Spring Break
'Defiance' fails to deliver
by Ben Strassfeld
Staff Writer
Arts | 1/13/09
Posted online at 12:56 AM EST on 1/13/09
Defiance, the latest film from director Ed Zwick, tells the inspirational story of the four Bielski brothers who led their own form of revolt against the Nazis during World War II. Unlike most Holocaust films, Defiance is not the story of the Jewish victims of persecution but rather the story of the heroes who bravely fought to survive. Hidden in the woods of Bulgaria, the Bielskis protected hundreds of Jewish refugees, persevering through three cruel and bitterly cold Eastern European winters with little in the way of food or supplies. Their story was the subject of popular nonfiction book upon which the film is based, and it stands as a remarkable tale of survival in the face of a great and terrible terror.
Thus, it is unfortunate that director Ed Zwick isn't quite up to the task of telling the Bielskis' story. Zwick is the filmmaker behind such glossy Hollywood stories of heroism as Glory, The Last Samurai and, most recently, Blood Diamond. His films are generally well-acted and tightly scripted narratives of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in worlds fraught with both physical and moral dangers. In Glory, for instance, Union soldiers have to face not only the literal danger of fighting in the Civil War but also the moral perils that go along with being the first all-black regiment in this country's history. The film was somewhat predictable and did nothing that other, more complex films concerned with race in America had not already done before. Yet Glory showcased Zwick's gift for slick storytelling, and the success of Glory boosted the director to the upper echelon of prestige filmmakers in Hollywood. Watching Glory today though, Zwick's limitations as a filmmaker are highly visible. While a powerful story, Glory is a movie that feels bloated with all the Hollywood clichés it relies upon; the story was given so much Hollywood gloss that, while still a successful feature, it is a work that does not live up to its own potential.
Zwick has followed up Glory with a string of movies that have stuck close to that film's formula. His movies deal with "important" issues, whether it be women in the military in Courage Under Fire or the deadly diamond trade of Sierra Leone in Blood Diamond. What his films never do, however, is grapple with these issues in any sort of surprising or nuanced manner. His films tend to have a viewpoint, typically the cautiously liberal attitude so often seen in Hollywood, and make their point so clear and obvious that one could not possibly mistake the film's meaning. Because of this, Zwick is something akin to a modern-day Stanley Kramer, the late famed Hollywood producer and director of such 1950s and 1960s heavy-hitting (and heavy-handed) moral dramas as Judgment at Nuremberg and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Kramer and Zwick share an affinity for choosing to make films that deal with important or controversial issues and also, subsequently, to make those pictures so gilded, inoffensive and cliché-filled that their messages are dulled. Both Kramer and Zwick make films that, while entertaining, fail to elevate themselves above the material they work with.
Thus, it is unfortunate that director Ed Zwick isn't quite up to the task of telling the Bielskis' story. Zwick is the filmmaker behind such glossy Hollywood stories of heroism as Glory, The Last Samurai and, most recently, Blood Diamond. His films are generally well-acted and tightly scripted narratives of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in worlds fraught with both physical and moral dangers. In Glory, for instance, Union soldiers have to face not only the literal danger of fighting in the Civil War but also the moral perils that go along with being the first all-black regiment in this country's history. The film was somewhat predictable and did nothing that other, more complex films concerned with race in America had not already done before. Yet Glory showcased Zwick's gift for slick storytelling, and the success of Glory boosted the director to the upper echelon of prestige filmmakers in Hollywood. Watching Glory today though, Zwick's limitations as a filmmaker are highly visible. While a powerful story, Glory is a movie that feels bloated with all the Hollywood clichés it relies upon; the story was given so much Hollywood gloss that, while still a successful feature, it is a work that does not live up to its own potential.
Zwick has followed up Glory with a string of movies that have stuck close to that film's formula. His movies deal with "important" issues, whether it be women in the military in Courage Under Fire or the deadly diamond trade of Sierra Leone in Blood Diamond. What his films never do, however, is grapple with these issues in any sort of surprising or nuanced manner. His films tend to have a viewpoint, typically the cautiously liberal attitude so often seen in Hollywood, and make their point so clear and obvious that one could not possibly mistake the film's meaning. Because of this, Zwick is something akin to a modern-day Stanley Kramer, the late famed Hollywood producer and director of such 1950s and 1960s heavy-hitting (and heavy-handed) moral dramas as Judgment at Nuremberg and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Kramer and Zwick share an affinity for choosing to make films that deal with important or controversial issues and also, subsequently, to make those pictures so gilded, inoffensive and cliché-filled that their messages are dulled. Both Kramer and Zwick make films that, while entertaining, fail to elevate themselves above the material they work with.
Be the first to comment on this story