Schindler's List

It's very hard for me to even begin writing about Schindler's List; a film that truly moved be beyond words. Steven Spielberg illustrated such an amazing picture. There are many amazing pictures, but this is the one I consider to be the best of the best. It's my favorite film, and I'm glad that it's ranked so high on this list. As much I would like to talk about how I reacted to the film, and how it pertains to me personally, the important thing to be discussing is the film itself. However, I found it neccessary to let you all know how much the film means to me.

Schindler's List begins with Oskar Schindler, a Czechoslavakian businessman and member of the Nazi regime, at a party in a nightclub, amongst many German officers. By the end of the night, he has become friends with almost everyone there. Schindler is very much a con artist, and befriends people to get what he wants, and what he needs to succeed. And through this, he is eventually able to garner thousands of Jews to work at his factory. Schindler, at this time and for the rest of his life, is not a good businessman. Thus, he uses Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern to handle all of the financial issues. Stern was the first to use Schindler's factory as a haven for Jews during the Holocaust, and Schindler agrees to this, since they are less expensive than Polish workers. By this time, an S.S. Officer by the name of Amon Goeth, has arrived in Krakow. Amon Goeth watches over the construction of the Płaszów labor camp, and then orders German troops to liquidate the Krakow ghetto. It is at this time, that Oskar Schindler witnesses the true horror of the Nazi administration, and is secretly a changed man. Afterwards, Schindler bribes Goeth to let him keep his factory workers. However, Goeth recieves orders to immolate all of the bodies of those killed during the liquidation, and move all of the remaining Jews to Auschwitz. Oskar then realizes his ultimate goal, and persuades Goeth to let him take a great amount of workers to a factory in Oskar's hometown, Zwittau-Brinnlitz, for millions of dollars. Schindler and Stern then assemble a list of 1,100 Jews, who will go to the new factory by train. The men arrive safely, but the women are brought to Auschwitz by mistake. Schindler prevents their deaths by bribing Hoess, the leader of the camp, with diamonds. They are released to Oskar, and are brought to Zwittau-Brinnlitz. The "Schindlerjuden" are protected by Oskar Schindler in the factory until the end of the war, when Oskar must flee the Soviets, due to his allegiance with the Nazi party. Before he leaves, Schindler's Jews present him with a ring. The ring quotes the Talmud, with "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." Schindler leaves the factory, feeling he wasted so much money, and he could have done so much more. The next morning, the Schindler Jews are liberated, and they make their way to a town nearby. Amon Goeth is also hanged for crimes against humanity. The film concludes with the Schindler Jews in the present day, along with those who portrayed them on screen, placing stones on Oskar Schindler's grave.

Liam Neeson portrays Oskar Schindler superbly, while basing the performance on the late Steve Ross, the former chairman of Time Warner, and friend of Steven Spielberg. Ben Kinglsey also does great as Itzhak Stern. However, Ralph Fiennes better than both as the cruel, sadistic Amon Goeth. He's chilling, and one would actually believe that this actor is doing these horrible things. It's an amazingly convincing performance. One of the surviving Schindlerjuden, Mila Pfefferberg, went on to be incredibly frightened by Fiennes, as he resembled the S.S. Officer so closely. The character of Amon Goeth is often criticized, as being one-dimensional, and showing no remorse. Poldek Pfefferberg, another of the Schindlerjuden said, "When you saw Goeth, you saw death." There are even more gruesome tales of Goeth's crimes, and most are worse than what is actually seen in the film. Goeth was on screen as he was in real life, according to survivors. Schindler's List's goal wasn't to tell a story of a Nazi who didn't like what he was doing. It's goal was to tell the story of good and evil in the form of Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth, which wasn't fiction. I can't stress how Amon reportedly like that enough. Needless to say, the Amon Goeth in Schindler's List is terrifying, as well he should. Though the performances are probably the greatest aspects of the film, there is so much more that should be mentioned. Janusz Kaminksi's work in cinematography is brilliant, along with the use of black and white over color. Steve Zaillian's script is excellent, filled with great dialogue, and some of the most realistic, harrowing scenes put on film. And above all is Steven Spielberg, who finally stepped up from in delivering a masterpiece of modern cinema, putting any doubters of him being able to take on a serious topic down.

Perhaps the greatest scene in Steven Spielberg's entire filmography, is when Oskar Schindler sees the girl in red during the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto. The "girl in red" is the only use of color in the film (aside from the ending, with the Schindler Jews presently.) Spielberg put the girl in red, so the audience could recognize what Schindler was looking at. But why was Oskar Schindler so struck by the girl? Spielberg wanted to imply that Oskar Schindler saw the innocence in this little girl, and she had done nothing wrong to deserve what was happening around, and eventually to her. Schindler takes what he saw in this girl, and noticed it was present in every one of the Nazi's victims. They were no more, or no less innocent than that girl. Liam Neeson's performance in this scene, which is probably just over a minute long, is amazing. There is no dialogue, only facial expressions. He's so taken by this girl, and the audience is with him. This is what ultimately leads to Schindler's realization of what is going on, and what he must do. It's an amazing piece of filmmaking, and is my favorite scene out of any film. Oskar Schindler's turn from a greedy profiteer to a hero is amazing, though his motives are never clear. Though by film's end, Schindler feels he could have done more, he ultimately redeemed himself by doing so much.

Schindler's List is an amazing picture, and will probably be my favorite film for the rest of my life. It's opened my eyes to what a film is capable of, and on top of that, what one man can accomplish. Oskar Schindler was a true hero, and Amon Goeth was a true monster. Schindler's List handles them both well, and does the true story justice. I'm neither Jewish or German, and I speak for myself when I say it's the greatest, most moving film of all-time. There are fewer than 4,000 Jews left alive in Poland today. There are more than now 7,000 descendants of the Schindler Jews. Schindler's List is an amazing movie, and, in my eyes, a fitting dedication to the 6,000,000 murdered in the most tragic time in human history.