A couple of years back on this very blog, I shared a little dream that I had. I dreamt that Hollywood would finally discover my homeland, Belarus that is. For some weird reason Belarus had remained a real terra incognito for film-makers. Today I had a chance to watch Defiance, a true-story Hollywood drama about the Bielski brothers who, during WWII, formed a partisan detachment to save lives of Jews hiding from the Nazis in the Belarusian forests.


I need to say this rather slow-paced drama was not the best war movie I have seen, but I really liked it for a number of reasons. First, it was a good cinematographic effort to retell the Bielski story. I can hardly remember it from my schoolbooks, and I doubt many contemporaries have heard of it. The movie shows how complex the inter-ethnic relationships were during the war. Some Belarusians were less than friendly towards the Jews. Some collaborated with the Nazis, hunted down and killed fugitive Jews. It is our shame, but we are all partly responsible for what was done to our Jewish compatriots during the WWII.

Second, this movie is the biggest Hollywood production about Belarus to date. Starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, it can’t be bad :) . Well, it is not very James Bondian, but it is one of the best Belarus-related films I have seen.

Third, it was filmed in Lithuania, and some of my friends, EHU students, played in the movie in crowd scenes. As far as I know, it was the students’ idea to sing a Belarusian traditional song “Kupalinka” in one of such scenes. It was really nice to hear the song. However, it was a bit funny to hear it in the camp of the Red partisans.

Of course, there must be some factual discrepancies. Sure, many might say the movie did not tell the full story, was superficial, etc. Yet, it is the first biggie from Hollywood about our country. Nice.

P.S. Hey, if some Hollywood screenwriter gets to ever read my blog, please, please, please, consider writing about Belarus. Think about the last dictator in Europe, death squads, dead opposition politicians, appalling prison conditions, youth resistance. Believe me, Belarus is a Klondike for blockbuster movies. Belarus can make you rich, film-maker. Peace.