A Superb, Haunting, Uplifting, Great Film

Rating: 10/10 (28 October 2005)

Steven Spielberg's career was somewhat unfilled before 1993. Sure there were some fine films and some enjoyable films but there wasn't the truly great film that such a great filmmaker deserved. In 1993, that drought was ended by Schindler's List.
When Poland is subdued by the invading Nazi armies, Oskar Schindler attempts to form a business, employing only Jews and freeing them from the Ghetto. However, the Holocaust and the Final Solution begin to take hold; more and more of his workers are taken to concentration camps but Schindler continues to try and get Jews into his factories. However, as the year begins to draw to a close, Schindler begins to draw up a list of Jews who he wants to buy and take to his own factory.
What a film! It is fantastic. It is supremely well made, exquisitely written with a touching score and brilliantly shot. It is a tour-de-force with three fantastic central performances from Liam Neeson as the benevolent and great Schindler, Ben Kingsley as the mistreated Jew, Itzhak Stern and Ralph Fiennes as the homicidal and psychotic Goeth. It is simply sublime from all.
John Williams' score is possibly his best ever (which is high praise indeed). The photography is superb from Janusz Kaminski and they all help to make a film that has two strong bases. The first is Steven Zaillian's fantastic script, brilliant created and moulded. The second is Spielberg's direction, which is genial, brilliant and sublime. He deals with the case of the Holocaust in a suitably stark way but he also provides an uplifting film that shows humanity's better side in one man at the very least. He also uses his skill to the maximum. In particular, his use of colour is awesome, especially his focusing on a girl in a red coat during the liquidation of the ghetto and her re-appearance later in the film Put simply, this is a film that is veritably great.
Without a doubt, the film is one of the greatest ever and should be seen by all.