Defiance

Defiance is a film set in German-occupied Belarus during World War Two and tells of the Bielski brothers who set up a camp in the middle of a forest and recruit Jews to live there. Slowly the camp builds up with survivors and before long there is a small community living in the forest, hiding from the Germans. It’s a gripping, inspirational and more importantly, informative film and makes you think that more people should know about the Bielski brothers.

The Bielski brothers, Tuvia, Zus, Asael and Aron, were Jewish Belarussians who were imvolved in rescuing Jews during the War. The film primarily focuses on Tuvia, who initially brings a couple of Jewish refugees to his camp to help them survive. Before long he had saved more than 1,200 Jews and had built a community in the forest, complete with a school, hospital and nursery, according to the film. When you think that they were continually hunted by the Nazis because of their reputation, this becomes all the more impressive. They lived in the forest for two years and when the war was over Tuvia refused any recognition and started a trucking firm with Zus which he did for thirty years. Him and his brothers never sought any sort of commendation for their actions, and I bet you most people won’t have heard of their heroic story.

Defiance is very action packed, and often involves the men of the group fighting at gunpoint against the soldiers and anyone who threatens their freedom. Daniel Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski and because of his James Bond past, does very well in this role. Most impressive is the accent he puts on throughout the film though. Anyone who has seen anything he has been in before will know that he sounds fairly British, but in Defiance he puts on a Belarussian accent, and maintains it pretty much throughout the entire film. This is by far and away the best thing about him in this role. He also does very well in the scenes which require a bit of emotion. His character is not afraid to kill when his community is threatened, but when it looks like their hope has been lost at the end of the movie, he is so believable as a man who has tried so hard and come as far as he can. This makes it all the more sweet when he is hauled to his feet once more.

Liev Schrieber stars alongside Daniel Craig as his brother, Zus. His character is much more complex and has a long standing conflict with his brother. He frequently complains that the size of their group is getting too big, and one big disagreement causes him to leave the community and join the Russian army. Schrieber was a relatively unknown actor to me before I researched this post. He does very well though, and is portrayed as being very concerned about his brothers’ well being, despite leaving them. When he is with the Russians his first thought is usually about the impact his actions will have on his brothers and the community, and the scene where they are reunited is enjoyable.

There are a number of other actors in this film that are very enjoyable to watch. The audience cannot help but engage with Shimon Haretz and his more learned friend, and the scenes where they exchange opinions on politics are some of the more entertaining ones of the film. However, despite the obvious camaraderie of the community, there is a sense that there is something hanging over them for the whole film. The director, Edward Zwick, does very well to communicate this, and there is a nearly constant threat hanging over the characters for much of the film. Jamie Bell also appears as the third Bielski, Asael, and is much more likeable than the authoritative Tuvia and the absent Zus. He comes across very strongly as a young boy who has found himself in a completely unfamiliar situation. However he rises to this situation splendidly.

A lot of the criticisms of this film focus on the implications it has for the perception of the Jews. I don’t really want to get into these because they are quite heavy going. If you are really interested then check this out: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/movies/31defi.html?scp=2&sq=defiance&st=cse&_r=0. For me, the film has the potential to be an emotionally charged rollercoaster, which has some gritty fight scenes and a few really engaging characters. However, what it turns in to is a film which seems to focus more on the action than the actual survival, and this detracts somewhat from the overall story.

This doesn't make it a bad film however. I didn't know anything about the Bielski brothers before watching this film, and now I realise that these cases of heroism tend to go unnoticed in the public consciousness. The Bielski brothers did an inspirational and incredible thing, and they deserve more recognition for this. Defiance is not the film to provide this recognition, but it tries, and more than anything else, it makes you aware of what happened. 

The Bielski Partisans

Skyfall - a Bond film for the modern era

May contain spoilers!

I love James Bond. Can I be absolutely clear on that right at the start. I absolutely love the suave and sophisticated Sean Connery, the emotion in the last scene of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Roger Moore's one liners, Timothy Dalton's....well, the less said about that the better really. Pierce Brosnan was my childhood Bond, and Goldeneye was a refreshing change of Bond film. But from there it went downhill for me. The budgets of the films were too large and just spent on making things explode. Casino Royale was a fantastic change, just as Goldeneye, but Quantum of Solace was, in my opinion, truly appalling. I thought it was the worst Bond film of the lot and so my hopes were not especially high as I tried to find the right number of seats in a darkened cinema before Skyfall started.

By the looks of the trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kw1UVovByw) I was in for a treat, but still I was skeptical. The first scene however put all my misgivings to bed. For once, MI6 wasn't chasing the bad guys in a car which was the top model of the time. Granted the little yellow Citroen in 'For Your Eyes Only' wasn't exactly cutting edge, but it served a purpose. The car that Eve was driving at the beginning of Skyfall was evidently struggling to keep up with the action of Bond chasing the bad guy, Patrice, over the rooftops of Turkey. And so was I. Imagine my utter surprise when Eve misses the shot, hitting Bond who falls to his presumed death.

Here is the first flaw I found with the film. I might have missed something, but Bond was shot and fell from a considerable height, unconscious, into water. I have no idea how he survived. Obviously you can't kill off the main character in the opening scene, but unless Aragorn's horse, who must have qualities similar to phoenix tears, came to the rescue, I fail to see how he could have survived. Never mind though.

The attack on MI6 also showed a change from previous Bond films. Before now, MI6 have been impenetrable in the Bond world, and to have them attacked by a villain was refreshing. Refreshing appears to be my favourite word in this post.

When Bond was sent to Shanghai I thought the film took a slight downturn. It may have been the comfortable seats, or the fact that I had a long day at uni before, but I found myself needing something to keep me awake before the Komodo Dragon put in an appearance. But by that point I was anticipating the arrival of Raoul Silva. I loved Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, and similarly in Skyfall he did not disappoint with his fantastic acting, delightfully sinister character and improvisation with the role. I thought the sexual undertones of the conversation between him and Bond were fantastic. Also, the character history of Silva was compelling. A former agent who, instead of wanting to dominate the world either through women, the media or nuclear weapons, just wanted to get back at M.

When we first met Q I became convinced that Skyfall was a film made in 2012, rather than trying to rekindle the explosive action of 1999. Instead of being a gadget genius, Q was a programmer. In today's society the people who can do the most damage are those who can control computers, and this was a nice shift in the Bond ideology. I also appreciated the revelation that Silva's plan had been years in the making right down to the launching of a London Underground train at Bond through an explosion in the ceiling, which presumably had been set for a while.

The next lull in the film could not have been more exciting. Bond and M visiting Scotland to lure Silva out was not dull, but it merely set up the climax. The mention of Bond's lineage was also interesting, as no previous Bond film has ever mentioned his parentage. Another factor marking this film aside was that when Silva and his henchmen arrived and we saw them coming across the marshland towards the house I was genuinely worried about how Bond, assisted by two OAPs, would be able to survive. There was no massive fight between the archetypal good guy and bad guy, but the dominance of Silva in the initial battle was also quite refreshing. I thought it was interesting how, in my eyes, Bond only bettered him at the end of the film, and never took him on face-to-face. I must confess, I let out a little cry of despair when the Aston Martin from Goldfinger was destroyed. I loved that car.

M's death (I did warn you about the spoilers) was again a total break from previous Bond films. The last Bond film in which I was surprised about someone dying was On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Women come and go in Bond's life, but for the last few years, Judi Dench's character has been a constant presence. The emotion that Daniel Craig showed when she died was a rare show of any sensitivity from a character who was written by Ian Fleming as a ruthless assassin. In the modern era, who can help but shed a tear when the woman who has been a constant presence in your life, almost a mother to you, dies and there's nothing you could have done about it?

This brought it around nicely for the franchise to be set up where Dr No picks up, chronologically speaking. Ralph Fiennes is one of my favourite actors ever, and I think he'll make a fantastic M. Also, the addition of Eve (Moneypenny) as his secretary was brilliant.

So, all in all, I was rather blown away by Skyfall. It was a welcome break from stuff exploding, Bond taking on ten henchmen and not being scratched by the bullets flying around him. It dragged Bond from the bland, boring and forgettable elements of Quantum of Solace, right into the modern era, with its computers and all which that entails.


Other James Bond Reviews:
Sean Connery (http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/sean-connery-as-james-bond.html)
Roger Moore (http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/roger-moore-as-james-bond.html)