Schindler's list review

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2008)

A masterpiece. That is how I would describe Schindler's List in a few words. Schindler's List is based on the real life story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Of course when we think of a film based on a real life we usually think that it is just a ploy to gain people's attention, but this film really does bring real events back to us such as the horrors of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and the how people like Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) would indiscriminately kill men, women and children just because they are Jews. Steven Spielberg came at this film with the right respect and didn't even receive a salary to direct citing that it would be 'blood money'. He choose to make it as realistic as possible not leaving out a single crying child, a single drop of blood or a single horror anywhere. Many parts of this film are difficult to watch, but if they weren't then this film wouldn't be a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong though, this is not an action film but more of a thriller. To say that the music 'fits' into this film would be a crime. John Williams's scores don't fit the film but make the film. If you wanted to get an Oscar in a film you had made then all you would have to do is get Williams to do the music for you, it wouldn't matter how bad the film was his music would make it come to life. Also there is a mix of both diegetic and non-diegetic music like when the Krakow ghetto is being liquidated a sad monotonous Jewish song is being sang by children which is clearly non-diegetic as no singing could take place in the confusion and death of the ghetto and also shows what a horror the Nazis were committing. The music then stops for a while as the Nazis wait for the Jews in hiding to come out and as the shooting starts a piece of diegetic music also starts which is in total contradiction to what is happening as it is jolly and 'bouncy'. The piece of music is by Beethoven and is being played by a German soldier trying to escape the real world where all the death is happening. The direction is genius to say the least. This film shows just how good Spielberg can be when he wants to be. It creates a very dark subtle humour which messes with your emotions. Such as, going back to the liquidation scene, when the Nazis soldiers are searching for hidden Jews and they shine a light round the room and it reveals a cluster of them and they all raise their hands which brings a smile to your mouth until you realise in horror that those Jews would die and you had found it funny. He also builds expectations that make you think one thing is going to happen and then he makes another thing happen instead. An example of this is the day when Goeth tries to take Schindler's advice on power is when you have every right to kill but don't. The first thing that happens is that Goeth saddle is on the floor and you expect him to shot the guy looking after the horse but he doesn't. After he comes back from horse riding, the Jew who is supposed to be cleaning his bath reports that it couldn't be cleaned. Now you think he won't kill him because he's on a good day and at first the film goes along with that but then as the Jew is walking away a bullet hits the ground at his feet. This makes you think that he is going to kill him but then he misses again and you think he is just playing with him changing your emotions again, and the final bullet hits him in the back of the head killing him instantly. Fiennes plays Goeth beautifully here and in the rest of the film but in this particular scene he makes the warped personality come out extremely well in because Goeth had no reason to kill the Jew and had just 'pardoned' him and yet after he touches the mirror and his nail gets chipped which makes him kill the Jew. Spielberg also gets an excellent performance out of Liam Neeson portraying him as the bad guy in the beginning before bringing in Goeth who is a character so bad he makes anyone look good. This is Neeson's greatest performance by far. Spielberg also uses the popular genre of Neeson's characters as a mentor to great effect getting him to comfort the Jews with opaque realism and develop his own character into someone we can emphasize with and makes us think what we would do in the same situation. The script is an amazing piece of work. The plot doesn't lose a single second of interest in it's over 3 hour running time. This is a feat in itself but then it doesn't just keep your interest but holds itself in your memory forever. Whenever you see that it is being shown on TV you plan to watch it days before it's on and then make sure nothing will interrupt you in that entire time. Each time you watch it you find something you didn't notice before and you can never watch it to many times. The script paints the background of the Victoria Falls in a master piece and leaves the foreground for Spielberg to paint the butterfly. Perfection is not something that easily comes to humans and is something only really found in the night's sky, the largest rainforests and the deepest oceans. It eludes us like a frightened cat and speeds past us like a rocket. This film has not achieved perfection but as the spice train past by it grabbed a handful of perfect and is seasoned all over with it.