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==Reception==
==Reception==
The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics, as shown by a score of 52% on review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref>[[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009458-defiance/]]</ref>
The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics, as shown by a score of 52% on review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] (on 9th January).<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009458-defiance/ Defiance at Rotten Tomatoes], 9th January</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 19:14, 9 January 2009

Defiance
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEdward Zwick
Written byClayton Frohman
Edward Zwick
Produced byEdward Zwick
Pieter Jan Brugge
StarringDaniel Craig
Liev Schreiber
Jamie Bell
George MacKay
CinematographyEduardo Serra
Edited bySteven Rosenblum
Music byJames Newton Howard
Distributed byParamount Vantage
Release dates
December 31, 2008 (limited)
January 9, 2009 (full)
Running time
137 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million
Box office$116,000

Defiance is a 2008 American war film directed by Edward Zwick. Set in the eastern regions of Nazi-occupied Poland (now West Belarus) during World War II, the film is an adaptation of Nechama Tec's Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, which is based on the true story of the Bielski partisans. In the book, Polish Jews come together for common protection and to oppose the German occupation of their homeland.

Defiance stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay as four Jewish brothers from Poland who escape from the Nazis and fight back to rescue fellow Jews. Production began in early September 2007. The film had a limited release in the United States on December 31, 2008[1], and is scheduled for full release on January 16, 2009.

Plot

During World War II, four Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, George MacKay) escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of Eastern Poland/West Belarus and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis.[2] The brothers eventually rescue roughly 1,000 Jews. The film tracks their struggle to evade invading German forces while still maintaining their mission to save Jewish lives.

Cast

Production

Zwick began writing a script for Defiance in 1999 after he acquired film rights to the 1993 nonfiction Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by author Nechama Tec. Zwick developed the project under his company, Bedford Falls, and the project was financed by the London-based company Grosvenor Park with a budget of $50 million.

In May 2007, actor Daniel Craig was cast into the lead role with Paramount Vantage acquiring the rights to distribute Defiance in the United States and Canada.[2] The following August, actors Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, and Tomas Arana were cast into Defiance.[3] Production began in early September 2007 so Craig would complete filming Defiance before moving on to reprising his role as James Bond in Quantum of Solace.[2]

Filming of Defiance took place for three months in Lithuania,[5] which had beaten out other Eastern European locations such as Poland and Romania due to lower production costs.[6]

Controversies

The largest controversy centers around the Naliboki massacre, a massacre of Polish peasants and suspected resistance members at the hands of the Soviet partisans (for more on the relations between Polish and Soviet resistance, see Soviet partisans in Poland). While historians have yet to finish their research on that subject, some sources contend that the Bielski partisans' participated in the massacre of Naliboki citizens alongside the Soviet partisans.[7] Other sources argue that so far little evidence has been found to suggest the Bielski partisans were responsible for the massacre, and some historians, including Tuvia Bielski’s son, claim that the partisans were not in the area at the time.[8] No mention of this event is present in the film, which thus has been criticized - particularly in Poland - for glorying people who might have been responsible for the massacre.[7]

While the issue of Naliboki massacre remains the most controversial, the Polish press and historians have criticized the movie for a number of other historical inaccuracies. Mainstream Polish journal, Gazeta Wyborcza, run by an editor of Jewish descent, Adam Michnik, noted in a series of articles that Zwick unfairly portrayed partisans as actively fighting the German military force. Citing research by the Polish historians and the Institute of National Remembrance, the critics point out that the partisans played more survivalist roles, preferring to flee the manhunt operations and avoid direct confrontations.[9] Further, the background of the movie is criticized: the movie portrays the Navahrudak and surrounding areas as primarily Belarusian, when in fact there was a significant Polish minority in those areas (before the war, Navahrudek population breakdown was: Jews - 50%, Poles - 25%, Belarusians - 20%, others - 5%); it also ignores the fact that in addition to Soviet-allied groups, Polish resistance had a significant presence in the region; finally, the movie portrays Bielscy and their partisans as fluent in Russian (or Belarusian), but not Polish, when in fact they were much more fluent in Polish. As such, as Gazeta Wyborcza points out, the movie's main problem is not the still investigated and possibly false Naliboki connection, but a gross historical inaccuracy of ignoring the dominant Polish element in the background.[10]

The Jewish Press cited the chief American prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, Telford Taylor, as saying that, with regard to movies generally, "historical misrepresentations could leave the uninformed viewer with an inaccurate historical record about what a movie is depicting" while criticizing the fictionalization of the story.[11]

Rating

Rated R for language and Violence

Release

Defiance was released on December 31, 2008 in New York City and Los Angeles and will be released January 9, 2009 worldwide.[12]

Reception

The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics, as shown by a score of 52% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes (on 9th January).[13]

References

  1. ^ Template:Cite Sm
  2. ^ a b c d Pamela McClintock (2007-05-16). "Daniel Craig to star in 'Defiance'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Tatiana Siegel (2007-08-09). "Foursome can't resist Defiance". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-01-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Defiance (2008)". Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  5. ^ Lisa Chamoff (2007-06-19). "Westport author's Holocaust book - to be made into Hollywood movie". Greenwich Time. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Talis Saule Archdeacon (2008-01-09). "Baltic film returns to world stage". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 2008-01-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Kamil Tchorek (2008-12-31). "Country split over whether Daniel Craig is film hero or villain". The Times. Retrieved 2008-12-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Polish Investigators Tie Partisans to Massacre, The Jewish Daily Forward, Aug 8, 08
  9. ^ A Hollywood Movie About Heroes or Murderers?, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2008-06-16
  10. ^ Template:Pl icon Prawdziwa historia Bielskich, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2009-01-06
  11. ^ Truth Or Fiction: Hollywood's Bielskis, The Jewish Press, January 30, 2008
  12. ^ "Defiance (2008)". Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  13. ^ Defiance at Rotten Tomatoes, 9th January
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