Defiance – I giorni del coraggio è un film del 2008 diretto da Edward Zwick, basato su fatti realmente accaduti, raccontati nel romanzo del 1993 di Nechama Tec Gli ebrei che sfidarono Hitler.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Edward Zwick | Daniel Craig | Liev Schreiber | Jamie Bell |

David Rice (Hayden Christensen) has the ability to transport himself from place to place in a matter of seconds, due to a genetic anomaly. His mother left him when he was 5 years old, and he did not have the best relationship with his father. When was still in High School, one day he transported himself away and ended up going to New York. In order to pay rent he started to rob banks and continued to do this. He did not realise that he was not the one person to have the ability to transport from place to place and that they are known as Jumper’s but not only that, he entered a war between jumper’s and people set out to kill them.

When David meets Griffin (Jamie Bell) everything about the war is revealed, and how he has been battling against it for years. David has an alternative motive that being a girl, Millie (Rachel Bilson). He was pretty much in love with her at school and did not forget about her as the years went by. As he ends up putting her into a lot of danger, by taking her to Italy. David eventually finds his mother (Diane Lane) and finds out that she kills jumper’s which is the reason for her leaving him when he was 5. She would give him a head start. Which was pretty sad as he always pined for his mother wanting to see her.

I can remember when this movie came out and kind of wanting to go and see it, but just never got round to it. Then it did not really seem to get the best reviews or anything and I can pretty much understand why really. It had a pretty good idea and everything but something was missing and it was really lacking because of that. I think more explanation about the war would have been better and helped have a background knowledge of the whole Jumper thing.

The main thinking point and things to discuss that could come from this film would have to be where would you transport yourself to, if you could go anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds? Would you travel to be with someone? A friend? A member of your family? Or would you travel to see different places in the world? It would be a fantastic gift to be able to have.

Overall, I thought the idea for this film was pretty good. But it was really lacking something. I see Jumper 2 has been announced but nothing is set in stone of it yet.

Título: Resistencia
Título original: Defiance
País: USA
Estreno en USA: 16/01/2009
Estreno en España: 09/01/2009
Productora: Paramount Vantage / The Bedford Falls Company / Grosvenor Park Productions
Director: Edward Zwick
Guión: Edward Zwick y Clayton Frohman (basado en el libro “Defiance: The Bielski partisans” de Nechama Tec)
Reparto: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, Allan Corduner, Mark Feuerstein, Mia Wasikowska, George MacKay, Iben Hjejle, Tomas Arana, Jodhi May

Sinopsis:

Segunda Guerra Mundial. Corre el año 1941 y los judíos de Europa Oriental están siendo masacrados a millares. En la Bielorrusia ocupada, tres hermanos logran escapar de una muerte segura y se refugian en los densos bosques de alrededor de su casa, que conocen desde su infancia. Allí inician su desesperada lucha contra los nazis. Los tres hermanos Bielski convertirán la lucha por la supervivencia en algo mucho más importante, una forma de vengar las muertes de sus seres queridos al salvar a miles de personas. Al principio es cuanto pueden hacer para sobrevivir pero, poco a poco, a medida que se extienden los rumores sobre su coraje, empiezan a atraer a otros, hombres y mujeres, jóvenes y ancianos, dispuestos a arriesgarlo todo por un instante siquiera de libertad…

Opinión:

Tópica y manida a mas no poder, la enésima película que explota la segunda guerra mundial y el holocausto judío nos trae la historia real de los hermanos Bielski y su banda de partisanos, que consiguieron durante dos años resistir ante los nazis en los bosques de Bielorrusia y de paso salvar la vida de cientos de personas. El problema del largometraje es que puedes anticipar con admirable precisión cada dialogo, cada escena, cada situación antes de que esta suceda.

Los hermanos Bielski

Todo es rutinariamente previsible, pero aun así, el film esta correctamente dirigido por ese amante de las historias épicas que es Edward Zwick, y posee una buenas interpretaciones, destacando sobremanera un Daniel Craig, que alejándose de la sombra de Bond, da buena muestra de sus habilidades como actor al componer el retrato de un hombre transformado por el poder. O un Jamie Bell que sigue mostrándose como un gran actor al que seguir.

El éxodo 2.0

No deja de ser una película entretenida y que cumple a la perfección con todo lo que se le exige, pero a la que se le echa en falta mas ambición por parte del director para alejarse de los caminos trillados y ofrecernos algo verdaderamente innovador, dentro de un aspecto de la historia ampliamente tratado.

Puntuación:

6 / 10

Der Womanizer

Bitte Lächeln – und Knips! Machen Sie sich ein Bild von Mode-Fotograf Connor, der seine Freiheit liebt und seine Freundinnen nach Lust und Laune abserviert.

In der Nacht der Ex-Freundinnen führen ihm drei ganz besondere Geister alle seine gescheiterten Beziehungen vor: Der Womanizer.

Auch eine junge Bankangestellte bekommt es mit übernatürlichen Erscheinungen zu tun, als eine alte Zigeunerin sie mit einem mächtigen Fluch belegt. Ob Drag Me to Hell der Verbannung entkommen kann, flüstert Video Buster Ihnen in der Filmkritik.

Gespenstisch geht es dann weiter, denn dort werfen die Halloween-Collection und ein Star aus Trick’r Treat ihre Schatten voraus.

Top-Film: Der Womanizer
Der Junggeselle Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) gehört zu den Typen, die drei Freundinnen den Laufpass geben. Gleichzeitig. Per Telefonkonferenz. Auf der Hochzeitsfeier seines Bruders hat er also nur ein Ziel: Er will die einzige Brautjungfer herumkriegen, die er bisher irgendwie übersehen hat… Filmperlen Bewertung ***

Filmkritik: Drag Me to Hell
Verflucht! Sam Raimi kehrt zurück in unsere heimischen Player. Höllisch gut oder zum Gruseln schlecht?

TOP 10 bei Video Buster:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Hugh Jackman schlüpft wieder in die Rolle, die ihn zum Superstar machte: Wolverine – der Mann mit den unverkennbaren Stahlklingen, bemerkenswerten Selbstheilungskräften, ruppigem Charme und einer gehörigen Portion trockenem Humor. ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ erzählt die Vorgeschichte Logans mit Augenmerk auf seine mysteriöse Vergangenheit, seine komplexe Beziehung zu Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) und das ominöse Weapon X-Programm. Der Zuschauer erfährt, wer Wolverine wirklich ist.

Slumdog Millionär
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Duplicity
CIA-Offizier Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) und MI6-Agent Ray Koval (Clive Owen) standen früher im Geheimdienst ihrer Regierungen. Derzeit haben sie in die Privatwirtschaft gewechselt, um mit lukrativen Verträgen das meiste aus dem Kalten Krieg herauszuholen. Beide jagen jeweils für ihre Bosse Tully (Tom Wilkinson) und Garsik (Paul Giamatti) einem milliardenschweren Patent nach. Keiner ahnt, dass sie eine heimliche Affäre und eigene Pläne haben…

Männersache
Tagsüber arbeitet Paul (Mario Barth) in einer Berliner Zoohandlung und abends an seiner Karriere als Komiker. Zugegeben, seine Auftritte laufen mies… bis Paul anfängt, Witze über seinen besten Freund Hotte (Dieter Tappert) und dessen Freundin Susi (Anja Kling) zu reißen. Auf einmal läuft es auf der Bühne: Pauls Gags über Hottes Beziehungsgeschichten, nicht enden wollende Shopping-Orgien von Susi und den Pärchen Kaffeeklatsch bei den Schwiegereltern sind ein Renner…

The International
Im Mittelpunkt steht die Entschlossenheit von Interpol-Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) und der New Yorker Staatsanwältin Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts), eine der mächtigsten Banken der Welt zu Fall zu bringen. Während sie eine Reihe illegaler Aktivitäten aufdecken, folgen Salinger und Whitman der Spur des Geldes von Berlin nach Mailand, New York und Istanbul. Bald schon befinden sie sich mitten in einer hochriskanten Hetzjagd rund um den Globus, bei der sie durch ihre kompromisslose Hartnäckigkeit auch ihr eigenes Leben aufs Spiel setzen…

Defiance – Unbeugsam
Kriegsjahr 1941: Zu Tausenden werden Juden in der Sowjetrepublik Weißrussland von den Nazis ermordet. Darunter auch die Eltern und weitere Familienangehörige der drei Bielski-Brüder. Um ihre nackte Haut zu retten, fliehen sie in die undurchdringlichen Wälder der Umgebung. Als sich die Kunde ihres Partisanenkampfes gegen die deutschen Besatzer verbreitet, stoßen immer mehr verzweifelte jüdische Landsleute zu ihnen. Unter der Leitung von Tuvia Bielski bereitet sich die Notgemeinschaft auf die unabsehbar lange Zeit im Versteck und den harten Winter vor…

Willkommen bei den Sch’tis
Der Postbeamte und Südfranzose Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) wird unfreiwillig in den rauen Norden versetzt – zu den Sch’tis, wie die ‘Ureinwohner’ wegen ihres Dialekts genannt werden. Zwei Welten prallen aufeinander! Schnell merkt Philippe, dass er den Sch’ti-Dialekt zwar überhaupt nicht versteht, die Menschen aber unglaublich herzlich sind…

Der fremde Sohn
Los Angeles, 1928. Die alleinerziehende Mutter Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) verabschiedet sich morgens von ihrem Sohn Walter und geht zur Arbeit. Am Abend ist der Neunjährige spurlos verschwunden. Fünf verzweifelte Monate später bringt ihr die Polizei einen Jungen, doch Christine ist überzeugt: das ist nicht ihr Sohn! Die Behörden tun alles, um Christine zum Schweigen zu bringen, aber die kämpft unbeirrt weiter. Ihre Suche nach der Wahrheit bringt einen Sumpf aus Korruption und Lügen ans Licht, erschüttert die Öffentlichkeit und verändert L.A. für immer…

Appaloosa
Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) und Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) werden als Unterstüzung gegen die Herrschaft des Ranchers Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) in einer kleinen Stadt angeheuert. Schnell bekommen sie die Situation in Griff. Als jedoch die junge attraktive Witwe Allison French (Renée Zellweger) anreist, ändern sich die Pläne für die beiden…

Hilde

Hilde
Hildegard Knef geht einen langen Weg, bis sie zu sich selbst findet: Aus bedrückenden familiären Verhältnissen gelingt ihr der Sprung in die Schauspielausbildung, doch in den letzten Kriegswirren zählt nur mehr das blanke Überleben. Nach Filmerfolgen und Fehlgriffen, falschen und richtigen Männern, lähmender Langeweile in Hollywood und einer turbulenten Hass-Liebe mit dem deutschen Publikum muss die Kämpfernatur Hilde lernen, dass manchmal andere Dinge zählen als der Ellenbogenkampf im Showbiz: In ihrer eigenen Geschichte und im Inneren ihrer Seele findet sie die Substanz für die ‘Hilde’, auf die sie selbst aber auch das deutsche Publikum immer gewartet hat… Einer der deutschen Lebenswege nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Hildegard Knef war die Sünderin, ein Kinotraum, ein Weltstar, eine Ikone. Und sehr, sehr cool. Dies ist ihr Leben.

Filmperlen-Tipps zu Halloween
Die lange (Film-) Nacht des Grauens…
Ob Sie nun einen privaten Halloween-Abend planen und zu Ihrer orange-schwarzen Dekoration neben einem ekeligen Büffet mit Kürbissuppe noch die richtig unheimliche Filmkost reichen möchten, oder sich ganz einfach mal wieder im Heimkino erschrecken lassen wollen: Video Buster hat viele höllisch gute Vertreter und einige ‘Geist-reiche’ Filmvorschläge versammelt. Grausige Gestalten, schauderhafte Schauplätze, mörderische Träume. Nebel zieht auf… das Böse stirbt nie. Oder doch?
Bloß nicht erschrecken lassen – buh!
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Directed By: Arie Posin
Written By: Arie Posin (Story); Zac Stanford (Screenplay)
Cinematography By: Lawrence Shor
Editor: William S. Schraf & Arthur Schmidt 

CAST: Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Alison Janney, Glenn Close, William Fichtner, Lou Taylor Pucci, Justin Chatwin,  Jason Issacs, Rita Wilson, John Heard, Carrie-Anne Moss, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Culkin, Lauren Holly, Caroline Goodall

Well apart from not the best title in the world.

Despite having a All-Star cast the material never rises above it’s quirky to be quirky premise.

The film seeks to be a Deep, Dark Comedy that comes off as Idiosyncratic comedy that deep down wants to be a satire of the suburbs and teenage alienation.

The story involves a teenagers suicide and the ramifications that it has through the small community. The teenager was selling drugs to his peers and without a constant supply they try to get his best friend to get them drugs when he refuses they kidnap his brother and hold him ransom the only thing is they kidnap the wrong kid. That is just one of the story threads in this of the characters are messed up in there own way. The title comes from a video game the kids all play that seems to mirror there lives.

The film seems to be what a Hollywood studio thinks a indie movie is supposed to be. The elements are there the All-Star cast that seems to be partially slumming because the material is so rich only here it is not. It has satire and social commentary with a handful of dramatic moments. A good looking young cast.

The only real dramatic moments or scenes that felt real come at the beginning and ending of the film.

Certain characters are memorable and hold there own in there scenes to ground the movie a little like Glenn close in the film.

The direction is stylish, I only wish the he had the material to match it.

Wait For Cable.

GRADE: C-

Daniel Craig + the Holocaust + Belarus + Nazis = a reasonably good film.  Before you think this is the worst film review you have ever read (although it might be, follow me with this one) the reason I have started like this is because this film is a series of different elements that are glued together as separate entities that end up coming together to make a strangely interesting film.  Obviously no one is surprised that the Nazi’s and the holocaust go together but this is the thing they are  just elements of the overall film.

The film is based on the true story of the Bielski brothers.  Their family has been massacred by the Nazi’s, however they manage to escape into the woods.  They bump into other Jews who are also hiding in the woods.  Slowly but surely they begin to grow in number eventually creating a community.  Their freedom is challenged repeatedly by the Soviets, Nazi’s and the cold of the Belarussian winter.  Camp life comes to an abrupt end when they hear of a planned Nazi attack during Passover putting everyone’s life at risk.

Followers of FilmWipe will be thinking this is the worst review you have ever written.  Possibly.  However, it is because I am very confused by this film.  I really enjoyed watching it.  There was suspense from start to finish and enough surprises in the plot that it keeps you interested for the full two hours and ten minutes.  The film is well directed and has high production values.   However there is one fatal flaw.  Daniel Craig.

Accents have never been a strong point for Daniel Craig.  Observers of his early career will have noted how limited his range of accents has been.  This is probably the most extravagant one he has ever attempted and frankly it is the patchiest thing I have ever heard.  One second he is Vladimir Putin at his most vitriolic and the other he is Barbara Windsor in Eastenders. His accent nightmare is made worst due to the fact that the other actors have put in a brilliant performance.  Jamie Bell puts in an accent performance that is believable and easy listening at its best.  The biggest travesty about his accent is that it detracts from a brilliant piece of acting.  He is gruff and aggressive just like his interpretation of Bond, but there is a softness not that he does not exhibit in the spy series.   He drags characters kicking and screaming to survival.  However as I said he is just an element.  Although he is the lead character he disappears.  The focus changes to something else and you forget who he is.  The same happens to the Nazi’s and the holocaust.  A mistake that almost costs the camp dear.

Jamie Bell is probably the best thing in the film.  I was not a fan of Billy Elliot but this was a performance that was both impressive and assured and illustrates an actor who has finally found his place.  The other great performance is Leiv Schreiber.  He also put in a performance that grabs the attention.  Although his character disappears in the Red Army for a period when he is in a scene you don’t forget it.

The films greatest achievement is that is provides an interesting insight into human behaviour and the role of leadership.  Craig’s character is frequently put in a position where he has to make tough decisions.  You quickly see the importance of discipline and humanity in leadership.  You leave the cinema with a greater respect for elected government.

Overall this is one of the best World War 2 films of the year.  I thoroughly recommend watching.  Although ear plugs are a must when he starts talking as if he has come from Albert Square.

7/10 Interesting

Was at home on a rainy Sunday afternoon and decided to watch a World War II movie – Defiance. I have had it for quite some time yet never got time to watch it. A recent hard drive crash (heart breaking it was ) reduced my movie-watching options to just a few! So I picked up Defiance in the hope that it will lighten up my day.

Laid back with some ice-cream (to replace the popcorn off course) the movie rolled on. I was surprised to see Daniel Craig in the movie and even more surprised that I didn’t know about it!! Anyways,  the movie is about the struggle of a four Jews – brothers Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael (Jamie Bell), and Aron (George MacKay). Fleeing from the clutches of the Nazis who killed their parents as they killed countless millions of Jews under the aegis of Adolf Hitler, the brothers take refuge in the forests of Belarus. Vowing to take revenge, the brothers avenge the death of their family. What began as the will to survive until revenge was taken slowly became something else. The brothers took 100s of fleeing Jews under their protection and soon enough they formed a community in the forest. Stealing from the Germans and provided protection from the Russians, the community thrived and by the end of the war it was more than a 1000 strong.

The movie depicts the survival story of perhaps the few remaining Jews back then who may now be responsible for 1000s of offsprings all these years. The lives saved, thanks to the efforts of the Bielski brothers, in many ways, saved an entire community from extinction. It truly is an amazing story about survival through the worst nightmares one can imagine.

Hallam Foe: psychological profile of a teenage voyeur two years after his mum suspiciously killed herself. Bell plays a believable rogue nutter, and the rest of the cast aren’t that bad at all. There’s no doubting that this tried to be a totally ‘Scottish’ film, especially given all the shady characters and coarse dialogue. The story however is far too convenient, unrealistic, randy and plain old weird. In doing this, the film ends up being a fiction piece, as opposed to believable, which ruins it a bit. It’s not garbage, but certainly isn’t great. The main problem I have with ‘Scottish films’ (this, Shallow grave, Trainspotting, Red Road, Sweet Sixteen…) is that they almost always present all Scots as violent/murderous raging alcoholics that will pump anything. Overall, it’s interesting, but don’t go out of your way to get this.

Score: 5/10

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2009

Second World War is an event that happened seventy years ago. Numbers of those who could relate to it through their personal experiences are dwindling, yet the debates about its causes and aftermath continue like the war happened yesterday. Many times those debates revolve about myths, half-truths and attempts to give some sense to global carnage with simple explanations. One of such debates revolve about question why Jews didn’t fight back when faced with Holocaust. The truth about war was, of course, more complex and those who ask that question ignore situations when Jews actually did fight back. One of such examples is subject of DEFIANCE, 2008 film directed by Edward Zwick.

The plot begins in 1941, after German armies invaded Soviet Union and conquered Belarus. Hitler’s Panzers are followed by SS Einsatzgruppen that begin massacring Jews even before the official start of Final Solution. Among the victims are parents and family of Tuvia  (played by Daniel Craig) and Zus Bielski (played by Liev Schreiber), brothers who survived because they know forests of Belarus like the back of their hand. They hide in woods and try to survive, occasionally engaging in acts of revenge against local Nazi collaborators. After some time, their exploits become a legend among surviving Jews who join their group that would eventually number hundreds of people. As times go by, conflict develops among brothers – pragmatic Tuvia wants only his group to survive while Zus wants revenge against Nazis and even joins Soviet partisans despite the anti-Semitism in their ranks.

Based on a true and fascinating story of Bielski partisans, DEFIANCE provides something other Holocaust drama rarely do – geunine action scenes. Zwick, whose previous work in GLORY and LAST SAMURAI shows talent for depicting combat, doesn’t disappoint here. Those scenes are well-connected, look realistic (partially due to being shot in Lithuania, near genuine historic locations) and, most importantly, fit into the context of the story about ordinary people being forced to do extraordinary things to survive. DEFIANCE also provides intriguing glimpses into some practical problems of people in such situations, namely how to get food and shelter while trying to evade genocidal enemy. The most interesting segments of the film deal with the “natural” social order being reversed in such situations; petty thieves and smugglers who were treated like dirt before the war become leaders due to their pragmatic blue-collar skills; intellectuals, who were supposed to be leaders of community, are next to useless under such conditions. Furthermore, script also provides characters with difficult moral dilemmas, which is good and mostly well-used opportunity for Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber to show their acting skills.

Generally good impression of DEFIANCE begins to worsen when the film approaches its end. Zwick and his co-writer Clayton Frohman apparently couldn’t provide proper ending to the fascinating real-life story, at least not by succumbing to Hollywood cliches at the expense of historical truth, making this film annoyingly predictable to the experienced viewers. However, even the spectacular battle at the end is un-cathartic and DEFIANCE ends disappointingly.

The film looks even more simplistic when its depiction of events is compared with more complex historic reality. This created some controversies in Poland, because the area portrayed in film – part of present-day Belarus – used to be part of Poland before WW2; this fact is ignored in film, just like the rivalry between Soviet and Polish partisans that made predicament of Bielski partisans more complicated.

However, the biggest flaw of DEFIANCE has little to do with Zwick or anything he could have done. Characters, situations and setting of this film just happen to be eerily similar to COME AND SEE, Elem Klimov’s Soviet 1985 film that is arguably the most intense and the most powerful movie ever to be made about WW2. All those who watched Klimov’s film are bound to be disappointed by DEFIANCE.

RATING: 6/10

Daniel Craig decides to go looking for a few critics.

(Paramount Vantage) Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, Allan Corduner, Mark Feuerstein, Tomas Arana, George MacKay, Iben Hjejle, Jodhi May, Sam Spruell, Mia Wasikowski. Directed by Edward Zwick.

More than 60 years after the events of World War II, the events of that conflict still resonate with all of us. It was a time when ordinary people were forced to confront true evil, rise up and make a stand for their very survival, as well as everything they hold most dear. Some of those stories, particularly those that took place in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, are only now coming to light in the West.

It is 1941 in Belarus, and the Germans are systematically capturing, murdering and imprisoning Jews in ghettos. In a small Belarusian town, smuggler Zus Bielski (Schreiber) and his young brother Asael (Bell) hide out in the woods as the Germans decimate their town. They return to the family farm to find their parents murdered and their younger brother Aron (MacKay) traumatized by what he has seen.

Knowing that the Germans are not yet done with their pogrom, and that the local police are co-operating with the Nazis, they flee to the nearby forest where they are joined by their older brother Tuvia (Craig). Experienced at hiding from the police in the woods, they are confident they can hide from the Germans indefinitely. However, Aron soon discovers several other refugees who have fled to the safety of the forest. They are joined by still others from surrounding towns and villages. The number soon swells beyond the ability of the brothers to feed and shelter. There are many elderly and sick, some children and most truly unable to fend for themselves. The brothers give them unity and protection. The brothers give them hope.

After Tuvia confronts the police captain responsible for the murder of his parents and executes him, he forswears from further violence and reprisals, which creates a rift with his brother Zus, who wants nothing more than to get justice, or more to the point, revenge against those oppressing his people. After a food raid leads to the death of some of their number, and leniency with a collaborator brings armed police to their camp, the rift is broadened to the point where Zus leaves to join a Russian partisan group made up of Red Army.

In the meantime, winter comes, food is scarce and they are hunted by a determined and better-armed German army. Tuvia’s determination to adhere to non-violent standards begins to erode in the face of starvation, disease and fear. With the overwhelming odds against them, it would take a miracle for this starving group of refugees to survive.

Zwick, whose resume includes such big-budget fare as Glory, The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond, crafts a movie that has a big-budget look but an intimate feel. Gorgeous vistas of forest, bog and meadow are accentuated within the context of the nuances of the relationships between the brothers. Craig and Schreiber bring a quiet power to their roles as sibling rivals. These are men, proud and wounded, frustrated and helpless in the face of events they cannot control.

The supporting cast, for the most part made up of character actors and Eastern Europeans, does a solid job of portraying starving refugees, terrified townies, arrogant communists and/or occasional Germans, who for the most part remain an enemy without a face, other than the opening sequence, and one later on in the movie in which a terrified soldier is captured and brought before the camp to face a mob of angry Jews.

As for historical accuracy, well, the movie is probably about as accurate as any Hollywood film is (for example, a battle with a Nazi tank near the film’s climax never occurred). There has been some grousing that the film portrays much of the Jewish population of Eastern Europe as being passive in the face of mounting evidence of their own extermination, but I disagree. Certainly, there are scenes like the one where Tuvia pleads with the council of a ghetto to flee to the forest while the elders point out that the Germans kill 20 for every one that flees. However, the fact is that there are instances in which Jews were passive about what was happening to them, whether out of a desire to appease the Germans, or out of an unwillingness to believe the rumors of death camps or that the Germans would annihilate their own slave labor workforce, something that had never happened in the history of the world to that point.

This movie hasn’t received a lot of critical love. Some have called it heavy-handed, which I admit it is in places. Some have called it emotionally manipulative, but then again it is a story which incites strong emotions. Some have compared it unfavorably to Schindler’s List but honestly, that’s like comparing Gods and Generals to Gone With the Wind. Schindler’s List is a classic and most films about the Holocaust are going to come off unfavorably next to it.

I’ll cop to being a bit of a history buff, and I especially enjoy movies that inspire me to find out more about the era or episode that inspired them, and I certainly was hitting the Internet after I got home from the multiplex. The war in Eastern Europe is certainly a bit of a mystery to us in the West; while we are aware that there was a particular ferocity and savagery that took place there, we are for the most part unacquainted with the particulars. I, for one, am always grateful for the opportunity to learn more.

However, at the heart of this movie is the relationship between Tuvia and Zus. It is their strength that sets them apart and their pride that splits them apart, but ultimately it is their love and fierce loyalty that unites them. At the end of the day, that’s what makes the movie worth seeing.

WHY RENT THIS: Lovely Lithuanian vistas. Oscar-nominated musical score. A compelling, believable fraternal relationship.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Occasional heavy-handed storytelling. Some unnecessary historical inaccuracies to make the movie more “salable.”

FAMILY VALUES: Some intense battle scenes and language.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Much of the movie was filmed within 100 miles of where the actual Bielski camp was located.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: A criminally brief interview segment with descendents of the Bielski brothers, and a photo gallery of camp survivors in 2008 give faces to the real participants in the drama.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: The Secret Life of Bees

By Cara Sulieman

BAFTA award winning director Kevin MacDonald has started filming his next Holywood epic in the north of Scotland – and are searching for locals to help star as extras.

The Eagle of the Ninth is based on a children’s book about the defeat of the Roman army in Scotland in 140 AD.

Big names such as Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland star in the movie, which will also be filmed in Hungary.

MacDonald is teaming up with scriptwriter Jeremy Brock for the project after their success with the 2006 hit The Last King of Scotland which saw Forest Whitaker win best actor at the Oscars.

Television series

But now they are appealing for extras to star alongside Channing Tatum of G.I Joe fame and the other stars as they film scenes near Ullapool next month.

The book – which has the same name as the film – was written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1954.

First in a series of books, it has since become a classic and was made into a television series by the BBC in 1977.

It tells the story of Marcus Aquila, a young centurion who comes to Scotland from Rome to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion of the Roman Empire.

Macphail Centre

Produces by Film4 it is set to hit screens in 2010.

Tessa Ross, the head of Film4, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be working again with the wonderful Kevin Macdonald and his brilliant collaborators on this great project.”

The producers still need extras who are either men aged 16 – 45 or women aged 16 – 25 for the filming in October.

Casting for the roles will take place in the Macphail Centre in Ullapool tomorrow (SAT).

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Jamie Bell as Hallam in Hallam Foe

This is the 55th post in our Celebrity of the Day series.

This English dancer was born in 1986 into a family of dancers. Though Jamie never knew his father, he was close to his mother, sister, aunt and grandmother, all of whom where dancers. He got his start at the age of six by imitating the dance moves of his sister when she practiced. Eventually he joined in, but kept his dancing a secret.

He made his debut as a dancer and an actor by beating out 2,000 other boys for the role of Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot in 2000. His life was a strong parallel to that of Billy Elliot as once news of his dancing was exposed he was heavily ridiculed. But that did not matter as even though he was an unknown actor the role won him numerous Best Actor and Best Newcomer awards, including a BAFTA Film Award and a British Independent Film Award.

Since Billy Elliot, Jamie has found himself with no lack of work with roles in movies like King Kong, Flags of our Fathers, Deathwatch and Hallam Foe. His recent projects have included the role of Griffin in Jumper and Asael Bielski in Defiance. Coming up in 2010 and 2011 will be In Defiance of Gravity and The Eagles of the Ninth.

To find out more about Jamie Bell check out IMDB and NetGlimpse

from MoviesOnline.ca

Filming begins today on the Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald and produced by Duncan Kenworthy. Shooting entirely on location in Hungary and Scotland, the film is co-financed by Film4 with Focus Features, which holds worldwide rights excluding U.K. free-TV.

The cast is headed by Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the upcoming Dear John), Jamie Bell (Defiance, Jumper), two-time Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong (the upcoming Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood). Mr. Macdonald is reunited on the new film with Jeremy Brock, BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter of his 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, who has adapted the screenplay of The Eagle of the Ninth from Rosemary

Channing Tatum

Sutcliff’s classic novel of the same name.

Duncan Kenworthy, an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee for Four Weddings and a Funeral, developed and is producing The Eagle of the Ninth through his Toledo Productions. Caroline Hewitt is co-producer. Focus senior vice president, European production Teresa Moneo – who with Focus Features International president of sales and distribution Alison Thompson brought the project into the company – is supervising the film’s production with Film4 head Tessa Ross.

The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Mr. Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Mr. Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Mr. Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mr. Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

The Eagle of the Ninth has begun shooting in Hungary. No it is not a film about golf. If you like big Roman epics then this could be for you. It is directed by Kevin Macdonald and stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong.

The rivetingly dark comedy by newcomer Arie Posin, The Chumscrubber weaves a tale of the separate worlds adults and teenagers orbit in. The tag being “Meet Generation Rx”, it tells the story of a teenage drug dealer who supplies the entire city indirectly with “happy pills.” He kills himself, leaving his best friend, Dean (Jamie Bell) to retrieve his drugs to save a boy taken captive by the town bully, Billy (Justin Chatwin) and his friends Lee and Crystal (Lou Taylor Pucci, Camilla Belle).

This is not just some movie about teenage angst and drug addiction. It shows what happens when rich disillusioned parents have to face the real world… and their children.

Believable and dry, this movie has intertwining characters and situations. Especially situations involving dolphins. It’s fresh, interesting, and definitely worth watching.

Fin.

Título Original: Billy Elliot

Site oficial:
http://www.billyelliot.com/
Ótima lembrança da Elisa A. Um filme incrível.

Defiance (2008)
★★ / ★★★★

Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and George MacKay star in “Defiance,” directed by Edward Zwick, as four Jewish brothers who escape from the place where they used to live due to the implementation of the Final Solution. The four seek refuge in the forest as they welcome (though at times reluctantly) other Jewish people. Soon, they become a community; and as with all new communities, problems ensue such as rationing of food, who deserves what, what is allowed and what is not, who the leader should be and so on. Although the audiences get a lot of scenes when the Germans attack the Jews and vice-versa, I really could care less about those scenes. I was actually more interested in the dynamics within the small community such as the differing ways of leadership between Craig and Schreiber. While I found it difficult to align myself with one or the other, I thought it was great because I was engaged with what was going on as well as surprised when they would suddenly change their stance regarding a particular issue. I also liked the scenes when everyone would starve and get diseases in the dead of winter. It’s not that I like watching people suffer but it’s more about being concerned and wondering who will make it in the end and who wouldn’t. Although this was inspired by a true story, admittedly, I didn’t know much about the Bielski brothers so I didn’t know how it would end. What prevents me from giving this film a recommendation is that it all too often becomes generic. With such a unique subject matter, I feel like it took the safer route in order to appeal to wider audiences. It also had too many fighting scenes when it really didn’t need to because it already has a poignant story to tell. Still, there’s some scenes worth seeing here such as when Zwick showed that people are people–that is, monstrosity can be committed by both the Germans and the Jews. I wish this had been a much stronger film because it really is important to recognize what the Bielski brothers have done for the Jewish community. But perhaps the gesture is enough.