Heart-wrenching

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2007)

World War II is raging. Sleazy socialite and entrepreneur Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrive in Poland and create his own kitchen equipment fabric with an army contract. His competitive plan? Use Jews from the ghetto: they cost less than Poles or Germans. What begins as a profitable business venture will soon suck Schindler into a dark world of madness and genocide, as he discovers not only his true nature, but also, to his horror, the full implications of the nature of his government.
Spielberg had amused and thrilled crowds with a long line of blockbusters before this (few human beings with eyes don't know of E.T., Jaws or Indiana Jones), and had mostly disappointed when trying his hand at more serious material: Color Purple was fair, and Empire of the Sun felt oddly shallow. Being as they weren't really his stories to tell in any case, these films can be excused as mere experiments to prepare Spielberg for this tale which he had held close to his heart for a long time.
What amazes about the story is that, in typical Spielberg fashion, it wastes no time. Each scene has a point, a place, and is maximized, and given the film's length and the nature of its story, the result is positively harrowing. Schindler grows considerably throughout the ordeal: the first cynical and opportunistic businessman starts playing a dangerous psychological game with the commanding Nazi officers, namely Amon Goethe (Fiennes). Seldom has human evil found such a frighteningly real incarnation than Fiennes's horrific officer, whose unpredictable fits of depression or violence keep the viewer constantly unbalanced. Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish book-keeper then confidant gives the film a beautiful heart, and the overall acting is universally excellent. Spielberg never lets his actors down, but Steven Zaillian's screenplay truly is a miracle of character development.
Shot in staggering Black and White, Schindler's List feels like re-living History. it is brutal, intense and heart-wrenching. Spielberg has returned to oppression and war since (in Amistad and Saving Private Ryan) but has never topped this, nor ave most great films in existence.
For one of those rare times, a film is worthy of all the huge praise and hype surrounding it... and then some.