Masterpiece - Must See

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2006)

Given the number of comments here, it is probably superfluous to add my opinion. Nevertheless, I will - to express my three points. First, this film is a masterpiece both in its content and in its style. Notwithstanding "Sophie's Choice" and other attempts to recount the Holocaust, the story of Schindler needed to be told. I am pleased that Spielberg told it and not, for example, Polanski or Scorcese. Spielberg (in some ways a Schindler himself, a guy with panache) relied on image, and feeling. (The most powerful scenes need no sound. Dialogue is often in Polish, German or Yiddish.) Spielberg tells Schindler's story without a Polanski edge, nor a Scorcese wantonness.
Second, the choice of the pre-war Hungarian song "Gloomy Sunday" lent authenticity as I watched, and has given me a reminder since. I can't hear other versions of this song now without thinking of this story.
Third, watch for the girl's red dress because that's when Schindler realizes a truth, and somehow changes. At the end, watch for the woman spontaneously touch Schindler's grave with her hand. In all this terribleness, something good survived.