Defiance (2008)

Defiance is a gripping and memorable portrayal of the true story of how the Bielski brothers ultimately sheltered 1,200 Polish Jews in the forests surrounding their former villages, preserving them from slaughter at the hands of German Nazis. Three Bielski brothers survived the Nazi invasion of their homeland during World War II to lead quiet lives in New York City; only after the death of Tuvia in 1983 did their story of exceptional leadership, heroism, and sacrifice come to light. Defiance is Fiddler on the Roof meets Miracle at St. Anna; scenes of battle and slaughter commingle with scenes of human pathos and hope (much of it universal yet mostly inimical to the persecution of Jews throughout history). The alternating rancor and detente between Tuvia (Daniel Craig) and his less circumspect brother Zus (Liev Schreiber) also contributes a polar cycle of pragmatism vs. altruism that connects gritty battle scenes to gritty stragglers' life in the woods. In the end, no one's hands are clean of blood -- all are guilty (through action or inaction as well as through outright misguided intent or good intent gone awry) and in need of forgiveness (of self and of others) even as most make courageous sacrifices (small or large, secret or heroic) to preserve each others' lives. Ultimately, implies the subtext, we are all human beings -- complex, conflicted, yet courageous. Defiance (and its Jewish encampment) is helmed by the icily-blue-eyed Daniel Craig as Tuvia, the compassionate and reluctant warrior who pronounces, "They may treat us like animals -- but we will not become animals." Defiance is a sustained, coherent tour-de-force of the triumph of the human spirit against the crushing will of genocidal monsters as well as the aggravating sins of selfishness and strife. Even though it's not as iconically powerful as The Killing Fields, it's more accessible, so I feel compelled to give it 5 stars.