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This is one of the most emotional movies I've ever seen. Spielberg has documented evil and made a moving tribute to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The story centers around the true story of Oskar Schindler, a war profiteer who paid to save the lives of Jews during the holocaust. Liam Neeson was outstanding as the lead and the script gave him a rich character to portray.
The film presents Schindler as a business man, a womanizer, a profiteer, and a humanitarian. His contrasts allow for a beautiful character development. His interactions with Ralph Fiennes, who is very chilling as the commandant of the concentration camp Ammon Goeth, shows him to be a man struggling with hypocrisy. He disapproves of Goeth's cold-blooded murder and harsh treatment of the Jews, but he clearly enjoys Goeth's company. He has a hard time reconciling the two sides of Goeth's personality. He uses his influence to try and persuade Goeth to be more forgiving, to have morals and treat the Jews with the dignity that all humans deserve.
Ben Kingsley is outstanding as Itzhak Stern, a Jewish businessman that really runs Schindler's factory. But the real star is Spielberg's unforgiving examination of the holocaust. His use of black and white film (a very beautiful stock, not the grainy kind you see in independent films) is inspired. Because all the things that you " ve seen about the holocaust are in black and white, the film doesn't appear to be unusual. This also leaves him room to do something brilliant.
When the SS is liquidating the Warsaw Ghetto, there is a girl that is wearing a bright red dress. This is one of the two times that there is color in the film (the other is the flame of a candle). This is a brilliant visual move by Spielberg. In the middle of all this murder and horror, he suddenly brings in color to remind you that this is real.
This really happened. It's just brilliant. His depiction of cold-blooded murder destroys your faith in man. But Schindler redeems humanity by buying the lives of people. Without his intervention they will surely die. Schindler understands this fact and spends all his money to save people.
The most emotional moment for me was at the end. The Nazis have signed their surrender and the Jews are going to be set free. Schindler must now run or face prosecution for being a member of the Nazi party (which was really just a business choice for him). He breaks down, saying that he has not done enough.
He cries because he could have saved more people. And he is surrounded by the people he saved. It is a heartbreaking scene because Schindler was one of the few people who did save people during the holocaust and the fact that he's not satisfied, that he thinks he didn't do enough, is so sad. This movie was an outstanding masterpiece from a true genius. Spielberg has become the conscience of the world and he will never let us forget. And I can't think of anything better.
This film has the effect of quicksand on me. Any time it is on television, I can't stop watching it. Although this film has earned millions of dollars and critical acclaim, I think Spielberg made this film primarily to teach the world about the horrors of the Holocaust and the complex nature of genocide. A very poignant scene shows an SS man playing the piano in the living room of a Jewish home during the liquidation of a Jewish Ghetto. Two other SS men try to guess which German classical composer's work the pianist is playing. This scene shows even that in one of the world's most scientifically, technologically, culturally and artistically advanced nations, such as Germany, a group like the Nazis can come to power and perpetrate genocide.
The SS men themselves are culturally aware, yet at the same time are rounding people up to be gassed or worked and starved to death. The black and white film adds to the realism. I grew up watching real WWII footage which was almost always in black and white. Thus, the black and white film gives it the feel of actual WWII footage.
Although this is a must see film for anyone over the age of 13, it does have its faults. Hearing Eastern European Jews and German characters speak English is too much for me to get over. I never develop a suspension of disbelief because the English dialogue perpetually reminds me this is only a movie. This film would have been much more realistic if authentic languages had been used. Just imagine movies like "Do the Right Thing" or "Boys in The Hood, " dubbed into German. It is just as absurd to have inner-city black Americans speaking German as it is to have the characters in "Schindler's List" speaking English.
I'm sure Spielberg chose to use English simply because mass audiences feel uncomfortable with subtitles. It's a shame the realism of this film had to be compromised for the benefit of the unsophisticated masses. The end of this film is very emotional and powerful. However, it is a blatant, shameless rip-off of the ending of "Europa, Europa" which was released three years prior to "Schindler's List, " and which Spielberg would have undoubtedly seen.
I just can't believe it is a mere coincidence that both movies end by showing the actual people who had been portrayed by actors in the movies standing in a cemetery in modern Israel. In the case of "Schindler's List, " there are many people, in the case of "Europa, Europa, " it is just the main character. I was pleased this film was not edited for television. I think the only reasons this film was allowed to be shown unedited on network television are, first of all, Steven Spielberg's demands carry a lot of weight, and secondly, the film deals with the Holocaust, which, understandably, is a sacred subject with America's Jewish dominated entertainment industry.
It opens with a small color scene and then it moves into black and white. This adds a sense of reality to the film. Schindler, who owns a factory, needs to get Jews to work in it for free. Actually, what the Jews are getting in return is even more valuable than money. Freedom. He is freeing them from being destroyed.
He is so generous that people ask him to let people work in the factory so they will live. He does so. We only see it happen once, but I feel that it happened more often. He has a heart but he also does it for his personal gain. At first, he just opens the factory to gain money. In the end, we see him spending all the money to save the Jews.
He buys the workers and ends up with a car and a gold ring at the end of the movie. We also get a look into other lives of World War II, such as Amon Goeth (played by Ralph Fiennes) and Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley). Goeth is a mean and hypocritical villian. He chooses a Jew to be his slave and do things for him. Soon, he finds himself in love with her. In a shocking scene, Goeth goes out on a balcony and just shoots people at random.
His lover / slave , Helen Hirsch (Embeth David), watches in disgust. He doesn't care either. He is an evil man and for a moment in the film, when he lets a kid go for not being able to clean a bathtub, we see a compassionate man. Ten seconds later, he shoots and kills the kid.
He isn't going to change and we know it. Itzhak Stern is a Jew chosen by Schindler to work as an accountant. However, Stern has an effect on Schindler which is part of the reason Schindler decides to save all his workers. We see his compassion when he rescues Stern from being shipped to a concentration camp. Kingsley is perfect for the part and shows that he is afraid but brave enough to stand up for his beliefs. However, t...
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