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Rating: 5 out of 5
Schindler’s List is by far one of the best movies ever made. Steven Spielberg and his creative mind is an absolute genius. If there is a film to watch about the Holocaust and the evils it was, this movie is the one. Actually, Schindler’s List is by far one of the best movies ever made, and significant, significant props need to be given to Spielberg.
With that said, I will say this, it is somewhat challenging for me to celebrate this person. Oskar Schindler was a man driven by one thing, Greed. He came to the area to make money off the cheap labor of the Jewish people imprisoned there, along with being a member of the Nazi party. Suddenly, he opens up his eyes to the horrors of the Nazi party and wants to save the Jewish people. If that isn’t a revelation and gaining a conscience, I don’t know what is. To me, that is like a slave master who suddenly realizes that the people around him are people and decided to help them out. Helping someone out from the horrors is still the same. Even with that, Schindler’s List is a MUST WATCH MOVIE!
Directed by Stephen Spielberg, “Schindler’s List” is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler (Neeson). Schindler is a member of the Nazi Party who comes from Czechoslovakia to Krakow. Schindler lavishes bribes on the German armed forces and SS officials and acquires a factory to produce enamelware. Schindler’s only goal is to use cheap labor to make himself a fortune. To help run his factory and find the labor, Schindler enlists Itzhak Stern (Kingsley), a local Jewish official who has contacts with black marketeers and the Jewish business community. With Stern’s help, Schindler factory and wealth prosper as his workers call him “Herr Direktor.” Stern, who handles all the administrative and financing for Schindler, hires as many Jewish workers as possible to deem them essential to the German war effort, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps or killed. Schindler enjoys the lavish lifestyle until the arrival of Amon Göth (Fiennes). Amon is a ruthless SS-Untersturmführer who despises the Jewish people. He oversees the construction of the Płaszów concentration camp. When the camp is completed, he orders the ghetto liquidated. While watching Amon at work, Schindler has a change of heart. He decides to give up his pursuit of wealth for saving as many lives his wealth can buy.
If anyone knows me, then they know I really like and enjoy Steven Spielberg movies. I think his style, storytelling, and eye for direction is one of the best ever. Going away from the sci-fi genre to make a biography film that is considered on the best movies shows that Spielberg can do anything. Every time I write about a Spielberg movie, I say the main is a literal GENIUS. I will say that this film is a punch to the gut.
First, let’s talk about the main character, Schindler. It is nice to see someone to have a change of heart about something, but what the f**k took you so long. I get it; you want to get rich and be wealthy, but to me, you sold your soul to the devil, and then you were like naw this ain’t cool. You arrived at the place because they were the new cheap labor. You had slaves along with playing buddy, buddy with EVERYONE to get your way. Once again, I’m not mad at the hustle, but the way you did it was entirely wrong. I think that is what Spielberg does so well. He made me despise Schindler and distrust him as others were dying. When evil homeboy rolled in and started killing people, and you saw what was happening, then you wanted to change yo mind. As much as I think it is wrong, I’m going to give it to Schindler. He gave up all the wealth he accumulated and help out so many people. The scene that is so profound is when the Jewish people he helped gave him a ring, and he cried because he could’ve saved more. I gotta give respect because to change like that needs to be commended.
Spielberg’s eye for detail and cinematography was outstanding in this film. First, the whole movie is made in a black and white style except for one scene. Now for the first half, several scenes show Spielberg’s eye for detail. This shows during the early stages of the film when Schindler is setting up his factory. The scenes move back and forth between Schindler and what is happening to the Jewish people. An example is when Schindler maneuvers his business while talking in a church; in the next scene, we see is thousands upon thousands of people being herded down the road and across a bridge. Spielberg masterfully shows the scared faces of children. Next, we see a family packing up their belongings as they are forced out of their beautiful home into the street with everyone else. Literally, ten seconds later, Schindler drives up and doesn’t even think or see the people. The family that we saw being pushed out are next seen being harassed with people throwing stuff at them and a little girl screaming at the top of her lungs saying, “Goodbye Jews.” While Schindler looks over the room that the family once had, we next see that same family cramped into a small room with many other people. This all ended with Schindler saying to the Nazi officer, “It couldn’t be any better,” while the next scene is the woman of the family saying, “It could be worse.” To which her husband yells as many other people move into the room.
The real evil of this film comes when Amon Göth. When he arrives, you need to strap in because real evil falls on us like a ton of bricks. Just thinking about it is tough to write about because the dude was evil and didn’t care. His mannerisms and thought process were utterly wrong. In one scene, he is overseeing the construction of a building. A woman foreman protests that the foundation and structure are wrong. Not liking the tone and argument as he says, “Why are we arguing with these people?” and has her shot in front of everyone. People continue to work as usual. Amon then gives the order to do everything like the woman just suggested. Another scene is when Amon is sitting on his balcony overlooking everything. He takes out his rifle and starts shooting people for target practice.
This whole movie’s actual turning point and the eye-opening scene was the girl with the red dress. This scene is horrifying but also fantastically done. Amon gives the order to liquidate the ghetto. He sends troops to kill pretty much everyone. You can see the fear on people’s faces. One family tries to hide their valuables by putting it in bread and eating it. In one scene, they call a man’s name and shoot him right on the floor. One man leaves his wife as he climbs into a sewer. One boy tries to run, and the dad stops him before being shot. They bring back the boy and shoot him also. A doctor puts poison in all the drinks because he knows it would be better that way than to die at the hands of the Nazis. A doctor tries to help a woman, and a Nazi soldier shoots her in the head. The man who tried to escape through the sewer with several others is found and gunned down, but he still manages to escape. A woman and her daughter make it to a hideout, but the other woman states there isn’t enough room and kicks her out.
Schindler spots a little girl in a red coat. She walks down the street as mayhem is happening. She is obvious to everyone, but no one seems to care about her. The little girl walks around the ghetto, going from line to line. She is visibly oblivious but also apparent to the viewer as she continues to wander around. Your eyes can’t seem to leave her as she is on the screen, and the only thing in color. She continues on her little journey, running into a house and hides under a bed. In the next scene, we see the Nazis performing a night raid of the ghetto and kill anyone they find. A soldier plays the piano while this is happening. All this is put to an end where it looks like it is snowing outside, but it is actually ash from the burning of bodies. The next thing we see is people digging a mass grave. The music is horrifying. Then the unthinkable happens, as a cart full of corpses is rolled through, we see the girl’s red coat in the cart being wheeled past Schindler. At this point, Schindler sees the error of his ways and finally gains a conscious and soul.
Spielberg said the scene was intended to symbolize how members of the highest levels of government in the United States knew the Holocaust was occurring yet did nothing to stop it. “It was as obvious as a little girl wearing a red coat, walking down the street, and yet nothing was done to bomb the German rail lines. Nothing was being done to slow down … the annihilation of European Jewry.”
Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley are extraordinary to watch during this movie. First, Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler was great. I didn’t like the man initially but turned around when he saw the error of his ways. Neeson does a marvelous job of showing and displaying his character’s emotions from a hard businessman to a lifesaver. Fiennes, on the other hand, did too good of a job as Amon Göth. If there is one character that displayed evil, it is Fiennes as this character. He was vicious, ruthless, and just had no soul. He laughed as he killed people, looked down on people, and just had NO soul. Finally, Ben Kingsley, as Itzhak Stern, gave another fantastic performance. One of the few gentle souls in the whole film who tried his best to save as many people as possible. Kingsley is a special actor who seems to be great in any role he is in.
Schindler’s List is a fantastic movie and considered one of the best in film history. Spielberg does an outstanding job with the film being nominated for twelve Academy Awards while winning seven, including Best Picture and Best Director. The performances are powerful, with Neeson and Fiennes leading the way.
