4.5 / 5 Mikes
Introduction
After watching the film, “Schindler’s List”, a plethora of emotions showered my thoughts. One would think that such a controversial and critical movie would face the problem of having inaccurate or conflicting opinions. However, I believe that Schindler’s List did an astounding job of portraying those events. As well as this, they conveyed their message in an interesting and emotional way. The plot, based on a true story, covered the life of a rich business man, Oskar Schindler, sacrificing all he had left, in his journey to save upwards of 1200 Jewish men and woman.
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Plot
The plot was very engaging and heart-wrenching. Albeit this fact, the only problem I had involving the plot was the usage of text to explain the film. In doing so, this gave me the feeling of a star wars introduction where the story is explained first to allow the action to follow. Of course, in such a story-driven film, this was a poor choice. Regardless of this problem, the rest of the movie was astonishing, each scene was impactful on me. From Schindler attempting to explain to Amon Goeth what the true definition of power is, to him negotiating the price of a Jewish life, was very powerful for me. In addition to this, the film occasionally included many deaths of small characters. For example, a female civil engineer was introduced to explain to Amon Goeth that the foundation of a building must be rebuilt, but was quickly executed for her opinion. All of these deaths force us to realize that the characters truly have no control and are helpless. These factors truly captivate the audience and makes for an absolutely beautiful story..
Characters
Character wise, all actors cast were absolutely perfect for their role. Liam Neeson, portraying Oskar Schindler, a self-centred businessman bent on abusing cheap Jewish labor to turn a profit progresses into someone who saved all who worked for him. The development of his character absolutely made the film. Liam was essentially the light in a tunnel of darkness, he was the hope for all those who had lost hope. During the end of the movie, Liam’s performance while receiving the ring from the Jewish left me on the verge of tears. He showed no pride towards all of the Jews he had already saved, but was utterly destroyed by the fact that he could not save more. His breakdown to save “one more person” was award-winning. As well as this, Spielberg had made the brilliant decision to not cast a movie star with Hollywood clout such as Kevin Costner, but an unknown Irish actor as to not have the audience entering the film with any mindset towards Schindler. Furthermore, Spielberg had Neeson study Schindler to get the perfect impersonation of him. Without Liam, the film definitely would not have been elevated to its current position.
Cinematography/Soundtrack
The cinematography of this movie was surreal. Spielberg made the executive decision to film (nearly) the entire movie in black and white, and it was genius. It provided the film with a grimy, and unstylish fashion inspired by old German expressionist films. In addition, colour was used when the symbolic girl in red appeared which allowed her to be extremely emphasized upon. Spielberg also utilized many angles and shots to captivate the audience and to fool us into truly believing that we are in the moment. The music used in the movie was nothing spectacular, but it was effectively used in correct situations to set the tone of a scene and to invoke emotions.
Historical Accuracy
First of all, it's important to remember that Schindler's List is not a documentary. It was based on a novel of historical fiction by Thomas Keneally, so essentially, it is only based on true events. After watching the movie, one thing I had a problem with is Schindler’s lack of motivations. Schindler was initially fully sided with the Nazis, and suddenly he makes an abrupt turn and decides to risk his life to save as many people as he can. In reality, Schindler didn't really say much about why he did what he did or why his focus changed, other than that it was basically the right thing to do. But in order to bridge the gap in his character development, a spark of change had to be created. Another historical inaccuracy is during the powerful scene where the women and children are stripped and then forced into a large shower room. From our background knowledge, we know that there were gas chambers disguised as shower rooms, but those women and children in the film could not have known. They showed intense fear and tension, and when the water came on, they were extremely relieved. However, this scene could not have happened as they had just arrived at the camp, and very few people knew about the mass-scale deaths in the camp at the times.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Schindler’s List is definitely among the greatest holocaust movies of all time. With such an original story based on true events, it truly captivated the intentions and atrocities committed by the Nazi’s at the time. The character of Oskar Schindler truly evokes emotion and is one to be remembered. I am still reluctant to give the film 5/5 Mike’s as there was a large amount of plot filler which does deviate the story from a true story, into more of a Hollywood one. However, I would recommend this film to everyone as this film is absolutely intense.