Movie Review: Defiance, Starring Daniel Craig
Summary: Not your average World War 2 flick!
Yes, this movie starts Daniel Craig. No we do not get to see him in various states of undress.
Quite the contrary actually, since most of the movie is spent in snowy forests of Western Belarus/Eastern Poland during World War II.
But we do get to hear him speak Russian. With a pretty good accent actually.
Of course, I’m totally qualified to judge his accent, given that the extent of my Russian is ‘Da’ and ‘Nyet’.
Actually come to think of it, they could have been speaking Polish, or an Eastern Polish/Western Belorussian/Russian derivative, and honestly, I wouldn’t have a clue, but hey, it sounded pretty convincing to me.
So, the movie is called Defiance
However, this story chooses to focus on a more positive aspect, if you will, of the same story. It tells the story of the three Bielski brothers who initially start by hiding out in the forest, after their family are killed by Nazi collaborators.
The three brothers played by Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot all grown up, awww), inadvertantly start to harbour other fugitives and eventually they number over a thousand refugees.
The brothers differ in their approach to leading this group, Daniel Craigs character wanting to do what is necessary in order to survive, and Liev Schreibers character wanting to go all out for armed revenge on the Nazi collaborators. The story then splits into their differing perspectives, following Liev Schreibers character joining up with the Russian Partisans (fighting the Nazi’s) and with Daniel Craigs job as leading the group of refugees.
Without spoiling the plot or the story as a whole, it is the most riveting WWII flick I have seen in a long time. I generally try to avoid war movies, having grown up in a household where one parent lived through Nazi occupied Holland with many stories as to their extent of their evil, and frankly, when I want to be entertained I generally try to find something a bit more lighthearted.
What I can say for this movie, is that I was pleased that while there were a few very violent scenes, there were no scenes involving gas chambers or concentration camps, and in fact I believe that this was pivotal to the story, as the story was one of Defiance, of not going quietly into the night, of survival at all costs.
So, in closing, take this one out from your local video shop, put the kids to bed, and prepare to be on the edge of your seat.
Watching this movie will also make you crave Vodka.
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