Schindler's List Movie Review

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2014)

Movie: Schindler's List (1993) Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kinsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, and Embeth Davidtz
Schindler's List is a non-fiction movie directed by Steven Spielberg based off the events of the Holocaust Genocide and a true character with the name of Oskar Schindler. This movie shows us how a greedy Nazi party member with the wish of making a fortune ends up saving a total of 1,200+ Jews. Owning a factory that produced goods, Schindler, with the help of his assistant Stern were able to disguise Jews as factory workers, and ultimately save their lives by fooling the Nazi officials.
Schindler never planned on saving the Jews in the first place. He was in the Nazi party not because he wanted to exterminate Jews, but rather because he didn't want Nazis bothering his work. He figured by joining the party, they'd leave him alone, knowing he sided with them. The factory he owned was one that was invested by a rich Jewish smuggler, and his assistant Stern was also a Jew. His factory produced enamelware. His workers were all Jews, for they were cheaper to hire at the time. However despite the fact that everything he owned were up and running because of Jews, he knew about the Nazi's actions, yet still felt no urge to save the Jews. However, Stern, being a Jewish himself, had different plans, and realizing the fact that if Jews were used to work for the Germans, they would not be killed, he decided to hire more and more Jews to work for the factory as a disguise for them. One day, he brought an old man with only one arm into the factory, and the old man accidentally blurted out a thank you. Oskar, finally noticing what was happening, sent the old man away.
Oskar scolded Stern for trying to save Jews, telling him that it was not his place to do so, and also lectured him on how the Jews were here to work, not to be saved. Then suddenly one day, a new concentration camp in Plaszow was opened, and all the Jews were moved there. What they did not know however, was that the new concentration camp was actually an extermination camp. Oskar, realizing this and the cruelty of Germans, started siding with Stern and rescuing Jews. All of a sudden, Oskar's dream of investing and making a fortune turned upside down as he spent more and more money bribing high Nazi officials for Jews as workers, and paying those off to turn a blind eye. Overtime as Oskar becomes more desperate to save more lives, he starts giving Stern most of his properties and leaves him with the task of bribing officials to transport the Jews to the factory. Every day, every second was the same, trying to save as many lives as possible.
Finally, the war ended. Oskar saved a total of 1,200 lives with the cost of his whole fortune. Despite all that he has done however, because he has joined the Nazi party in the past, he is still considered a war criminal. He tells the Jews that have been hiding in the factory that they are now free, and he is to leave at midnight with his wife to avoid capture. The Jews, unbelievably grateful of his compassion, gives them a ring made of gold (which was all they had), and told him that "by saving a life, you save the world". With this, Oskar flees.
This is by far one of the best realistic yet intense movies I've ever watched. The idea of making the film mono-colored (black-white) was also very intelligent, symbolizing how the events that happened were history. The facts on Oskar are also relatively realistic, for he did indeed risk his own life to save over 1,000+ Jews. This is a realistic movie that is hard to watch because of all the unfortunate events that happened. It simply arises so much emotion inside you that it is impossible to not be focused throughout watching the whole movie. This film attracts attention, imitates the past, has information that are reliable and realistic, and presents the history near perfectly. I would rate this movie a 9.5/10. Simply a fantastic film.