Defiance

[Marlow]

During previous movie discussions here, some have opined that Saving Pvt. Ryan and Schindler's List are two of the best they've seen. Add another to that genre list, Defiance. It is a MUST-SEE, yet it also one of the hardest to watch. The wife and I were transfixed by the story and Daniel Craig's powerful portrayal of a WW2 resistance fighter. We were even both too stunned to cry at the most moving parts.

[Daisy]

Re: Defiance

some have opined that.....

Remind me, you liked them or not? I have not seen either as there is no way my wife would sit through either. However, I want to see them at some point, I think.

[Marlow]

Re: Defiance

some have opined that.....

Remind me, you liked them or not? I have not seen either as there is no way my wife would sit through either. However, I want to see them at some point, I think.

I have issues. I refuse to see SL and I wouldn't see SPR in a theater. I got the DVD later and FFed thru the first half hour of war scenes. Somewhere during my military service something broke in me and I can't watch the types of things that were depicted in those films. I was reassured that Defiance was not as graphic and it's not. It's just very heart/gut-wrenching.

[SQUACKEE]

I understand not wanting to see these films, my mother in law wouldnt see Saving pvt Ryan.

My view is we all owe it to the people who went thru these horrible times and we honor them when we watch.

[tandfman]

My view is we all owe it to the people who went thru these horrible times and we honor them when we watch.

That's an admirable view. But it can't be the view of people who have been so traumatized by their own military experience that they cannot bear to have visual reminders of it.

As I'm sure you know, people are affected by war in different ways. I was standing behind a guy at a buffet in Eugene last summer at the Trials and he uneasily turned around and asked me to move aside. He explained that his service in Iraq had left him extremely nervous when anyone was behind him. I backed away immediately, of course. It occurs to me now that he probably can't go to the movies at all, unless perhaps it's in a theater where there's a wall right behind the last row. What he can bear to watch? Who knows?

My own military service was in peacetime, and so I never had to see the horrors of war live, in real time, with my own eyes. Needless to say, like you, I have nothing but the highest respect for the people who have served our country and, in doing so, have endured things that most of us are spared.

[SQUACKEE]

My view is we all owe it to the people who went thru these horrible times and we honor them when we watch.

That's an admirable view. But it can't be the view of people who have been so traumatized by their own military experience that they cannot bear to have visual reminders of it.

As I'm sure you know, people are affected by war in different ways. I was standing behind a guy at a buffet in Eugene last summer at the Trials and he uneasily turned around and asked me to move aside. He explained that his service in Iraq had left him extremely nervous when anyone was behind him. I backed away immediately, of course. It occurs to me now that he probably can't go to the movies at all, unless perhaps it's in a theater where there's a wall right behind the last row. What he can bear to watch? Who knows?

My own military service was in peacetime, and so I never had to see the horrors of war live, in real time, with my own eyes. Needless to say, like you, I have nothing but the highest respect for the people who have served our country and, in doing so, have endured things that most of us are spared.

well said, totally agree.

[jhc68]

A long-time friend of mine was shaken for days after watching Forrest Gump. He said the Vietnam ambush scene was a virtual re-creation of the situation that nearly killed him - and did kill the guy next to him - there in 1969. Apparently the sounds, sights, even the terrain were way too evocative for him to deal with.

As for SPR, for me the most difficult and emotional part is the last scene of the film, fifty years removed from the war itself.

[Marlow]

we honor them when we watch.

I am deeply conflicted by this. On one hand, I know I can't watch it, but on the other hand, I want everyone else to watch it. I think I already 'know' everything there is to know about pain and suffering, and therefore can't stomach one more reminder of it, but I also know I have no earthly concept about what the real pain and suffering of something like the Holocaust really was. The living conditions and constant fear of discovery suffered by the Jews in the story were things I'm afraid I could not sanely endure.

[SQUACKEE]

As for SPR, for me the most difficult and emotional part is the last scene of the film, fifty years removed from the war itself.

Thats when my eyes started to hydrate. :cry:

[mike renfro]

Re: Defiance

I have issues. I refuse to see SL and I wouldn't see SPR in a theater. I got the DVD later and FFed thru the first half hour of war scenes. Somewhere during my military service something broke in me and I can't watch the types of things that were depicted in those films. I was reassured that Defiance was not as graphic and it's not. It's just very heart/gut-wrenching.

Is SL on your no view list because of the subject matter. I will allow as how it is a lot of hours of being kicked in the the stomach, but it is probably the best movie I have seen in the last 20 years. Our daughter came in while we were watching (VHS or DVD, can't remember) and wondered why we were crying.

The local reviews of Defiance were of the nitpick variety. The people managed to find food (manna?), the lead actress looked as if she had just come from the hairdresser, etc. But that's just the San Diego crew. I'll see what LaSalle at the Chron has to say. Him I trust. We will wait for the DVD release. Even with a good theater experience with "The Good Shepherd", I just don't trust today's audiences to behave at the movies.

[Marlow]

Re: Defiance

Is SL on your no view list because of the subject matter. I will allow as how it is a lot of hours of being kicked in the the stomach

The subject matter is very similar to Defiance, but even the trailers and teasers suggest that the portrayal on the screen would be too overwhelming. I can do 'movie violence' all day long, but when it hits too close to the truth, I can't do it.

[DrJay]

Kind of a tangent, but grim war scenes are part of the thread....This week, while looking about the Web for info on my high school's mile record holder (Skip Poole, 4:25 in 1964), I stumbled on a story about an experience he had in Vietnam. Can't copy/paste as the letters are pale yellow on white when I do so (can't see them, feel free to copy and change the color if you know how.) Scroll a bit more than halfway down, to the section titled "Saves Downed Pilot Track Star Wins Death Race".

http://25thaviation.org/id844.htm

(I found he ran for Furman from 1965-1967 and was 4th in the Southern Conference XC meet in 1965.)

[TrakFan]

Re: Defiance

The subject matter is very similar to Defiance, but even the trailers and teasers suggest that the portrayal on the screen would be too overwhelming. I can do 'movie violence' all day long, but when it hits too close to the truth, I can't do it.

I can watch the various holocaust films, but can't/couldn't watch the Flight 93 movie.

[gh]

As for SPR, for me the most difficult and emotional part is the last scene of the film, fifty years removed from the war itself.

Thats when my eyes started to hydrate. :cry:

The closing scene?! Christ, that movie set a record for me for earliest tearing up; I don't think I was 30 seconds into the opening scene before i had to grab a kleenex.

[Texas]

Only movie scene to ever bring the mists to my eyes was from..."City For Conquest"...an old Cagney flick. If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. Yep that scene at the book stand.