One of the great films of the 20th century.

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2004)

I'll start with an "aside." What is a "film" and what is a "movie." I take the logical stance most of the time, the crew "films" so that the director and editor can create a "movie". But I have a difficult time thinking of "Schindler's List" as a "movie." I didn't watch it to be entertained, no person with a clear vision of the history behind it would. So for me, "Schindler's List" is certainly a "film", one about a real stain on our human history, a stain placed there solely from religious beliefs. The persecution and attempted extermination of the Jews by the German Nazis.
But this "film", while its overall subject is the holocaust, is not really about the holocaust. While it revolves around the mistreatment of Jews by the Nazis, it is about the man, Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson. A German, a "connected" man in society, he went to Poland and bought a factory, employing cheap Jewish labor, hoping to get rich. He was no humanitarian. But perhaps his biggest weakness, his not being an astute businessman, was responsible for the conversion we see during the course of the three hours running time of the film. He has to rely on a Jew, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), to run his factory. And the rest, as they say, is history. He changes to the point that he risks his own life to save many, perhaps over 1000, Jews from extermination, no longer for profit but for true humanitarian motives.
Unique in this time of modern movie-making, this film is mostly in Black and white. For me this works very well, because first it is such a stark subject and second, there is not so much to distract the viewer from the story. Many consider this Spielberg's best directorial effort, probably because as a Jew it was very personal to him. As a viewer, many times I found it difficult to watch, because the scenes are so realistic. I will never forget the scenes of nude prisoners being marched across the prison grounds to their deaths. I give great credit for this film's place in history, but it is not one that I enjoy watching, it is such a reminder how some can be so cruel to those who should be treated as our brothers and sisters.