Steven Spielberg At His Best!!!

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2009)

It's difficult for any one person to pick ONE movie by Spielberg that stands above all his others. However, if i had to choose his greatest movie when it came to sentimental value, and pure power, Schindler's List is THAT movie.
It's very painful for anyone to see such authentic acting displaying the mistreatment and sorrow of European Jews during WWII in Nazi Germany, but it is especially hard for me, as i am actually Jewish, and my grandfather was a German soldier in WWII in Russia.
Schindler's List is a very faithful and powerful film send up of the novel of the same name. Liam Neeson delivers an incredibly devoted and emotional role as Oskar Schindler, who is indeed one of histories few true heroes. The slow transformation in Oskar Schindler from greedy businessman to savior throughout the movie, is one of the greatest character developments in film history.
It's rather difficult to pull off a memorable villain role when it comes to being historically accurate, but Ralph Fiennes pulls it off as the sadistic and crafty Nazi officer, Amon Goeth. Ralph Fiennes truly knows how to chill the viewers to the bone when his presence is nearby, especially when he is upset, and therefore probably going to kill a few Jews just to shake off his bad mood. The scene where a hungover Amon wakes up with a naked woman still in his bed and he wordlessly grabs a sniper rifle from his villa balcony and snipes a few working Jews in the camp at the foot of the hill is especially shocking, showing just how heartless this man truly is.
One of this films strongest points, is the masterful soundtrack that is made up of a slew of traditional Jewish folk songs, and a heart-wrenching violin score by John Williams and Itzhak Perlman.
An especially emotional scene where the music is at its best is of course, the finale when the war in Germany has officially been declared finished. Oskar notifies the 1,100 Jews he had saved from Auschwitz by taking them to work in his factory that the Allies will come looking for him and most likely kill him. Perlman's violin score is almost able to send goosebumps up your spine as Schindler leaves for his car and is given a solid gold ring made from one of his Jews' golden teeth as a token of gratitude, and he breaks down crying, while lamenting that he didn't save more. Truly, this is Liam Neeson at his best.
Anyone who couldn't find any good points for this film, would either have some very strong Nazi beliefs, or not truly appreciate what a good film really is. For any Spielberg devotees like myself, this is a film that I strongly recommend. Let it be known lastly, that this is a very emotional movie, and it was just the same backstage too, as Spielberg has noted that he was actually crying while behind the camera on multiple occasions while filming Schindler's List.
This is one of the greatest movies ever made, and should always be recognized as such.