Schindler's List was a film many thought could not be made. Steven Spielberg waited 10 years between the time he acquired the project and the time he started working on it because he knew he did not have the maturity for such a project. In the meantime the film was offered to Roman Polanski, Sydney Pollack, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsese, who all decided they were not the right director for the film.
Many also thought that Spielberg, the creator of hugely successful "popcorn" movies would not have the heft to bring off a project like Schindler's List. Because of the subject matter Universal Studios viewed the film as a "prestige" picture and did not expect it to be a success at the box office . They bargained with Spielberg to make Jurassic Park first and Spielberg agreed, knowing that after working on Schindler's List he would not have the proper mind set to make Jurassic Park. Hence in 1993 Steven Spielberg released his most successful summer blockbuster and the most critically acclaimed film of his career within six months of each other. Since then he has released dual project in 1997 (Lost World: Jurassic park & Amistad), 1998 (Saving Private Ryan & Close Encounters: Director's Cut), 2002 (Minority Report & Catch Me If You Can) and 2005 (War Of The Worlds & Munich). This year he will, for the first time, release two films on the very same day. On December 26th we can look forward to the animated film (his first) The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn and a WWI drama, War Horse.
Schindler's List is a film of great horror and great beauty. The atrocities committed at the hands of the Nazi's are displayed matter of fact. There are moments that are extremely difficult to watch, but visually it is a staggering triumph of storytelling. There is a scene early on when a one armed man whom we have met in an earlier scene is shot in the back of the head simply for being a cripple. It is the first of many horrific acts we are exposed to. The scene switches to an overhead shot of the deceased man, with the blood from his wound slowly staining the snow around him. It is horrific, but the artistry of the cinematography is almost prosaic.
Spielberg was able to tell the story of the Holocaust through the person of Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a womanizing member of the party who uses his skills at manipulating people to make a huge profit for himself as a war profiteer.He turns the miserable conditions of the war to his advantage. Taking over a factory for next to nothing and then hiring Jewish labors who don't get paid, he begins to turn out metal wares for the German army. He hires the capable Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to run the business for him. Kingsley surreptitiously uses the factory to save Jews from being transported east. Both Neeson and Kingsley are superb in their roles.
In a landmark scene that occupies a full twenty minutes on screen, but was only one page of script, the Nazi's clear out the Jewish ghetto and intern all of the Jews in a labor camp. The scene is one horrific moment after another as the Jews are terrorized by the Nazi soldiers. As night falls the homes are searched for Jews in hiding and again Spielberg triumphs with visual story telling. There is a long distance shot of the city as lights flash from home to home each flash representing another murder.
It is right before this scene that the third major cast member is introduced. Ralph Fiennes plays camp Commandant Amon Goeth and he is the personification of evil. Fiennes is truly mesmerizing to watch and he deserved the accolades he received for his performance.
It is also during the ghetto scene that Oscar Schindler would begin the transformation from war profiteer to Jewish sympathizer. It was this change of heart that drives the latter part of the film when Schindler works to save over 1,000 Jewish lives by harboring them in his factory. The script very carefully handles Schindler's awakening to the suffering of his fellow man. he makes a few gestures early on that indicate he is having a change of heart about the personal decisions he has made and also the policy of his country towards Jews. It is not until the last third of the film when, with the support of Stern he labors outright to protect his workers and undermine the war effort.
The movie is based on the book Schindler's List by author Thomas Keneally. The book was based on the true accounts of "Schindler's Jews". Spielberg also used recollections of camp survivors to tell the story. He chose black and white film to sustain a documentary feel and in addition he did not use many of his trademark tools such as cranes and tracking shots. A huge part of the film was made with handheld cameras, a new technique for Spielberg. For the camera work Spielberg collaborated with cinematographer Janusz Kaminski for the first time. Kaminski has gone on to be the cinematographer for every Spielberg film since. Spielberg's other great collaborator, John Williams, scored unforgettable music for Schindler's List and received and Oscar for his work. The film won six other Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Michael Khan, Spielberg's favorite editor, won for Best Editing. Schindler's List earned Steven Spielberg the attention and respect he deserved. Steven Spielberg will continue to make great movies, but nothing will top this very personal masterpiece.
I am always moved to tears when I watch it. It also always makes me pause and contemplate afterwards. Who were the Germans persecuting and murdering the Jews. They were German Christians and German Catholics. How could they do this? How did they find it so easy to dehumanize an entire group of people and then slaughter them? Before the war these people were ordinary citizens. If you asked them if they were capable of such atrocities they would, of course, say no. But they were. So what does that say about the rest of us? What atrocities are we capable of? What's the next after we start grouping people together, such as illegal immigrants or Muslims, and demonize them. What happens when our politicians use rhetoric and extremism to turn one group against another? How is it a Dodger's Fan can seriously injure a Giants fan just because they are sports rivals?
I was once asked to justify hate crime laws and the reason for them is simple; because we are all capable of such heinous acts and there should be punishment to deter them. A movie like Schindler's List reminds us of what was, and what could happen again, if we ever forget the lessons of the Holocaust.
At the Movie House rating **** stars . One of the top 10 American Films ever made.
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