Despite some flaws, one of modern moviemakings best

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 1999)

Schindler's List was Spielberg's confirmation as one of America's best storytellers. Despite Spielberg's extraordinary body of work, straight drama was one of his shall we say, less successful line of storytelling. Yes, The Color Purple was a fine film, but at times it showed Spielberg's desire to overendow the viewer with his good intentions. This was also the case with his Empire of the sun.
Spielberg doesn't seem to believe in evil, unless it is cardbox evil as in Raiders... So, how do you tell a story about evil without going overboard and try to usurp the viewers with your statement?
Spielberg used the best way of storytelling. He based his film on characters and not around scenes or plotlines. His characters flourish as the story enfolds them. Yet on two occasions in the film Spielberg forgets about his storyline and inserts two scenes to portray the real persona of his story. First, you have a scene where Ralph Fiennes shows his affection for his young housemaid. Obviously Spielberg's intent was to show us the nature of this character. Unfortunatly this doesn't work, because from our own backround and the story itself, we know the nature of that character and this scene breaks the rhythm and the credibility of his story. The second scene is the end, where cast and crew present their respect to the dead. This is all nice and well, but it makes you realize that you've been watching a piece of fiction and therefore the movie loses some of it's unbearable strength.
Visualy the film is Spielberg's best and once again he states himself as an extraordinary actors director. Pitty that Spielberg has that desire to tell us more than we need to know. But despite these flaws Schindler's List ranks among the best of modern moviemaking.