Absolute

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2007)

The word "absolute", both as an adjective and a noun, seems to fully capture and sum up my thoughts and feelings for this movie. Spielberg's film not only can be described as complete in itself, perfect, consummate and faultless, but stands out as something inviolate, fundamental and ultimate.
Having seen most of the movies considered "great", I can say that "Schindler's list" easily surpasses all of them by far. Every frame of it makes a unique, immense impression on the viewer; it leaves a thinking, feeling man completely dazzled by the complexity, deepness and realness of the images and emotions it portrays. And it's not just because of the sheer excellence that everything is executed with, although the shots and the acting, the editing, the cinematography and the character development are by themselves sufficient to secure this production a place among true masterpieces.
It is by means of subtle, but striking contrast that the film carries it's message to the audience. We see equestrians wearing expensive clothing overseeing the ghetto liquidation massacre. We see the merry, chattering SS officers on a party in a villa, illuminated by the concentration camp searchlight. We hear delightful German music from the loudspeakers during the horrors of selection. We witness the Kommandant's relaxed, dreamy face while the panic-stricken people packed into the wagons are panting for air.
However, the movie's single biggest source of strength is, undoubtedly, it's Realism. Something that's "not a pervasive element in the modern American cinematic vision", yes. "Schindler's List" is a document, accurately depicting real events and people. It is grim, somber, powerful, and it will stay with you forever.