Dr. Stallbaumer-Beishline
March 14, 2017
Liberal Arts Seminar 110-01
The Simplification of Human Tragedy
Edward Zwick's fast-paced and sympathetic interpretation of two brother’s very different takes on what it means to survive, (based on the book by famed Sociologist Nechama Tec,) appears at face value as just another war film full of violence and thick accents. However, “Defiance” doesn’t quite fit this mold. This seldom-explored story of Jewish rebels is instead a film crafted with visual and emotional conflicts. This theme of conflict runs throughout the film’s; (at times, distracting) dual plot lines. But even with the perfect backdrop for gut-wrenching tragedy and dramatic wartime battles, “Defiance”’s script can’t quite decide whether to let the audience come up with their own opinions, or to spell it out for them. By the end of the film, this ragtag team of anti-heroes just aren't poignant enough to truly effect an audience in the way Zwick intended. …show more content…
A childhood survivor of the Holocaust, Tec researched the legend of the Bielski Otriad by interviewing survivors in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Her documentation of these stories is both eye-opening and brutal, with raw and intensely personal recounts of life in the Otriad. As informative and influential as Tec’s work is, the plot of Zwick’s film strays from it in drastic ways, sadly to it’s detriment. Comparing Tec’s scholarly work and Zwick’s blockbuster film is like comparing a Da Vinci masterpiece to a child’s finger painting. The film loses a large portion of the book’s emotional depth, becoming more of an Old-Western shoot-‘em-up rather than a collection of survivor’s stories amidst the Bielski brothers fight to save as many Jews as
March 14, 2017
Liberal Arts Seminar 110-01
The Simplification of Human Tragedy
Edward Zwick's fast-paced and sympathetic interpretation of two brother’s very different takes on what it means to survive, (based on the book by famed Sociologist Nechama Tec,) appears at face value as just another war film full of violence and thick accents. However, “Defiance” doesn’t quite fit this mold. This seldom-explored story of Jewish rebels is instead a film crafted with visual and emotional conflicts. This theme of conflict runs throughout the film’s; (at times, distracting) dual plot lines. But even with the perfect backdrop for gut-wrenching tragedy and dramatic wartime battles, “Defiance”’s script can’t quite decide whether to let the audience come up with their own opinions, or to spell it out for them. By the end of the film, this ragtag team of anti-heroes just aren't poignant enough to truly effect an audience in the way Zwick intended. …show more content…
A childhood survivor of the Holocaust, Tec researched the legend of the Bielski Otriad by interviewing survivors in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Her documentation of these stories is both eye-opening and brutal, with raw and intensely personal recounts of life in the Otriad. As informative and influential as Tec’s work is, the plot of Zwick’s film strays from it in drastic ways, sadly to it’s detriment. Comparing Tec’s scholarly work and Zwick’s blockbuster film is like comparing a Da Vinci masterpiece to a child’s finger painting. The film loses a large portion of the book’s emotional depth, becoming more of an Old-Western shoot-‘em-up rather than a collection of survivor’s stories amidst the Bielski brothers fight to save as many Jews as