Defiance

I thought that this was an excellent movie.  As soon as I saw the trailer for this film, I was captivated.  I immediately wanted to see the whole movie, and know more about the subject, and tell my friends and family about it, which, I imagine, is what the goal of a movie is.  Not only is this story incredible, but the actors who played the characters in this movie were exceptional.  I particularly liked the man who played Tuvia.  I thought he was an amazing actor and really made an impact on me.  I feel like he was the center for everyone throughout the film.  I am always especially impressed with actors who play roles in movies dealing with such heavy content, such as the holocaust.  They have to be especially talented.  This movie, along with any movie dealing with the holocaust, has a special effect on me.  Although stories about the holocaust are extremely hard to hear about and watch, they make for some of my favorite stories because they are so impactful.  I have been hearing learning about the holocaust my entire life, and I always find it fascinating to learn more about it and hear more about that time period.  There were so many good parts to this movie.  So much can be related to todays world, such as the struggle to maintain humanity in a sometimes particularly hard period of time, or deciding to put the value of your life and the lives of the people you care about above redemption.  These brothers were absolutely amazing; the things that they did, most people would not be able to do.  They were courageous, brave, strong, and powerful: born leaders.  This film definitely left a lasting impression on me, for the content the extraordinary acting, and the educational value it had.  I would definitely recommend this film to anyone and everyone.

Tuvia's statement in the film "Our revenge is to live." is extremely powerful.  The Nazis goal was to completely terminate the entire Jewish population.   Not one Jew was supposed to be left living, or it would taint Hitler's Aryan race.  Escaping into the woods, and being able to survive the holocaust as a Jew when so millions of their brothers and sisters were slaughtered every day, was revenge enough.  The fact that the Nazis did not get them, they were not captured and treated like animals, they were not brutally murdered for no reason whatsoever, was the ultimate redemption.  Staying alive throughout this time was the only thing that they could do.  I do believe that humanity and revenge can co exist, to a certain extent.  In an extreme situation like this one, it is definitely hard to know where to draw the line. How far is too far to go to get revenge before you give up your morals, your values, and everything else that makes you a human being? It is a very thin line.  Zus definitely crossed this line at one point in the film.  Tuvia was constantly intent on preserving their humanity, and by doing that, he believed they would get revenge.  I believe that wanting revenge is a natural human emotion, along with all of the other things that we feel on a daily basis.  However, choosing to act on that feeling, or not act on it, is what makes us human, and helps us preserve our humanity in questionable and hard times.