From Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond), Defiance is the unheard and untold true story of Polish Jewish brothers who defied all odds during World War II and built a community in the woods of Belarus to escape Hitler’s persecution and save around a thousand civilians from certain death. Interestingly, the film tries to avoid the dramatization of characters and events. Because of this, those who go into it expecting a pure and unprocessed reproduction of facts might be disappointed. It’s a film that takes a storytelling-for-storytelling approach to try and study the challenges that come with any situation where the saying “if you save a life you must take responsibility for it” would be applied.
"The picture offers the most moving account we've ever had of how an ordinary, rather disagreeable man, challenged and then electrified by catastrophe, grows into a great leader."
— David Denby
"Occasionally schmaltzy, to be sure, but Schreiber makes a surprisingly awesome Rambo stand-in."
— Miranda Siegel
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.
Oscars
1 nomination
Golden Globes
1 nomination
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
