There aren’t many well-known stories from World War II about Jewish resistance-fighters, but a new movie opening next month focuses on three brothers who had the incredible will and determination to live during a time that didn’t give Jews much hope.
Daniel Craig stars in Defiance
Defiance, based on Nechama Tec’s non-fiction book of the same name, is directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond) and stars Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell and Liev Schreiber as Jewish brothers who flee Nazi-occupied Poland and build a makeshift village alongside Russian resistance-fighters.
The year is 1941, and the Jews of eastern Europe are being massacred by the thousands. Managing to escape death, the three brothers take refuge in the dense surrounding woods they have known since they were children. There the brothers begin their fight against the Nazis and turn a primitive struggle to survive into a way to avenge the deaths of their loved ones by saving thousands of others.
At first it is all they can do to stay alive. But gradually, as whispers of their plan spreads, they begin to attract others – men and women, young and old – willing to risk everything for the sake of a moment’s freedom.
All three Bielski Brothers are tough, but they’re also different in many ways. Tuvia (Craig) is a reluctant leader, and his decisions are challenged by his brother, Zus (Schreiber), who worries that Tuvia’s idealistic plans will doom them all. Asael (Bell) is the youngest and caught between his brothers’ rivalry. As a brutal winter descends, they work to create a community, and to keep faith alive when all humanity appears to be lost.
Their struggle was their saviour. When the war was over, 1,200 people emerged from that forest anxious to start new and hopeful lives.
It took director Ed Zwick 10 years to get the brother’s story made into a film.
“Once I read the book I swore I was going to get to made it someday,” Zwick said during a recent interview in Los Angeles. “The story needed to be told, it just took a long time. We just never gave up.”
Casting was of the utmost importance, and although Craig is best known as the latest James Bond, there was no question that Zwick wanted him to play the brother who ultimately became the leader of the forest camp.
“I think it’s a statement of his artistic ambition,” says Zwick of Craig’s commitment to the film. “He was an independent working actor long before he became James Bond, and I think he’s determined to remain one.”
Schreiber, one of the few Jewish actors on set, was totally committed to the project and even learned to speak Russian for the role.
“For me, that was the way into the character,” Schreiber said. “Zus, began and ended with Russian so there was something about learning that language that really helped motivate me.”
Bell, who entertained audiences eight years ago in Billy Elliot, was challenged by his part in the movie and felt ashamed that he hadn’t heard of the Bielski Brothers before getting the script.
“I thought that I had a pretty extensive knowledge of the Holocaust and the Second World War, but then I read the story, and I felt embarrassed that I didn’t know this story and about Jewish resistance and resilience,” Bell said. “Learning about this I felt like I desperately had to be a part of this project and the telling of these brother’s legacy.”
The movie was shot on location in Lithuania, and it was important to Zwick and the cast to keep the conditions as bare bones as possible.
“It was freezing and damp,” said Alexa Davalos, who plays Tuvia’s love interest, Lilka. “We didn’t have trailers, we worked out in the snow for hours and the food was kept to a minimum.
“We knew we could have never experienced what the Jews went through at the time, but the conditions kept things in perspective and helped us bond as a community. It was a very humbling experience.”
For Schreiber, it was more than just a humbling experience. As the father of two young sons, the actor felt that making a film like this was an important way to keep the memories alive for his children.
“It’s a huge part of my culture, both as a father and as a Jew to remember things and to keep that tradition of memory alive because it is such an essential part of my heritage. This is certainly a story from that episode of history that I hope they do remember, because it’s such a triumphant one.”
Defiance opens January 16th, See the trailer Here: