Day 76, Be Brave Project; De Cold and Defiance

Thank Goodness that cold snap is over for the moment--it's difficult to leave home when it's that icy outside. It's difficult to do anything except pile on the layers, knit, and think about what lovely little thing you'll be stuffing in your face next. It's also hard to face the world when dressed like a bloody Bostonian (though without the appearance of wearing hemp). All chic goes out the window, except for a very jaunty little faux fur toque I wear at an angle. Otherwise it's slate grey long underwear, double layers of cashmere, enormous complicated scarf twistings that look as if I was bandaged by a blind giant, a thick pea coat. . .and boots by L.L. Bean.

The ultimate concession. Practical footwear.

Saturday morning I donned this garb and caught the A train down to Columbus Circle. The searching northern wind made me realize, even though my hands were stuffed deep into my pockets, that one of my gloves had torn at the right index finger--cold wind flooded in through that finger tip, straight up to my elbow. I would walk a block, jump into some card shop and wander around for 10 minutes, removing my hat before meandering through the shop with my cold finger inserted beneath my armpit like a thermometer. Then I jam my hat back on my head. . .and walk another block.

I assume everyone else was doing the same, unless the world awoke with a passion for Thank You notes that day.

What got me out of the house, when I could have been home with knitting and cat and fabulous footwear and food? My friend Kendall invited me to a noon SAG screening of the not-yet released film Defiance. I love a good WWII film (who doesn't delight to see Nazis taught a lesson, yet again?), and I particularly love it when there's a new true story to tell.

Defiance is about the Bielski brothers in Russia, Jewish men who are forced away fro the family farm into the woods near their home--their parents have been slaughtered by the Russian police, who are being paid the equivalent of $500 a head to kill or turn in Jewish people. The Bielskis bring along a rather half-witted farm boy, who you suspect will be a bit of dead weight, a gun with four bullets, and very little food. They swear that they will take care of the farm boy, but beyond that remain a tight lone trio.

However people--other Jews seeking asylum-- kept finding them. By the end of the winter the Bielskis had created a community of Jews in the forest, more than several hundred people strong. They built shelters, had schooling, food, weapons. And they also had power struggles, between the two oldest brothers.

The brothers are played by Jamie Bell (the guy who might one day shake the "Billy Elliott" label), Liev Schrieber (supposedly one of the great theatre actors of his generation, but known to me as the sarky guy from Scream), and. . .well, there's no other way to explain my foray out into the cold. . .Daniel Craig as the oldest brother.

It is a fascinating and beautifully shot film. The cast acquits itself well and there are some rocking action scenes involving guerrilla attacks on Nazis. There are also some rather amusing movie conventions like 1. It's easy to tell the bad guys, because they have bad teeth. Everyone else in the forest clearly brought dental floss, but the Bad Guys neglected to do so and the decay apparently went to their morals. 2. The Brothers Bielski, though they entered the woods in unprepossessing woolen jackets, somehow are rakishly dressed in belted leather bombers halfway through. We do see Schreiber steal one coat, but the others look as if they were provided by the Calvin Klein Brigade. And I dug it.

The actors are excellent, the Russian accents well done--and DC does show one coquettish naked shoulder. Excellent. I was surprised, however, to find that Liev Schreiber stole the show. He was more than slightly thrilling as the angry alpha male who couldn't bear being outshone by his older brother. More than slightly thrilling.

Thrill was added by the fact that there were guards hired by the film studios in the aisles during the screening of the film--we were told that if anyone so much as filmed as much as one image of this movie on their cell phones, these guards would be all over them. If the one of the security guards had been in a belted leather jacket, I might not have been able to resist. . .