My review of "SCHINDLER'S LIST" ...

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2011)

INTRODUCTION :
Steven Spielberg always developed an interest for WW2 more than any other film-maker of his generation, mostly concerned by the Vietnam War and its cultural impact. Therefore, he revolutionized the Industry of film-making, not the mentalities. He never made thought-provoking or introspective films like "Apocalypse Now" or "Taxi Driver".
This attachment to the past, to childhood cemented Spielberg's indisputable talent to entertain and touch hearts, genuinely or deliberately. Spielberg had a traditional view on film-making, which consecrated him when the 80's saw the return of a more conventional style. In the early 90's, he was the most successful director capable of the best like "Duel", "Jaws" or "The Color Purple", movies where, ironically, his touch was less present, as much as the worst like "Hook" which caricatured the Spielberg traits to the extreme.
When Spielberg dilutes himself behind the camera, he can be incredible, when he indulged himself to express some sentimentality; it rarely worked after the 80's. That's why my favorite of his films, "The Color Purple" is the most misunderstood, why "Jurassic Park" will never surpass "Jaws" and why "Saving Private Ryan" is weak compared to the movie I'll review now : "Schindler's List".
SCHINDLER'S LIST :
The movie opens on a religious ceremony, the colors slowly fade, like a painful flash-back into an episode forever rooted in memories. And the black-and-white cinematography suggests the haunting presence of death in the minds of people whose only "crime" was to be Jewish and the hearts of us, viewers, whose only "excuse" was to be born after that tragedy. And there starts a tragedy of epic proportions following different levels of grief.
DENIAL OF EVILNESS : When a one-armed old man is killed like an animal because he's useless for the Third Reich, I was caught by surprise. When kids were shot, I was shocked. And I have no words to describe the whole Krakovia Ghetto massacre sequence. The duality of horror as the most atrocious form of barbarity that contaminated civilized men ; how can a man who plays Bach or Mozart, exterminate a family with the same hand? Or a beautiful gift allowing sick people 'to never hear the gunshots'.
ANGRY INCOMPREHENSION : One of the most despicable movie characters ever, Amon Goeth, whose leisure consisted on killing Jews in the most gratuitous way, doesn't even deserve to be called 'villain' as his evilness transcends any cinematic perception. The shooting of the engineer Diana Reiter is the part I couldn't get out of my mind, so unexpected, random and cold-blooded, the moment defines the torture endured by people in Concentration Camps, not just physical, but psychological, as any day could be the last one of your whole life, depending on the mood of an officer, or a defect in a gun.
DEATH ACCEPTANCE : The absurd level of cruelty changes the very perception of death, and provides sometimes some sort of darkly comedic reliefs moments, like when a kid points his finger on the chicken thief who's 'coincidentally' the first man shot by Amon Goeth. Ralph Fiennes as the suave beast, who exercised his right to kill or spare like a Roman Emperor, perfectly captured the essence of evilness trapped in his own torments, probably loving his power more than hating the Jews, as the exaltation of a kind of bestial superiority.
DEVASTATING SADNESS : The word 'depression' would be an indecent understatement, some passages are absolutely devastating, thanks to a direction, guilty of perfection, and John Williams' sober and emotional score. I understand this must have been painful for Spielberg, a man who loves children, to shoot the part where kids hid in a toilet hole, where the little girl in red 'reappeared', not to mention the gut-wrenching climactic shower scene. My heart was hysterically screaming with these women who thought it was the end.
LIGHT OF HOPE : Liam Neeson plays Oskar Schindler as a man with a way with people and women in particular. However, his depiction is undermined by something betraying the ambitious nature of a War profiteer. This characterization proved to work for characters like Rick Blaine (there's something strangely Bogart-esque in the way Neeson holds his cigarette) but the subject here is too serious for glamorization. He's a businessman who thinks of interests, and progressively, his natural charisma will become providential. It's ironic how he, the German, and his Jewish assistant, Yitzhac Stern, played by Ben Kingsley, handle as a business project what will be one of the most generous and humanistic acts ever.
Who saves one life, saves the humanity
CONCLUSION :
Whatever I said in this review concerning Spielberg loses its relevance when it comes to "Schindler's list", his greatest film because it's probably the only one where you can find both the personal touch, and something that speaks for Humanity, to remember one of its most shameful pages.
But the criticism starts again regarding the reception of "Schindler's List". The film has been described with so many superlatives that I really question the sincerity of this immediate prestige and if it's not just proportional with the gravity of the subject. Does "Schindler's List" really deserve to be in the American Film Institute's Top 10? Is it really that iconic in American Pop Culture?
I also read that "Schindler's List" was voted the best film ever made by the German film magazine 'Cinema', and it felt like the film was automatically praised as a way to make up for the guilt of having allowed these crimes to be committed. I hope I am wrong because I truly love "Schindler's List", but I just don't like the simplistic and systematical way the movie is praised.
But I sincerely hope the inspirational message of the film would inspire others about so many overlooked atrocities, just because some countries can't generate a film-maker with the same talent and influence as Steven Spielberg.