Defiance – film review

It’s interesting that, in the days when the eyes of the world are fixed on Israel, a film about real-life Jewish heroism has been released in cinemas.

Defiance is the story of the Bielskis, three brothers who form a community of Jewish refugees in the woods of Belorussia during the Second World War. The eldest brother, Tuvia, is a played by Daniel Craig, whose resolutely grim onscreen presence works well in a film that is often harrowing and always uncomfortable. The Bielskis, the sons of a farmer who has just been killed by Nazi collaborators, shelter hundreds of Jews in the huge uncharted forests of Belorussia, teaching them to fight and assigning jobs to everyone. They even liberate huge swathes of Jews from a nearby ghetto, defying a Rabbi’s command that they must “wait for God”. The Bielskis are poor and uncultured- Tuvia is a petty crook, who is used to the disdain of others. He repeatedly reaffirms his own unintelligence, telling his former school teacher (one of the many refugees he saves) that he never did understand what he was talking about. As a leader, however, Tuvia quickly emerges to find the respect that was missing from his former life.

In one of the film’s most interesting twists, the middle Bielski brother, Zus, leaves the camp to fight with Red Army partisans. Unlike his elder brother, who declares that “our revenge will be our survival”, Zus is filled with bloodlust, determined to kill as many Nazis and collaborators as he can. With the Red Army, whose leadership consists of an anti Semitic whistler and a maudlin drunk, he begins to fight. In one scene, Zus’ ambush on a Nazi train is juxtaposed with a joyful wedding back at the Jewish camp; as the groom stamps on the glass, the brutal attack on the train is launched. Later on, the film makers show the Red Army denying medicine to the Bielskis when there is an outbreak of Typhus at their camp. Even worse, when the Nazis prepare for an assault on the forest that will leave the Jewish refugees massacred, the Red Army Partisans strategically retreat, leaving them all to die.

The contrast between the Bielski group and the Red Army makes for an interesting parallel. Near the beginning of the film, a man who describes himself as “an intellectual” joins the burgeoning Jewish refugee community; he is gently mocked by the Bielski brothers. But the intellectual is actually a Socialist publisher and like the rest of the Jews becomes accustomed to the hard work involved in building a village in the forest, cutting wood and constructing houses. In the community, all are equal- all receive equal amounts of food and respect. When this status quo is usurped by a fighter (also portrayed in the film as something of a misogynist) arguing that those who protect the community should get more food, he is shot. But one of the rather obvious messages of Defiance is this: the Bielski refugee community comes far closer to Communism, than Stalin’s Red Army does.

Another commendable aspect to the film is its portrayal of women’s bravery. Initially, a conversation between Zus and a young woman reveals that he does not think women need guns- when she suggests that they do, he argues that they have men for protection. Later on in the film, however, the women are taught to use guns. Many women are seen fighting heroically in defence of the refugee community, going out on dangerous food missions (the Bielski followers operate Robin of Sherwood style, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor) and even defending fleeing refugees from a Nazi onslaught. One woman is shot by the advancing soldiers- she dies with her finger pressed on the machine gun trigger, still firing at the enemy. A different sort of courage is demonstrated by another Jewish woman; raped by a Nazi guard, she responds to the subsequent pregnancy with immeasurable courage. (On a side note, if anyone wants to see a good World War Two film about female heroism – and indeed Jewish female heroism – I thought Black Book was excellent and remain extremely miffed at the moralists at The Guardian declaring it nothing but “soft porn”.)

The Bielskis, whose actions ultimately saved the lives of 1200 Jews, never asked for recognition for their bravery- at the end of the war, the youngest brother, Asael, joined the Russian Army and was killed fighting. The elder two brothers left for America, and lived out the rest of their days quietly, working as truckers. This makes watching the film, which in many ways resembles a more typical Hollywood “hero” story, quite a guilty experience. But then, if it conquers the still commonly-held misconception that the Jews walked passively into the death camps, this can only be a good thing. Defiance might not be the greatest film ever made; but of all the World War Two films that seem to be very much in vogue right now, this is probably the story that deserves to be told the most.