Defiance

1.  I really liked how the setting really made this movie feel real.  During most of the movie the setting was in the forest and it gave the movie a mood of secrecy and isolation.  The winter scenes that were shown made me want to get a blanket or stand near a fireplace because the characters looked like they were freezing to death.  I find it amazing the the Bielski brothers managed to take in all these Jewish refugees and were able to create a small community hidden in the woods.  I've never seen a WWII movie that ever showed Jewish people fighting against the Germans.  I never knew before that there was some kind of organized Jewish resistance force.  These Jews that followed the leadership of the Bielski brothers were Jews that wanted to be free and fight for that freedom.  These Jews would rather die in fighting against the Germans than being executed at a concentration camp.

2.  When Tuvia tells his followers that "our revenge is to live" he is implying that revenge can not be achieved through killing the Germans because it can not bring their lost family members back.  Tuvia says that if they survive it will bring shame upon the Nazis and gratitude to their own people. I believe that Humanity and Revenge can coexist, its just the way that revenge is carried out by those revenging.  Revenge is an act of humanity because at some point in our lives all of us feel the need to have revenge for something.  Revenge is part of humanity because it is felt by everyone who has lost something due to someone else.  In the film, the Bielski group captured a Nazi soldier and they took the soldier and beat him to death.  The Bielski Jews were saying, "this is for my parents", Or "this is for my husband", when they were beating the soldier to his death.  This is an example of how revenge is part of humanity in the movie.