Watching the film, it's striking just how fast new societies can rise up with their own sets of laws and customs and bond. Humans are resilient adapters -- yes, life in the forest must have frequently been hell, even worse than portrayed in the movie, but most of them did live through it. I didn't quite realize how affecting the movie was until the postscript at the end, which, by merely hinting at the legacy of the Bielskis, brought tears to my eyes.

Movie Grade: A-

Four Jewish brothers living in Nazi occupied Poland escape into the forest where they join up with Russian resistance fighters in battling the Nazis. Throughout the war they built a village inside the forest and saved the lives of more than 1200 other Jews. Based on a true story.