Film Review: Schindlers List

Director: Steven Spielberg

Without a doubt, tackling a reasonably big budget film about the holocaust during the second World War was always going to be a tough challenge. There are so many aspects to get right and the potential for offending somebody or being inaccurate with important historical events is high. Spielberg is superb in this instance despite some rather weak criticisms from certain parties (always likely to happen with a film on such a controversial topic).

The girl in the red coat

*spoiler alert*

Oskar Schindler (superbly played by Liam Neeson) is an ethnic German businessman who looks to make his fortune by building kits for army soldiers, he bribes Nazi officials to win the contracts and then uses Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) a Jew from Warsaw to run the operation for him. As the Nazi's look to dissolve the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Schindler is content to leave with his fortune whilst all the Jews will be sent by train to Auschwitz. He finds himself unable to leave Warsaw and comes up with a list of "skilled workers" that he wants to take to Brinnlitz with him to start up a new factory. The story itself is almost universally known from the book and history itself.

There are many great performances to praise within the film, Liam Neeson is superb as the charismatic Schindler which is on display when he is introducing himself to the Nazi's near the start and at the end when announcing the war is over to the Jews and for the Nazi officers to go home as men and not murderers. The film never looks to answer why Schindler decide to change and is all the better for it as we'll never know exactly what changed in his mind. Ralph Fiennes is chilling as Amon Goth the SS officer who is assigned to run the concentration camp and likes to take shots at the Jewish people with his sniper rifle from his window.

Oskar Schindler in front of the Jewish people he saved

Filmed in black and white, barring a girl in a red coat, it shows the holocaust from both sides in some ways. The Nazi's being pressured from above to dissolve the ghetto and the Jews who are just trying to survive from day to day. Both Polanski (originally asked to direct) and Kubrick (working on a similar project) said that Schindler's List could not be bettered and Kubrick even stopped work on his project seeing it as pointless in the wake of this film's release. That is how strong the reception was upon release.

I could talk about themes and motifs within the film for pages but would leave these to the viewer but would like to share my favourite moments. Two key scenes to look out for are when the women are sent to be cleansed at Auschwitz and the man who is to be shot for being too slower worker but could be reprieved due to a gun malfunction But the scene when all the Jews who were saved are gathered in Brinnlitz and Schindler breaks down in shame for not having saved more people by selling his car or gold Nazi badge will live with me forever. It is an utterly heart breaking scene which shows just how much one man could do but also how little it was in the grand scheme of things.

4/4 a true must-see classic film