Wonderfully made film, but very flawed.............

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2006)

The problem with 'Schindler's List' is that, although superbly made by one of the most talented directors who ever lived, it has an agenda: to convince people of the Holocaust. I mean, why add all those dramatic scenes of children being led to their deaths, the gassings, bodies burning etc? What did all that add to the film story apart from try to shock the viewers? Schindler himself was, in reality, far removed from the nice man portrayed by Liam Neeson. Most of what he did was not because he particularly cared about the Jews, but because they made him lots of money. He was also a serial womaniser and adulterer. Basically, the film is a sentimental Hollywood melodrama which happens to be set at a time of great cruelty, motivated by blind fanaticism. An opportunity was lost to analyse WHY the Nazis hated Jews so much, what were the fundamental roots of the German-Jewish conflict? Instead Spielberg went for the safe option of creating brutal German robots and innocent, perplexed Jewish victims. And the final scene when Schindler gave his speech was frankly ridiculous. Final verdict: magnificent film, subject matter not properly presented.