"Who are you? Moses?"

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2003)

Extremely well written drama centered around the horrors taking place within the Holocaust of World War II. But, I don't think the Holocaust is entirely the point. The point is moral choice and the ability to choose freely even when everything around you has gone to hell; and a real hell at that.
So many millions lost their lives in the Holocaust, and for that I pay my respects. But is a film good simply because of it's subject matter? Some people seem to think so. But I don't. I think this particular film is good because of it's pace, good writing, good acting, and good music.
And surprisingly Spielberg attempts to create a style of his own here; unlike his plagiarizing Kurosowa's action film techniques. It's so subtle, but at times it is highly artistic for a Hollywood director.
Ralph Fiennes is brilliant as Amon Goeth - in probably the best performance of the entire film. It's brutal and he takes no prisoners. For which I feel he deserved the best supporting actor Oscar.
One nice moral point of the story is conveyed through showing the one little girl in red. In doing this the film suggests not to classify it as tragedy for the millions who died, but in terms of tragedy on purely personal levels for each of those 6 million (give or take) people. Each of them suffered, and each of them are remembered as such.
B+: Fans of actors, directors, or material should give it a look. It's worth your time.