A Masterpiece of Complexity

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2012)

This film is no ordinary war film. There have been many films made from WWII material, but none with this sense of power and desolate emotion. Liam Neeson's performance as the aggressive business entrepreneur turned savior of Krakow Jews, Oskar Schindler is one of deep intra-personal confliction and emotion, that one feels almost sympathetic for the man who is playing such a dangerous game. His goals are simplistic in the outset, make money and use the Jews cheap labor to do so. Progressively as he witnesses the horrors of the Holocaust, so vividly brought to life by Mr. Spielberg, his resolve as a businessman deteriorates, and his drive to save lives is bolstered by things almost unknown. His motives aren't stated, as doing so would ruin the complex, magician like quality he has for getting what he wants, when he wants.
In speaking of scenes unforgettably vivid, the horrors of the Holocaust have never seemed as real as they did as I watched this film. In particular, the savage hunting done by the SS during the Krakow ghetto liquidation is a visual memoir to the relentless and mind numbing slaughter that was. The sheer desperation and cunning wit of the Jews to survive evokes an inspired, yet marred feeling inside one's self as we see them unsuccessfully evade murder. Then, as the film comes to an end, the surviving "schindlerjuden" place rocks on Mr.Schindler's actual grave in respect and remembrance of what he had given them nearly 50 years before. The scene delivers such emotion as you can literally feel the gratitude the survivors feel they owe Schindler, as maybe the respect shown can somehow ease the debt the owe to him.
The accuracy of the film seems to be hit right on the head; the adaptation of Thomas Keaneally's novel is seamless, except for the enlargement of certain roles throughout the film. Many first-hand accounts of Schindler, and friend/foe Goeth say that the two actors gave such startlingly real performances, that the survivors began to tremble in sight of meeting them. As for things to be said, or left unsaid, I cannot recall a scene in the movie that I would rather have not wanted to be there. Every scene, no matter whether it was a monologue or mass hysteria, held relevance, emotion, confliction, simplicity, complexity, and sheer importance to the film's message and understanding. Steven Spielberg may have thought he was not qualified for this film, but I cannot think of any other director that could have done what he did with this remarkably dual-themed story. Schindler's List is nothing short of inspiring. Showing that one man can changed the entire country of Poland, whose Jewish population today totals around 4,000 with over 6,000 Polish people being descendants of the "schindlerjuden". In the face of uncontrolled horror and death one man boldly and illogically stood against his German brothers and showed the world what saving a life can mean.