent, but
falters in a number of scenes, giving way to
injections of reality while viewing the film.
Consistently underrated, Liev Schreiber is great
as Zus, solid in every line he delivers.
Supporting players are nicely cast, with no
large names and no over-acting by any involved,
giving way nicely to the focus on the two major
roles.
Direction is beautiful here. Edward Zwick
has directed some top notch films including
Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai. Zwick
conjures up a nicely woven tale with sharp
action sequences and enveloping cinematography
within forest scenes. Makeup is a tad over
the top in sequences as is costume design, but
overall the look and feel of the film is good.
The Bielski brothers lived amazing lives and
thousands are alive today because of their
efforts. This is history that has gone
untold to this point and should be retold by
this and future generations.
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