Defiance

First, Valkyrie, now this . . .



World Magazine writes:

Viewers who know their Bible will get more out of Edward Zwick's Defiance.

More than any film I've seen this year, Defiance is a rich experience for grown-up religious conservatives. Between the brotherly bickering over which Bible story they're acting out ("Vengeance is mine—who said that, Tuvia?" demands the restless Zus as he goes off to do God's work for Him) and the layered, clever Mosaic imagery, movie buffs who know their Bible are likelier to have a good time at Defiance than anyone else. In particular, the scenes of Tuvia and Asael leading their followers across the waters of a Polish swamp are wonderfully evocative, and not of Washington crossing the Delaware.

The ethical complexities of the movie make it worth chewing over—When is a group of widows and orphans also a lynch mob, for example?—but the action sequences (largely of the screenwriters' invention) are frankly stunning, too. In Zwick's other films, the moral perspective has been secular; here, it's probably best articulated by one of the film's minor characters, a rabbi who spends most of the movie arguing with (and consequently befriending) a young intellectual.

"I almost lost my faith, but you were sent by God to save me," he observes to Tuvia.

"Ridiculous," Tuvia replies.

"I know. But just in case, I thank Him, and I thank you."

You can read the whole review at World. For those of you who like to study history, and who like to find redemptive themes in movies, it looks well worth seeing.

Blessings
3 John 8
Bill H