Steven Spielberg 1993
Wow.
Why on earth has it taken me so long to watch this...
First of all, this is a Steven Spielberg film, so anyone is going to go into this with a certain level of expectation, and it would be silly to think this should be anything but a masterpiece. Well that's exactly what this is.
If you were going to make a movie about such a horrific subject matter, that is going to touch on mass genocide and inhumane acts, whilst creating a sense of hope in humanity, this should absolutely be the movie to take inspiration from.
From the very first scene, you get an idea of how this movie is going to go. A jewish family standing around a table, observing Shabbat, with the image of a candle slowly going out, the family no longer at the table, and the colour draining out of the scene, and out of the movie. This shows the audience that a sense of hopelessness and horror is about to occur. This was all took place as a man sang in Hebrew, with no music over the top of this. Goosebumps.
The constant switch between good and evil is something very common with war films. A good German character is very popular in American cinema. There was a clear protagonist in Oskar Schindler, even if he came across fairly emotionless during this film, and a clear antagonist in Amon Goeth, the commander of the Krakow/Plaszow concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Its worth noting that Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes who play Schindler and Goeth respectively, do an absolutely incredible job. Particularly right at the end, when Schindler breaks down with emotion at the realisation he probably could have saved more Jews.
The film touches all aspects of the holocaust, with the ruthlessness of Nazi soldiers, the brainwashing of reluctant members of the German Army, the heart breaking reality of families being quite literally torn apart, the breakdown in relationships due to war, unlikely friendships and heroes. At times during the film, the shocking realisation that it is a true story kept hitting home. How on earth did something like this occur not 80 years ago.
Schindler is a business man, and teams up with a jewish account called Itzhak Stern to start an enamelwork factory, and makes a killing by hiring cheap jewish workers from the Krakow Ghetto. This was the first very slight sign of compassion, as the alternative for the Jews was Auschwitz. Many workers recognised this fact and thanked him for the show of compassion. Schindler constantly rejects this, and insists he is just a businessman, not a hero.
The Krakow ghetto massacre then took place, under the order of Goeth. Many people were shot at random, men, women, children, it didn't matter who. From a film making standpoint, there was a small scene during th massacre that a Nazi soldier begins playing the Piano, a classical piece by Mozart. This was happening at exactly the same time that gunshots were ringing and mass murder was taking place.
This was a deliberate use of contrapuntal music, where the music we are hearing doesn't match the action on screen. This creates dissonance and makes the audience feel uneasy, which is exactly what we should be feeling as this terror is ensuing.
Those deemed able to work were then transferred to the Krakow/Plaszow concentration camp. Goeth owned a villa overlooking the camp, and would take a sniper rifle and shoot at random, for fun apparently. Schindler overlooked the massacre from a hill on horseback where he saw a young girl, dressed in a red coat, and focused on her, running around aimlessly whilst horror and terror was occurring on the streets she was wandering. As more random killings occurred at Plaszow, Schindler glances at a little girls body in a red coat, being wheeled away. She wasn't able to wander around aimlessly without consequence here, she had been killed.
This is a turning point for Schindler, as he then focuses from making money, to saving as many lives as possible.He creates a munitions factory in the town of Brinnlitz, Schindlers hometown. He bribes Goeth into allowing his workers to be brought to this new factory, rather than Auschwitz, a fate that was a complete certainty if Schindler hadn't have done this. He gets together with his Jewish friend and account Stern and creates "Schindlers List" - a list of around 850 people to be brought to Brinnlitz, and safe from Auschwitz. Schindler even bribes the the Commander of Auschwitz to return the women that had been accidentally sent to the horrific torture camp, to Brinnlitz.
Over the next 7 months, he continues to constantly bribe SS officials, and Nazi Party members, and providing for his people until the war finally ended. During which time he was no longer a war profiteer, he had spent all of his money making sure they were all alive and safe. The guards at the factory had been ordered to kill all the workers by midnight, as that's when the surrender officially began, but Schindler persuaded them not too, and the walked away. As Schindler prepares to flee, as after all, he was a member of the Nazi Party, and a war profiteer to some degree, the 'Schindler Jews' as they were collectively known as, say their goodbyes and thankyou's. They present him with a letter of pardon should he ever be captured, and a ring with a Hebrew saying "whoever saves one life, saves the world entire" engraved into it.
As I alluded to earlier, this prompts Schindler to break down with emotion, as he wish he saved more, he kept up a fairly high end lifestyle with his clothes, car, and Nazi pin, and if he were to have got rid of them, he could have traded them in for more lives. He is comforted by his workers, who can clearly see the good in him.
The epilogue reveals the Schindlers marriage fails, as does his attempts at other businesses, whilst Goeth was executed for crimes against humanity. The film then filmed in real time (1993) and in colour, as the Schindler Jews placed rocks on the grave of Oskar Schindler. The final visitor is Liam Neeson who lays two roses on the marker. This was a very moving, touching, beautiful way of finishing a film that touched on horror, savageness and the lowest of humanity.
A film that talks about such sensitive subjects can be looked under a microscope, and I believe Spielberg did a brilliant job of giving the right people the right amount exposure in the film. It can be tough to be the filmmaker in this situation, but the ending was done with such poignancy and perfection, I believe he did it very right.
The decision to shoot the film in black and white, apart from a few exceptions, made for the moments of colour to hit home 10 times as hard. When the candle regains the flame and its colour as the war ends, and Schindler allows them to hold Shabbat services, it's almost as if the audience can breath again, as hope began to fill the workers on screen. The girl in the red coat was a very heart wrenching theme. It strikes viewers hearts, aswell as Schindlers heart too. The idea of having just a splash of red in the film could have been to symbolise people being sacrificed in the horror of the Holocaust, or it could have symbolised hope and innocence. It was also a great piece of art inside the film, to signify the turning point for Oskar Schindler. He didn't want to make a single bit of money anymore, he wanted to save lives.
I loved this film, and really do not know why I have not seen this before. I have to thank my Mum for the glowing recommendation of the film. Also my Dad loves the film too, and has often talked about this film as being one of his favourites. The film has undoubtedly touched many lives and that's what it's all about.
Based on a true story, it covers themes of forgiveness, friendships, religion, acts of kindness and hope, something that can translate to every day life.The fact that the horror of the film actually happened is a real eye opener, and lets all hope the the best of humanity ensures this never ever has to happen again. This film really should have never been made, but as a film lover, I am so glad it did. It tells an incredible tale of brave individuals, who, due to the film, will never be forgotten. Quite rightly too.
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