Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»814. Defiance (2008)

    814. Defiance (2008)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on January 12, 2015 130-139 mins, 2008, 4 - 5.9, Action, Drama, History, Jan 15, Movies Of 2015, Review, United States
    5.9 Dull
    • Acting 5.8
    • Directing 5.9
    • Story 5.9
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell

    Director: Edward Zwick

    Running Time: 137 mins


    Defiance is an American film about the true story of four Jewish brothers who go into hiding in the forests of Belarus from the Nazis, and after encountering numerous other Jews in the same situation, take charge of a large Jewish community that grows and grows during World War Two.

    Basically, whilst the story of this film is historically interesting, I found everything in this movie pretty dry. One of the main elements of the story is the emotion, the sense of loss, the loss of the will to go on, and the loss of humanity in the face of this inhumane military machine, however it never worked on me, meaning that this felt like 2 and a bit hours of p-people walking around in the woods, without any real sense of drama to it.

    Also, the performances in this film are surprisingly weak. Daniel Craig was the only man who managed to get something out of his character, showing that the man was flawed, but a hero nonetheless, and the moments in which you saw that were actually interesting and dramatic, however the rest of the film just didn’t have that feeling.

    One of the biggest problem with the performances was the accents the actors were putting on. I didn’t mind the Belorussian accents at first, however seeing as the actors occasionally waded in and out of them really annoyed me, and just took me totally out of the moment, ruining any potential for some emotion.

    However, there is nothing that irritated me more in this film than the language. Although most of it is spoken in English with the accents, the film often decides to randomly erupt into speaking in other languages, such as Belorussian, Polish, Russian, and it just makes the English bits feel even more forced; all they should have done was pick one and it would have been best.

    Of course, I was not a fan of this film majorly because of the lack of emotion, particularly seeing as that is one of the movie’s main atmospheres, and that’s what has made me feel like this is just a bit of an Oscar-bait movie. It’s a very simply-done, normal-looking and rather unadventurous film, but as it’s centred on the Jewish exodus during WWII, and has the intention to be emotional and brutal (which never really comes across in the film), it seems like nothing more than a film simply to please the Academy, which I really didn’t like.

    Overall, this gets a 5.9, because it was a very dry, boring and unemotional look at what should have been a fascinating and brutal story about the concept of humanity and loss.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.0
    Review
    January 18, 20200

    2821. Waves (2019)

    8.1
    Review
    October 10, 20220

    3888. Lynx (2021)

    8.1
    Review
    March 22, 20170

    1700. Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

    8.2
    Review
    May 30, 20220

    3754. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

    8.5
    Review
    March 1, 20170

    1677. Logan (2017)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.