Schindler’s List, arguably the best film of the 1990s, is a powerful and moving film about the horrors of the Holocaust.
It paints a chilling portrait of the brutality of the Nazi regime in Krakow. The film is also essentially a clash between two powerful personalities. On the one hand is Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), the merciless Nazi lieutenant who kills just for pleasure. On the other hand stands Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). A man who single-handedly saved the lives of more than a thousand Jews. A man who himself happens to be a Nazi.
The movie opens in 1939 when thousands of Jews were immigrating to Krakow, Poland. Alongside we get a glimpse of Schindler, the man. A man, who dresses expensively, is a womanizer and a greedy businessman driven by his own self-interest. In the beginning, he audaciously bribes the Nazi officials, who gleefully eat out of his hand without knowing who he actually is, where he came from and what he did. To them he is just Oskar Schindler. It never occurs to them that he’s actually trying to save lives instead of making money. And therein lies the beauty of the film. The audacity of this man is one of the most interesting aspects of the film. Take for example, the scene where Schindler boldly confronts a Nazi lieutenant. He’s about to direct a train full of Jewish refugees to an extermination camp, and Schindler tells him that the ‘workers’ are his.
This is essentially a movie about human compassion and an affirmation of the old Jewish saying that, ‘Whoever saves one life, saves the world in time’. It gives us an insight into the man called Schindler, who builds an arm-manufacturing factory and hires thousands of Jews to work for him. In the meantime, Amon Goeth sets about on an exterminating spree, wiping off thousands of Jews in the process. Schindler is not depicted as a great man, but rather as a man who had greatness thrust upon him. Yet it is not easy to describe the enigmatic nature of his personality. And the film never attempts to do that.
The film is also about the transformation of Schindler. A particularly poignant scene captures one moment of this transformation, where the
body of a little girl in a red dress against a black-and-white backdrop is indifferently dumped along with other bodies and we get to see the horror and despair in Schindler’s eyes. The scene towards the end where the black-and-white shot transforms into colour and shows the modern-day Schindler Jews is heart-wrenchingly moving. Schindler’s List also contains one of the most famous shots in motion picture history. It’s that chilling scene where Goeth wakes up from bed, looks out of his balcony, surveys the scene below for a while, picks up a gun and nonchalantly shoots down a worker. He takes aim again and shoots down another worker. We also get an insight into the madness of Goeth, especially when it comes to the treatment of the Jewish woman who works for him, and whom he loves secretly.
And finally it is a film about the famous list. The list that is ‘an absolute good’. The list that has ‘life all around its margins’. The list that saved the lives of 1100 Jews. The list composed by Oskar Schindler.
The film is based on Thomas Keneally’s novel of the same name, based on the holocaust. Schindler’s List is a clever & intelligent piece of work that gives us an extremely accurate description of the madness of the Nazi system, of how it mercilessly slaughtered lives and how it took one man to outwit, con & outsmart the entire system.
Before he made ‘Schindler’s List’, Steven Spielberg had often been criticized for making
‘commercial’ films, films lacking depth and superficial in nature. This film helps establish the fact that Spielberg is easily one of the greatest film-makers of his generation and should also silence his critics forever. ‘Schindler’ lacks all of Spielberg’s trademark flourishes and is the kind of film one least expected Spielberg to make. This film is the result of the single-minded determination and focus of brilliant unit of highly talented individuals. The acting is excellent to say the least with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes putting in the performances of their careers, coupled with splendid supporting acts from Ben Kingsley (Izhak Stern), Embeth Davidtz (Helen Hirrsch) and Jonathan Sagalle (Poldek Pfefferberg). The cinematography of Janitsz Kaminski (who also shot ‘Munich’ last year and has been working with Spielberg for quite some time) is breathtaking. This man can take his camera just about anywhere.
Schindler’s List is 184 minutes long and like all great movies it doesn’t seem that long. It’s full of unforgettable moments and enduring images. Schindler’s List is not only one of the greatest films of all time but also the greatest film made on the 2nd World War and the Holocaust.
Rating: Classic
It paints a chilling portrait of the brutality of the Nazi regime in Krakow. The film is also essentially a clash between two powerful personalities. On the one hand is Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), the merciless Nazi lieutenant who kills just for pleasure. On the other hand stands Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). A man who single-handedly saved the lives of more than a thousand Jews. A man who himself happens to be a Nazi.The movie opens in 1939 when thousands of Jews were immigrating to Krakow, Poland. Alongside we get a glimpse of Schindler, the man. A man, who dresses expensively, is a womanizer and a greedy businessman driven by his own self-interest. In the beginning, he audaciously bribes the Nazi officials, who gleefully eat out of his hand without knowing who he actually is, where he came from and what he did. To them he is just Oskar Schindler. It never occurs to them that he’s actually trying to save lives instead of making money. And therein lies the beauty of the film. The audacity of this man is one of the most interesting aspects of the film. Take for example, the scene where Schindler boldly confronts a Nazi lieutenant. He’s about to direct a train full of Jewish refugees to an extermination camp, and Schindler tells him that the ‘workers’ are his.
This is essentially a movie about human compassion and an affirmation of the old Jewish saying that, ‘Whoever saves one life, saves the world in time’. It gives us an insight into the man called Schindler, who builds an arm-manufacturing factory and hires thousands of Jews to work for him. In the meantime, Amon Goeth sets about on an exterminating spree, wiping off thousands of Jews in the process. Schindler is not depicted as a great man, but rather as a man who had greatness thrust upon him. Yet it is not easy to describe the enigmatic nature of his personality. And the film never attempts to do that.
The film is also about the transformation of Schindler. A particularly poignant scene captures one moment of this transformation, where the
body of a little girl in a red dress against a black-and-white backdrop is indifferently dumped along with other bodies and we get to see the horror and despair in Schindler’s eyes. The scene towards the end where the black-and-white shot transforms into colour and shows the modern-day Schindler Jews is heart-wrenchingly moving. Schindler’s List also contains one of the most famous shots in motion picture history. It’s that chilling scene where Goeth wakes up from bed, looks out of his balcony, surveys the scene below for a while, picks up a gun and nonchalantly shoots down a worker. He takes aim again and shoots down another worker. We also get an insight into the madness of Goeth, especially when it comes to the treatment of the Jewish woman who works for him, and whom he loves secretly.And finally it is a film about the famous list. The list that is ‘an absolute good’. The list that has ‘life all around its margins’. The list that saved the lives of 1100 Jews. The list composed by Oskar Schindler.
The film is based on Thomas Keneally’s novel of the same name, based on the holocaust. Schindler’s List is a clever & intelligent piece of work that gives us an extremely accurate description of the madness of the Nazi system, of how it mercilessly slaughtered lives and how it took one man to outwit, con & outsmart the entire system.
Before he made ‘Schindler’s List’, Steven Spielberg had often been criticized for making
‘commercial’ films, films lacking depth and superficial in nature. This film helps establish the fact that Spielberg is easily one of the greatest film-makers of his generation and should also silence his critics forever. ‘Schindler’ lacks all of Spielberg’s trademark flourishes and is the kind of film one least expected Spielberg to make. This film is the result of the single-minded determination and focus of brilliant unit of highly talented individuals. The acting is excellent to say the least with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes putting in the performances of their careers, coupled with splendid supporting acts from Ben Kingsley (Izhak Stern), Embeth Davidtz (Helen Hirrsch) and Jonathan Sagalle (Poldek Pfefferberg). The cinematography of Janitsz Kaminski (who also shot ‘Munich’ last year and has been working with Spielberg for quite some time) is breathtaking. This man can take his camera just about anywhere.Schindler’s List is 184 minutes long and like all great movies it doesn’t seem that long. It’s full of unforgettable moments and enduring images. Schindler’s List is not only one of the greatest films of all time but also the greatest film made on the 2nd World War and the Holocaust.
Rating: Classic
