Too cheesy for a film as serious as this one.

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2006)

I suppose this is an "important" film, and it deserves some merit for educating simple folk about the Holocaust. But as a film it's rather mediocre. Schindler's List would have ended up as just another war film among thousands had it been set in a Russian, rather than a German concentration camp. This is a sensitive topic and I didn't like the degree of sensationalism used by Spielberg, as if this were a purely commercial Drama. Most of the characters are stereotypes, which fulfils a purpose I guess, as it depicts the Nazis as unambiguously evil, but it doesn't add to the quality of the film. The plot was predictable and, just like in most Spielberg films, a little bit too "clean" and not gruesomely random enough. The scene with the bare chested Nazi shooting people from his balcony was distasteful in my opinion, and I would have been more moved and "shocked" (as was no doubt intended) had this repugnant Nazi character been depicted in a more life-like way and as less of a caricature. The graphic scenes of women screaming in the showers were unnecessary. Often the true horror of an atrocity can be conveyed by omitting certain parts, and I don't think Spielberg got it right.