The Film
While the subject matter remains highly controversial, with allegations that the Bielski brothers were more bandits than partisans, the film adaptation of Defiance suffers from bad pacing and a somewhat sudden ending. It is unlikely that this one will spawn a sequel, but the movie really only tells part of the story of the Jewish resistance group's fight against the Nazi occupiers in Eastern Poland.
Instead of the traditional bombed out urban locations usually featured in tales of the German occupation in World War II, this film offers a unique twist by focusing mostly on the activities deep in the verdant Naliboki forest. But unlike films such as The Pianist, which focus on resistance efforts against the Nazis, Defiance ends up looking somewhat like a low budget made-for-TV war movie. The sets are sparse, the numbers of extras is limited (we typically see dozens instead of hundreds of survivors) and the few battle scenes are somewhat small in scale. Worse, the plot varies from true Holocaust drama to a more upbeat resistance fantasy along the lines of Red Dawn. The truth sadly is lost as a result. And that's a shame because the story of the some 1,200 people who defied the Nazis and the odds really deserves better.
Want another opinion on the film, check out David Kempler's review of Defiance.
The Picture
Defiance defies the traditional Holocaust tale, and sets the story in the woods instead of the ghettos, and the scenery looks like a lovely place for a hike - but obviously not the sort of place you'd want to live, unless you like living in a makeshift camp in the middle of the forest. The 1080p 2.35:1 presentation makes the woods almost come alive. The colors are somewhat muted and the color palette of the film lacks any colors that really pop, but this is keeping with the feeling of living in constant fear from attack. The film thus looks good, but this isn't one to show off the color capabilities of Blu-ray, not by a long shot.
The Sound
The biggest thing to get past is the varying degree of Polish accents used throughout the film (German, Russian and even Yiddish are subtitled). It might have been a better choice to just have the characters speak with flat accents than to force the unnatural sounding almost Russian-esque (dare I say cartoony at times) accents. The musical score by James Newton Howard does its job, but isn't memorable enough to stay with you once the credits end. All this is presented nicely on the Blu-ray disc, and the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 delivers the dialog solidly through the center track. This one underplays the intensity in the surround sound a bit, so while the sound is immersive, it isn't overwhelming. More war films should take a cue from this one that louder doesn't mean better.
The Extras
The Blu-ray's extra features are presented in HD, which is a nice treat. In addition to audio commentary by director Edward Zwick, this disc includes a brief photo montage of actual survivors -- photos that were taken by Zwick in 2008. Fleshing out the story is a featurette that offers a "Return to the Forest," and a piece on "Children of the Otriad: The Families Speak." Finally, a short but nice featurette is included with Zwick and Newton Howard discussing the music of the movie.
Final Thoughts
Where Defiance comes up short is that this is one of those films that bills itself as a "true" story but is just a highlight reel of much more significant events. So is it really the "truth" or just part of the larger story that has yet to be told? Unfortunately even the extras don't complete this tale.
Where to Buy
Product Details
- Actors: Daniel Craig, Live Schreiber
- Director: Edward Zwick
- Audio Languages: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH; Spanish, French
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: R
- Studio: Paramount Pictures
- Release Date: June 2, 2009
- Run Time: 136 minutes
- List Price: $39.95
- Extras:
- Commentary by Edward Zwick
- Defiance: Return to the Forest (HD)
- Children of the Otriad: The Families Speak (HD)
- Scoring Defiance (HD)
- Bielski Partisan Survivors (HD)
- Theatrical trailers (HD)
