Another Movie About the Holocaust?

In the forward to the book, "Defiance: The Bielski Partisans", by Nehema Tec, Filmaker Edward Zwick said "Not another holocaust movie!". "What was to be accomplished," he wondered, "In telling yet another story of familiar and unspeakable horror...".

Perhaps you are inclined to feel this way to when you see the previews or hear about the movie Defiance.

But, the story told in Defiance is anything but a tired retelling of how hard is was to face those times. It is a compelling and moving story about some Jewish brothers that save around 1200 people from the certain death in the forests of Belarus, during which time they are constantly hunted by the Nazis, hounded by the local police, in a tenuous alliance of sorts with the Russian Partisans and trying to carve life and humanity in spite of enemies like the freezing cold and the ugly face of human depravity.

Diane has often lamented that some of the historically based movies that have come out in later years have been about fictional people. She has wondered why the movies, swimming around well known historical events, couldn't feature real people's real stories. Why couldn't Titanic, for instance, center around the struggles of some real participants in that page of history? Or why couldn't Pearl Harbor have picked any of a thousand love stories of real life soldiers, airmen or seamen?

Defiance, to me, is even more moving because it is the true story of the Bielski brothers, and other brave Jewish partisans facing one of the worst chapters in human history. At 2 hours and 20 minutes it might be a bit long for some, but I found it engaging throughout and was glad I saw it.

I am going to try to find a copy of the book next. It is supposed to be even better.