Director: Steven Spielberg
Initial Release Country: United
States
Times Previously Seen: twice (last time about twelve years
ago)
Rapid-Fire Summary
For a complete plot synopsis, check here at imdb’s website.
In 1940, the Nazi machine is taking hold in Poland Krakow with dollar
signs in his eyes. Through clever business machinations and a flare for
panache, Schindler quickly ingratiates himself to Nazi high commanders, secures
a factory and a Jewish prisoner labor force for himself.
Over the next few years, business is good for Oskar
Schindler. His factory produces quality pots and other metal goods, and his
chief accountant, the Jewish Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsly) sees that the factory
runs smoothly and profitably. IN the early going, the only seeming bump in the
road is the assignment of Nazi officer Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) as the
commander of the labor camp in Krakow . Goeth is an
unpredictable and homicidal maniac who kills Jews without rhyme or reason.
Schindler, however, manages to become civil, if not friendly, with the
treacherous killer, in the name of keeping the money flowing in.
Oskar Schindler - in the middle of one of his many negotiations. These eventually evolve from purely self interested to completely altruistic.
Gradually, Schindler begins to have a change of heart,
though a somewhat quiet and slow-building one. Upon seeing the murderous
brutality of the Nazis against the Jews, Schindler, on the gentle but
unwavering urging of Stern, begins to bring more Jewish laborers into his
factory. He tells everyone that it is simply to maintain efficiency, but those
who are closest to him can see that his sympathies for the Jews are growing.
Schindler even tries, unsuccessfully, to change the brutal nature of Goeth.
This failure aside, he continues to take Jewish prisoners into his factory to
save them from the horrors of working in the labor camp every day.
As the War enters its final year, things become more
desperate. Word comes down that Hitler has ordered the complete extermination
of Jews – the so-called “Solution.” In the face of this, Oskar Schindler takes
all of his massive profits, and even convinces a few other businessmen to do
the same, and purchases over a thousand Jewish laborers. He assures Goeth that
it is merely for convenience, as these laborers and their children are known
commodities. The deal is made, and Schindler even ensures their safe transport
to Czechoslovakia Auschwitz
and nearly killed, along with thousands of their fellow Jews.
At the official surrender of the Nazis to the Allied forces, Schindler addresses the hundreds of people that he has saved. The following day, as an ultimate irony and sacrifice, he must flee punishment for the crime of war profiteering.
When the war ends with the unconditional surrender of the
Axis powers, the Jews are free, but Oskar Schindler is now, officially, a war
criminal for profiteering. With the blessing of the thousand that he helped
save, Schindler and his wife flee into the night.
My Take on the Film (done after this most recent viewing)
This was the third time that I’ve seen this movie, and my
feelings haven’t changed – it’s a very good film in many ways, but there are a
few things that irk me.
Schindler’s List is definitely one of the boldest of
Spielberg’s films. The movie portrays the stark and horrific actions of the
Nazi regime against the Jews in a way that I had never seen before. It goes far
beyond mere sensational, almost action/suspense route that could have been
taken. Seeing silent, morose masses of Krakow ’s Jewish
citizens, lined up to be classified and segregated by the conquering Germans
has much more authentic emotional power. This is one of many subtle details
that the movie exhibits in order to convey the crushing reality of the Holocaust.
As always, Spielberg is a master of the technical aspects of
film. The man has always known how to tell stories through the moving picture,
and Schindler’s List is no exception. From the opening scenes of Oskar
Schindler schmoozing his way into the good graces of the Nazi commanders, to
and through Goeth’s failed attempt at becoming a forgiving overlord, the movie
balances dialogue and visuals to tell the tale as well as anything Spielberg
has ever done.
The maniacal Goeth and the savior Schindler, during one of their many talks. The two are dark-and-light reflections of one another. This scene displays how effectively Spielberg used the black and white medium. No one can say that the man doesn't know what he's doing with a camera.
Unfortunately, as important as these things are, and as well
as the movie does them, there are several gripes that I have. One is that I
have always found a certain flatness to the main characters. Oskar Schindler’s
soul goes through a massive transformation, and yet we are left with virtually
nothing to explain why this might have occurred. Aside from a few ponderous
gazers at the horrors around him, we are left in the dark as to why, exactly,
this self-absorbed capitalist would abandon his fortune to save a group of people whom he
has only seen as a means to his financial ends. There are moments when we get
hints, but I’ve always felt a little cheated when it comes to this aspect of
the film. There is also an enigmatic quality to Goeth. The character never
feels completely real to me – almost more of a monster construct than a person
who actually could have existed.
The idea of constructs is another problem I have with the
film. Far too many times, I felt as if I could see Steven Spielberg’s
hand prints on the movie, and not in a good way. He was clearly trying to
present a “realistic” look at the terrors of the Holocaust, and in some notable
ways, he succeeded. However, there are a few too many scenes and moments that
feel very contrived to me. One is the “secretary” scene, when the libidinous
Schindler is “interviewing” potential secretaries by watching them type. This
sequence, with no dialogue, is a very wink-wink, nudge-nudge, humorous moment
in the movie. In other words, it seems way out of place. There are several
others, but none so egregious as the final scene in which Schindler is walking
towards his car, about to leave behind all of the people he has saved. In a
scene that seemed straight out of a hackneyed melodrama from the 1940s, the
hundreds of Jews quietly stand around him as he slowly starts to cry and
despair over how many more lives he could have saved, had he not been so
selfish. On paper, it seems to make for a great scene. On film though, to me, it seems
rather artificial.
The final scene, in which Spielberg and Neeson overplay their emotional hands (in my opinion). The melodrama becomes thick to the point that it does a disservice to the reality upon which the film is based.
Related to this is something that has been a bugaboo in
virtually every Spielberg film – shying away from truly, completely shocking
the audience, even when it may be appropriate. The particular scene I have in
mind is towards the end of the movie, when Schindler’s Jews have all been
mistakenly taken to Auschwitz . The women are all
stripped naked and forced into a large warehouse, which they and we the
audience all presume to be a gas chamber in which they will all be killed. Just
at the height of our fears, water rather than gas rains down from the shower
heads, merely cleaning the terrorized women. I don’t know whether this event
actually occurred, but it struck me as strange that the director, who has
already shown us multiple brutal murders in the movie, would shy away from
presenting perhaps the most disturbing crimes perpetrated during those years –
the mass executions of helpless innocents. I’m not saying that I would have enjoyed seeing such a thing,
but this film is clearly not about enjoying what you are seeing. It is about
witnessing the atrocities committed against the Jews, and it only seems right
to witness the greatest of those atrocities.
Schindler’s List is one of those films on historical tragedy
that merely makes me want to learn more about the actual story, not unlike The
Last King of Scotland or Hotel Rwanda. In fact, the scene that has by far the
most impact on me, and the only one during which I cry, is at the very end,
when the credits start to roll. We shift to 1993, when the film was released,
and we watch the surviving “Schindler’s Jews” and some of their descendants process towards the real Schindler’s grave and place flowers along it. This is
when the reality of the story hits me, and this is when I feel a real sense of
loss.
I ultimately think of Schindler’s List as a “near miss.” It
tells an important story, and it does many things well. However, I feel that,
had the few “Hollywood” moments been eliminated and had Spielberg gone more
minimalist in a few of his techniques, the movie would have had even more power.
In other words, three times in more than enough for me. I
don’t need to watch this movie ever again.
That’s a wrap. 94 shows down; 11 to go.
Coming Soon: The Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
Ahhhh. A nice breath of fresh air, after emotional weightiness
of the prior three movies. Kung-fu action up the wah-zoo. As of writing this,
apparently Jackie Chan is in some hot water for an anti-American rant.
Whatever. I just want to see one guy jumping around, kicking the stuffing out
of a bunch of other guys.
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