Defiance
Stream
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Based on a true story, during World War II, four Jewish brothers escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of West Belarus in Poland and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis. The brothers begin the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews still trapped in the ghettos of Poland.
What critics thought
A film that divides critics almost cleanly down the middle: admirers found it emotionally gripping, even stunning, while detractors thought Ed Zwick's direction and script too blunt and heavy-handed to do justice to a remarkable true story. The central tension in reviews is whether the film's muscular, heroic framing of the Bielski partisans illuminates or distorts the history it means to honor.
“in setting out to overturn historical stereotypes of Jewish passivity ...(the film) ends up affirming them.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“it makes instant emotional demands, and those who respond to it, as I did, are likely to go all the way and even come out of it feeling slightly stunned.”
David Denby·The New Yorker
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- moderate
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Action, Drama, History, War
Cast & Crew
Edward ZwickDirector
Daniel CraigTuvia Bielski
Liev SchreiberZus Bielski
Jamie BellAsael Bielski
Alexa DavalosLilka Ticktin
Allan CordunerShimon Haretz
Mark FeuersteinIsaac Malbin
Tomas AranaBen Zion Gulkowitz
Jodhi MayTamara Skidelsky
Kate FahyRiva Reich
Iddo GoldbergYitzhak Shulman
Iben HjejleBella
Martin HancockPeretz Shorshaty
James Newton HowardComposer
Eduardo SerraCinematographyDefiance
Based on a true story, during World War II, four Jewish brothers escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of West Belarus in Poland and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis. The brothers begin the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews still trapped in the ghettos of Poland.
What critics thought
A film that divides critics almost cleanly down the middle: admirers found it emotionally gripping, even stunning, while detractors thought Ed Zwick's direction and script too blunt and heavy-handed to do justice to a remarkable true story. The central tension in reviews is whether the film's muscular, heroic framing of the Bielski partisans illuminates or distorts the history it means to honor.
“in setting out to overturn historical stereotypes of Jewish passivity ...(the film) ends up affirming them.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“it makes instant emotional demands, and those who respond to it, as I did, are likely to go all the way and even come out of it feeling slightly stunned.”
David Denby·The New Yorker
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- moderate
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Action, Drama, History, War
Cast & Crew
Edward ZwickDirectorDaniel CraigTuvia BielskiLiev SchreiberZus BielskiJamie BellAsael BielskiAlexa DavalosLilka TicktinAllan CordunerShimon HaretzMark FeuersteinIsaac MalbinTomas AranaBen Zion GulkowitzJodhi MayTamara SkidelskyKate FahyRiva ReichIddo GoldbergYitzhak ShulmanIben HjejleBellaMartin HancockPeretz ShorshatyJames Newton HowardComposerEduardo SerraCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy