“Miracle at St. Anna,” “The Counterfeiters,” “Valkyrie,” “The Reader,” “Good” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” Forgive me if I’m being overly cynical, but cinema seems to be acquiring quite the fixation with the Holocaust.
Now, if these were all heartfelt dramas made by people who deeply cared about the issue, I would be more sympathetic, but it’s difficult not to feel a bit skeptical when a whole slew of films are released right around awards season every year. Even if you are not of the belief that some of these movies are made purely for prizes and purse, the sheer number of them makes it harder and harder for any one film to stand out.
“Defiance,” the newest movie on the subject, looks to conquer these odds. The film tells the story of three Jewish brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael Bielski (Jamie Bell), in 1941 Poland. Tuvia is the stoic leader of the bunch, Zus is the aggressive, wildcard type and Asael is the baby. Driven from their home by rampant Nazi violence, the three take refuge in the nearby forest. Tuvia discovers a small group of Jewish refugees on a mission to get food.
Once word gets out about the Bielskis and their woodland hideaway, more refugees make their way to the forest and soon a small community is formed as an escape from the continuous threat of Nazis.
Opting not to ease its viewers in with things like character and plot development, “Defiance” dives right into the action and stays fixed there for the first hour. Within the first 10 minutes, characters whose names we have yet to learn are in tears, holding each other over the loss of other people we’ve never heard of. The disconnect exhausts the viewer and makes it impossible for him or her to sympathize with situations in the film.
Thankfully, the movie eventually does slow down, and we get to know the brothers and a few of the other characters. At a slower pace, the story is reasonably engrossing, has a gorgeous score and some of the most beautiful nature shots to be seen on the big screen for a long time. This all goes without mentioning that Craig wields Hollywood’s most intense stare in scene after scene.
Unfortunately, the problems with “Defiance” are far too much for the strengths to counter. The film has a serious problem with continuity, from the physical placement of props and make-up, to the out-of-character actions of the story’s protagonists. Similar to his 2006 movie “Blood Diamond,” director Edward Zwick proves inept at handling action scenes, confusing the viewer as to where one thing is in relation to another, and mistaking a lot of quick cuts for true filmmaking.
Whether “Defiance” was made for the right reasons is hard to say. What is easy to say, however, is that in a genre with as many options as this one, “Defiance” is not worth your time or money.
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