Schindler's List (1993)

My first thought after I saw Schindler’s List for the first time was about what I would say to director Steven Spielberg if I ever met him. I would say, “Bless you.” Spielberg’s extraordinary film is based on true events and real people; and is an indelible record for all future generations of the pure evil of the Nazi Regime — and how one man beat it.

At first Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is nothing more than a Nazi war profiteer looking to make a buck from the misfortune befalling Poland’s Jews; who have been rounded up and had their property taken away. Schindler goes to meet Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), a Jewish businessman, and proposes a deal: Schindler will let the Jews work in his factory, as long as he gets all the profits.

A short time later the Nazis begin rounding up the Jews in Krakow, Poland and herd them into a ghetto. Later still, after the Jews have been taken to a forced labor camp, Stern realizes that his own life could end at any minute and begs Schindler to keep the factory open with bribes and favors to the Nazi authorities; knowing that as long as Jews are working there they’re not as likely to be killed.

Another important character in the film is the brutal labor camp commandant, Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), who shoots Jews casually from the balcony of his villa overlooking the camp. Goeth eventually picks a pretty Jewish girl named Helen Hirsch (Embeth Davidtz) to be his housekeeper; and the drama surrounding their interaction is another powerful story in the film. This type of subplot brings you back to the reality that these are real characters; this story actually happened; there actually is a real Helen Hirsch.


What’s interesting, as well, is the way in which Schindler’s character is developed. At the beginning he’s really a scum-bag interested in making a lot of money at the expense of slave labor. By the end he genuinely wants to save these people’s lives. But at no point in the film does he overtly express exactly what he’s thinking. Because of this, he develops this interesting relationship with Itzhak Stern, who has to read him and intuit what’s happening in Schindler’s head. Of course, Stern has to do this rather cautiously, because it could mean instant death for him if he guesses wrong.

These two characters dance through the movie in this very interesting ballet — moving from advisories in the beginning gracefully through to the end of the movie where they’re brothers. But never once, in that long process, does either of the characters vocalize what’s happening. Also Spielberg is never explicit about why Schindler decides to save all those people. At first you just get the feeling that, despite being a scum-bag, there are certain lines he won’t cross. Later it seems as though he genuinely grows to care for the people who worked so hard to make him his money.

Now, I knew that Spielberg could handle the heroic story of Schindler saving over 1,100 Jews; what shocked and impressed me was how strong the scenes of Nazi evil were in this film. We see a lot of hands-on-killing, with people up close putting a bullet through somebody’s head. And the joy that the Nazis took in the killing was another thing I was glad Spielberg showed. They were having a good time. They were enjoying what they were doing.

Of course when you watch something on the Holocaust it’s going to be sad, but Spielberg refused to go for the easy emotional payoffs. Spielberg is a director who built his career supplying jolts to our emotions: Whether we’re talking about Jaws, Jurassic Park, E.T, Back to the Future, or the Color Purple; but in Schindler’s List he shows even greater power over our emotions by using tremendous restraint. He simply shows us things and lets us supply our own feelings.

There are quite a number of scenes that he could’ve punched up by using music or other techniques that tell you exactly how to feel, but Spielberg goes instead for a documentary quality all through the film. Spielberg understood that the enormity of the Holocaust wasn’t a series of big emotional highs and lows; crises, deliverances, and retreats – but in the fact that it was a reality. It was a grim reality that stretched on day after day, year after year; and paralyzed people’s ability to deal with it emotionally. There’s a matter-of-fact quality about the violence that makes the film so overwhelming.

For example, there’s a scene where a gun jams. The scene plays out with several Nazis casually trying to fix a jammed gun so they can execute a Jewish prisonor who’s cringing on his knees before them, and the scene is absolutely terrifying. Then there’s another scene where the Nazis are shooting Jews with machine guns in an apartment building and in the midst of all the gunfire, screaming and killing one of the Nazis sits down to play the piano. Two other Nazis then look in and argue over whether it’s Bach or Mozart.

And then, after showing all of that evil, Spielberg comes up with the most deeply moving ending in motion picture history. Its ending will let your tears flow with a profoundly touching sense of gratitude.

Spielberg made the brilliant decision to make this film in black ‘n’ white, and shooting it in a documentary film style. The film is more enduring in black ‘n’ white; and then there’s that wonderful spot use of color which was absolute genius.

Schindler’s List was such an awesome film to watch; but not an easy film to watch. It simply had one extraordinary scene after another – one smart choice by Spielberg after another. Or to be more accurate, Spielberg’s use of violence doesn’t make Schindler’s List a difficult film to watch; rather it makes it a difficult film to conceive of – in that it’s hard to conceive of such brutality. And yet, despite all of the brutal violence, we are completely absorbed into this movie at every single moment. You can’t help but sit through this movie spellbound. For long stretches of time you even forget you’re watching a movie.

Schindler’s List is a most amazing film and, I would say, Spielberg’s masterpiece.

Joshua Flaugher

There IS no spoon!

Last updated: 2010-03-13 08:08:41 by McDozer