Leaves you stunned and mesmerized, with your mouth agape

Rating: 9/10 (18 August 2014)

The Holocaust during World War II forms the backbone of the plot in this highly-acclaimed, heart-touching movie. Oskar Schindler is introduced as an opportunistic and avaricious businessman, who hires Jews as workers merely because they constitute cheap labor. But, soon enough, his greed is subdued by his attachment to them and he plans to save them from Hitler's persecution, even if he has to throw away his hard-earned savings as bribes to the Nazi officers. A very commendable job by the writers makes the character come alive very convincingly. Liam Neeson cannot be given any less credit for portraying the protagonist and Ben Kingsley as Stern adds a cherry to the cake. But, the portrayal of the setup actually used by Nazis to slaughter the Jews, makes the audience shiver with fear and disbelief. The detailing and hard-work put by Spielberg is quite evident in the scene where the Jewish children try to elude the Nazi soldiers by hiding in places inconceivable to any ordinary man. Another such instance is when the Jews are transported in trains, huddled like cattle without enough space to take even a whiff of air.
An unbiased judge may opine that there were quite a few instances where the protagonist may have been idealized in order to make the people really adore him. This can be defended by accepting that the real Oskar Schindler acted only as a source of inspiration for the role, and the rest had to be cooked up as per the appetite of the audience. All in all, the movie stands today as a masterpiece made once in a lifetime.