Schindler's List

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by: Steven Zaillian

Based on the novel "Schindler's Ark" by Thomas Keneally

Starring: Liam Neeson

Ralph Fiennes

Ben Kingsley

Embeth Davitz

Runtime: 197 minutes

Release date: December 15 1993

Reviewer: Victor Anderson

This is a film that is difficult to do justice in a review. A film so devastating, so well-made, so superbly acted, so ambitiously directed, so powerful and so full of emotion that it is terribly hard to describe it all in one review. I can tell you that my first time seeing this and falling in love with it, was one of the most important moments of my life: t’was my transformation into the film snob I am today. I do not regret what the film did to me.

Directed by Steven Spielberg. the movie opens with a Jewish family, lighting candles and singing in Hebrew at their table. As the song eventually ends and the candle goes out, the colours cease to exist and the film becomes monochrome. It then tells the story of Nazi-German businessman Oskar Schindler, portrayed here by Liam Neeson. As we meet him in Kraków, year 1939, shortly after World War II has started, he is enjoying a life of wealth and through a little bit of bribing he acquires a mess kit factory where, as we all most likely are aware, Jews will eventually work. A Jewish man, specifically the pure-hearted Itzak Stern who acts as Schindler’s silent conscience throughout the film, assists him in getting the business started. Stern tries hard to get as many Jewish people into the factory as possible, even those with faults. One worker, for example, has lost one of his arms.

 In one of the film’s greatest scenes, Schindler witnesses the liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto from a nearby hill; not until this moment has he realized the suffering of Jewish people; not until this moment has he exited his bubble of wealth and expensive parties

Instead of leaving Kraków as he had planned, Schindler bribes Göeth with much of his fortune in order to move the factory workers to his home in Moravia, helping them away from The Final Solution. Göeth eventually agrees, and Schindler and Stern begin writing a list of people who must not be put on the trains headed for Auschwitz – Schindler’s List.

Many scenes are perfect depictions of the horror that reigned upon the Jews during The Holocaust, just as many scenes are scarily believable depictions of the immense malice and malignancy of the Nazi Party. The black-and-white was a brilliant choice on Spielberg’s part as it not only symbolises horror, hopelessness and sadness, but it also perfectly fits the era in which the film takes place – back when moving pictures had no colour. The actors all give munificient performances which, naturally, helps make Schindler’s List feel so real, as do the production designs and the countless extras. Ralph Fiennes is especially great.

Anyone who has read my most of blog will know that I bring up this film a lot, when talking about film criticism. Why is that? It’s very simple: it’s because this is one of the best films I have ever seen. Everything in it is just pure magnificence – the direction, the screenplay, the visuals, the score by John Williams, the acting, the cinematography, the imagery and just the way it feels, both in how realistic it is and in how amazingly moving it is and Spielberg uses camera, color-tricks and superb music to make it all work.

Schindler’s List is a masterpiece that’s so well-done, so strong, so thought-provoking and so grimly real that it is hard for any filmmaker to match. This is the film that convinced me that Steven Speilberg is one of the greatest film directors to ever walk upon the surface of our planet. His talents are truly something to be desired. It shall forever remain one of my favourite films of all time.