Review of Schindler's List

Schindler's List (15)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Steven Zailian

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Emebeth Davidtz, Jonathan Spagall

Running Time: 3 hrs 7 mins

Schindler's List was an adaptation of the novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, which itself was based on the real life Oskar Schindler, a man who saved over 1,000 Jews from the gas chambers.
Schindler (Liam Neeson) was a German businessman who travelled to Nazi-occupied Poland to seek his fortune. He embarked on making deals with senior Nazis, used the Jewish black market to get money to buy a factory and uses Jewish labour simply because it was cheaper than Polish labour. Schindler did have some basic humanity, he did not want to see people die, but he was a businessman, he was in Poland to make a profit. It was only after the arrival of Hauptsturmfuhrer Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes), a mid-ranking SS officer who was in charge of the construction of the P_aszów Labour and Concentration Camp and seeing the massacre of the ghettos that affects Schindler's outlook and he becomes more committed to defend his workers. However, Schindler is smart enough to know he had to work with Göth and other senior Nazis.

So what makes Schindler's List such a great film? I am personally interested in history and the Holocaust is one of the darkest chapters of human history. Schindler's List shows how brutal the Holocaust really was, the senseless random killings, how sadistic some of the SS officers and troops were, enjoying the pain their caused. You see the horrors of forced labour and the fact that the Nazis were just robbers, stealing anything of value from the living and the dead. This film has the most accurate portrayal of the Holocaust and how the camps were run.
Schindler's List also shows how desperate some people were to survive and how they would do anything or go anywhere to hide. Children were forced to grow up too early and some Jews had to work with the Nazis.
As well as the big picture, Oskar Schindler was no stereotypical Hollywood hero. Schindler was a womanizer, he was a war-profiteer, he only hired Jews because they were cheap and was forced to work with Nazis. But he was a man with morals, an ordinary man put into an extraordinary situation and who reacted like any decent human being would. He becomes a more likeable hero as the film continues. At the same time Amon Göth was a truly horrible character, a symbol of what the Nazis were like at their worst. It was not even artistic license because he really was a nasty piece of work.
Schindler's List doesn't offer a black and white picture of characters or the situation. Schindler had to work with the Nazis to save all the Jews he could. Some SS soldiers did question Göth's orders and some of the Nazis did like Schindler. Even Göth has his moments of moral sensibilities. A film with complex characters and complex situations usually make for a classic film.

The acting is top notch; some of the finest in the business were involved. Many big names were sounded out to play Schindler, including Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford, but Spielberg felt that would have been too distracting for the audience. Liam Neeson was casted because he was unknown to an international audience at the time. Liam Neeson played his role with a calm power and authority that was needed. Ralph Fiennes was menacing and shows all that was wrong with Nazism. Ben Kingsley was good, as always, as Itzhak Stern, Schindler's loyal accountant and plant manager and Emebeth Davidtz had a gentle power and gave a powerful performance as Helen Hirsch, a Jewish girl who works as Göth's maid.
Even though the film was based on a novel, many of the actors took great care studying their characters and even met the real people if they could.
Some criticism has been laid on the fact that actors put on German accents, but it was a situation where you were damned if you did and damned if you didn't. This happened recently in two films where in Defiance the actors put on Russians accents whilst in Valkrie the performances kept their native accents, both were criticised for it. I personally feel that it was the right move for the actors to use German accents ahead of British or American.

The film had a few directors attached to the film. Martin Scorsese was originally going to direct but he felt that a Jewish director was needed to truly convey the horrors of the Holocaust. Roman Polanski was then approached but was a survivor of the Krakow ghettos and thought the film would be too painful to do. Billy Wilder was asked if he could come out of retirement, but he was a man famous for comedies and it was him who convinced Steven Spielberg to take the director's chair.
Spielberg is one of the best directors around but before doing this most of his films were lighter hearted, such as the original Indiana Jones Trilogy, E.T. and Jaws. Even when Spielberg did the Color Purple he was criticised for being too comedic at times.
What Spielberg did was film on location in Poland, and shot the film in black-and-white which gave it the feel that it was shot during the Second World War. Schindler's List has been criticised for being too heavy handed, especially at the end, but I thought that the mood perfect. The Holocaust is not a subject to be treated lightly and Schindler's List is the only film that makes me cry.

Some of the best in the business were involved. Steven Zaillian is a fantastic writer, working on other films like Hannibal, American Gangster and Gangs of New York, and Schindler's List was his best work; both on a personal account and on a wider picture. John Williams made a fabulous score which fitted the mood of the film. Michael Kahn did a great job as editor and was able to mix the film scenes nicely and Spielberg, Zaillian Williams and Kahn all deserved their Oscars, it was shame none of the actors won anything.

This film is a tough watch, but I am saying that as a strength, not a weakness.

Schindler's List is an essential film.

reviewed by Kieran Freemantle

March 2009