I heard the theme song of the Schindler’s list in a violin concert and I thought it was the most beautiful melody I had ever heard. That is why I had to see the movie, to see if it was as good as its theme. Composer of the soundtrack in Schindler´s list is John Williams and deservedly he won an Oscar from his work.
Schindler’s list is a historical drama movie directed by Steven Spielberg and it premiered in 1993 in USA. Schindler’s list is based on Thomas Keneally’s novel ”Schindler’s ark” which was published in 1982. Leading actors of the film are Liam Neeson who plays Oskar Schindler, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes. The film is almost entirely black and white except few little things are colored, for example in some scenes one little girls’s red jacket. Its purpose was to draw attention to that little girl. Spielpberg has told about the symbolism of black and white presentation as follows: ”The Holocaust was life without light. For me the symbol of life is color. That’s why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black-and-white.”
The film is set in the World War II in Kraków and it tells a story about a German businessman Oskar Schindler who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. At first, Oskar Schindler seems to be only after money but when he sees the liquidation of one Polish ghetto he begins to employ more Jews to save them from ending up to concentration camps. Those Jews who were saved by Oskar Schindler are called ”Schindlerjuden”. Oskar’s accountant is Jewish Itzhak Stern who almost gets transferred to concentration camp from the ghetto. Itzhak is the one who suggests to Oskar that he could use Jewish slave labour to staff his factory to save money and Itzhak starts to forge documents for Jews who would most likely have been killed. Ben Kingsley is very persuasive as restrained Itzhak Stern. Amon Goeth is a cold-blooded SS officer who sometimes kills Jews only for fun. That is hideous to watch because Ralph Fiennes plays the role so convinsingly. Oskar Schindler is a member of the Nazi party and he has great relations with Amon Goeth who he bribes to have Jews on his factory’s staff. Language in the film is interesting because the actors speak English with German accent.
Schindler’s list is a shocking description of the Holocaust but still it’s not as dreadful as it could be. The film’s only idea is not to show the Nazis horrible terror against the Jews but to show that even in the crowd of the cruellest people there is someone who is capable of good deeds. Despite the fact that Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi party and a loyal friend for many SS officers he set to his goal to save as many Jews as he could. Movie shows how Oskar Schindler evolves from Nazi supporter and hardcore businessman to kind-hearted rescuer. Oskar is also quite the ladies’ man and he likes drinking in good company. A touching moment is in the end when Oskar collapses to tears when he has to leave the Jews he had saved after Germany’s surrender in war. Oskar blames himself of not doing all he could, that he could have saved one more life. Itzhak comforts Oskar by showing the over 1000 saved Jews around them and saying: ”Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”
Schindler’s list is oppressive, tragic and sorrowful description of the evil of humankind but at the same time it’s touching and beautiful story about surviving and goodness. Even though Steven Spielberg is maybe best known from his scifi and adventure movies and has increased his reputation with E.T. and Jurassic Park and many others, Schindlers’s list is said to be the Spielberg’s best movie. Schindler’s list won 7 Oscars, for example Spielberg won Best directing and Best Picture Oscars, and many other awards. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes won Oscars from their acting too.
Schindler’s list is quite heavy to watch and it evokes a wide range of emotions. It makes you continually ask the same question: how anything so horrible could happen? The film manages to capture the viewer by its breathtaking scenes and brilliant actors. While watching the movie you can’t avoid the tears and yes, I wept like a baby. Schindler’s list is a film that everyone should watch at least once in their lives because it’s an important reminder of the terrible events in our history and at the same time it shows how one act of goodness can affect on so many people. This film became one of my favourites and I hope it becames one of yours too.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb