Stern: “The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.”
Stern: "Diese Liste ist etwas absolut Gutes. Diese Liste ist das Leben. Und rundherum, um ihre Ränder ist das Verderben."
First of all, I am not a fan of both, the genre and the length (3 1/4 fucking hours!).
However, this movie is a qualitative masterpiece. Spielberg made some serious thoughts on how he wants to construct this movie.
Many things are great. It is well-written. The scenery is great, nice that they could film in Kraków. It is formative. It is a serious topic and a good message.
The movie just feels like it is real. You do not notice that it is actually a film.
This is because many things are so realistic about this movie: The actors do not act staged, there are so many characters who talk and are somehow important which makes the movie very dynamic. It is also more realistic because it is uncut. People get shot, you see blood, they fall to the ground, it is okay - thank god it is not censored.
It is not just one storyline. Since the different time leaps in WW2 make the movie also more dynamic and particularly more diversified.
There are also some scenes which are quite funny which has not to be a bad thing in this case. Examples:
The crazy old man who thanks Schindler for the workplace.
The piano man who plays piano while everybody else gets shot in the house.
For a movie from 1993 it is a lot better than some movies released nowadays and many movies can learn from this movie.
[9.9/10] How do you go about capturing something as immense and horrifying as the Holocaust on film? It is an event that stretched across countries, with an unimaginable, unending array of horrors, that feels too big to be contained within the feeble confines of celluloid. But Steven Spielberg and his team somehow manage it, by going big and going small.
Spielberg gives us avatars for the different sides of this experience. He gives us Itzhak Stern, to channel the desperation, the resourcefulness, the unceasing fear of the Jews driven from their homes and then forced into camps. He gives us Amon Goeth, to symbolize the utter inhumanity, the callousness of the people who carried out such atrocities, who saw their captives and victims as less than human and acted accordingly. And he gives us Oskar Schindler, and with him, the arc of a man who goes from seeing the Jews as a means to an end, of profit and personal gain, to helping them a little when he can, to realizing that he’s sold his soul and trying to do everything he can to buy it back.
Through these central figures, Schindler in particular, the film brings grand, wide-ranging concepts down to earth: the dehumanization of the Jewish people, the different shades of wanton cruelty visited upon them, the gradual realization of their plight by the world, the good works that created light in the darkness, and the bureaucratic state that treated the harvesting and expungement of human lives like a series of numbers on a ledger.
But he also stretches beyond those avatars, to capture the horrors of one of humanity’s great shames as a series of chaotic, disquieting events that affected massive numbers of people. Spielberg’s camera does not shy away from panic, the tumult, the hiding, the casual deaths doled out in the streets in the “liquidation” of the Krakow ghetto. It doesn't flinch from the masses of people loaded into trains, stripped and prodded and treated like animals, and falling apart as families are split up, spouses are separated, and parents see their children blithely led to the slaughter. It holds the tension to the last when a group of Jewish women are disrobed, shaved, and sent into a shower, uncertain whether they are being disinfected, or sent to their deaths.
Through all of this, Schindler’s List provides a sea of familiar faces, individuals who are less fully-developed characters, but still given personalities, connections, quirks, and specific hopes and fears, that make them more than the indistinct mass of humanity their Nazi tormentors see them as. They are distinguished just enough to make them memorable, relatable, recognizable, but their concerns, their reactions and mere persistence or faltering within these stomach-churning events, are real and universal enough to make them stand-ins for the broader horrors faced by so many like them in the Holocaust. The film expertly balances their humanity and the way they represent the humanity of so many other, saved or caught or lost, in the Third Reich’s mortal machinery.
The film, in fact, treats it like machinery. That’s not to say there is pure dispassionate indifference here. One of Schindler’s List’s most intriguing choices is its treatment of Amon Goeth as someone profoundly real and expressive -- in his boorish laughter, his twisted affections for his conscripted maid, his brief and faltering attempts to own the power of mercy -- but also someone with no shred of empathy in him, for whom murder is either an idle sport or a mundane necessity of his job, until the very suffering or salvation of the people under his watch becomes one extneded joke.
But at the same time, the editing and framing choices emphasize the efficiency, the bureaucracy the meticulousness of the Nazis as they processed the Jews into fungible goods and slave labor and ash. Spielberg returns repeatedly to the images of the “listmakers”, the names being typed onto pages, the stamps that dictate life or death, the regimented memorialization of letters and numbers that either allow humble, blameless Polish Jews to hang onto their lives, or condemn them to an untimely death.
This is not the rush of the battlefield or the fog of war or the uncertainty of combat. It is the systematic extraction and extermination of a people at the hands of the state, done with governmental imprimatur. It is one of history’s greatest horrors regularly delivered with the desultory indifference of a civil servant.
At the same time, Spielberg and company take pains to show the contrast between the lives led by the German officers and private businessman who thrive on this murder and forced labor, and the beleaguered Jews struggling simply to survive. The film juxtaposes the lavish parties Schindler joins with the S.S. officers, and scenes of the squalor of the ghettos. He contrasts decadent pleasures of the flesh and of stunning artistic displays, with private beatings by officers who hate the cause of their own twisted feelings, and life events eked out by Jews in captivity. Without ever having a character speak out to condemn this disparity, he lets the disparity speak for itself in the distance between the casual horrors of mass enslavement and extermination, and the flush, spoils-of-war indulgences of those who profit from it.
That’s aided by the black and white aesthetic of the film. That choice certainly bolters moments like when a colorful flame juts back into the monochromatic world of the film, signifying the traditions carried despite the time they were almost snuffed out, or Schindler recognizes the red coat of a little girl that helps spur him to recognize the abominations of these acts and the humanity of the people who suffer under them. But it also allows Spielberg and director of photography Janusz Kaminski to make light the focus of their images.
The flash of gunfire illuminates and identifies the killings that take place in the Krakow Ghetto. The light that shines on Schindler’s face as he leans out of the shadows to comfort Helen Hirsch after she describes the terror-filled unpredictability of Goeth’s arbitrary murders cuts a contrast in the us vs. them divide. And it creates a stark beauty but also a grim frankness to swaths of liberated refugees walking down a hill, or clothless people forced to run in circles so they can be examined, or the bursts of smoke and ash that signal the ending crush of human suffering practically automated. It makes Schindler’s List feel older than it is, whilst channeling the dark realities the film unflinchingly confronts.
It confronts them with the crowds of Jews, the lists of names, thrown into the mortal whims of men who view them as subhuman, to be killed, abused, utilized, or saved. It confronts them with the story of a man who comes to see that invisible machine, the input and output of war, and laments his myopic part in it, and changes enough to save whom he can whilst decrying the more he might have saved. And it confronts us with the unimaginable scope and brutality and lost humanity, channeling the experience into a visceral three hours of trials and loss, of shameful joys and undeserved deaths, of regimented destruction and unsanctioned survival.
It is, in a word, a masterpiece. It is a hard watch, but also a film that accomplishes the impossible -- it captures the all-encompassing maw of the Holocaust, the acts that called into question our very souls as a species, the kindesses and losses that helped to affirm them, into a film so attuned to make us recoil, that also makes it impossible to look away, to cover our eyes, or do anything but reflect and remember what was done and what was lost.
that burning scene were the mutated body of that girl in red coat, man that pearced my heart. everything was horrifying, but that scene...
Made me cry was proper emotional and they got everything right
Fantastic movie.
I cry like a baby watching this movie. A tremendous Schindler's sensitivity to the Jews was shown by Liam's interpretation.
It's long, it's not an easy watch but this is Spielberg's most important movie. This is a must watch for everybody.
It's been awhile since I've seen this powerful film, and it truly sadness me... well made film... good cast... RIP to all that have lost their lives for the wrong reasons.. spot on from Steven Spielberg...
'i could have got more.'
I adore this movie, every damn moment of it. Oskar's character development from a businessman who doesn't really care to a man who could only save one more. And then there's Ralph with his Nazi look, every time Amon killed someone I said out loud What The Fuck!? I ate a few candies during the movie and thought I'm so damn lucky to eat that, be on my couch, watch a movie and eat candy! That's how this movie made me feel.
The way this movie is directed it all feels very surreal and like you're watching it unfold right before you. The cinematography is some of the best and what truly makes this movie stand out from many other war movies is the John Wilmas score. And the depth of the characters and their dynamic writing is absolutely phenomenal and beautiful. There is a certain satisfaction and energy embedded into the final hour of the movie. One of the best meta-ending films I've ever seen. Truly, it is the best work by Steven Spielberg. Perfect 10/10 movie.
The best movie Ever, Spielberg is a Genius.
If this doesn’t move you, you’re a liar or a sociopath. Profound.
Imma go off and say that I am truly ashamed of myself for rating this masterpiece so low the first time I watched this. Schindler's List in no way deserves a 6! I remember wanting to give it a 5 out of 10 when reviewing this. I had said I found the film dull. What the fuck? That day I put Schindler's List on, I was cooking therefore not really focused on the story of the film. I re-watched it today and I am truly amazed. Engaged in every single scene. Every single shot so beautiful; disturbing; authentic.
Schindler's List's cinematography is on point. Spielberg, whom was and still is one of Hollywood's most influential directors of all time and is known for his science fiction films, captures the brutal environment of the holocaust brilliantly. He truly demonstrates his talent, leaving the audience in awe of his ability to create a film so entirely different, completely opposite from his original or pre-shown aesthetic and work. Not to mention that the Holocaust is such a sensitive topic and Spielberg who is a part of Jewish culture did a job so well that this film he took a risk with is now actually an additional win for him.
The film's screenplay is amazing, for all of the recognition that Schindler's List has received is totally, completely deserved. The story of Oskar Schindler was portrayed extremely precise and Liam Neeson's acting is expertly done. In fact, every single actor in this film is fucking amazing! The extras are even worth watching in this film.
Directing; screenplay; production; costume design. All of these are extremely stunning. Seriously, no flaws at all! A film that demonstrates that even at the most horrid, brutal times; even around the most wicked and malicious human beings, there can still be a flash of hope and kindness for these individuals.
Masterpiece. Truly captivated this time—with a first time being unfocused by choice and then wrongly reviewing the film—I am astonished.
Schindler's List is a film that everyone should see and appreciate to its fullest extent. Spielberg will remain an immortal filmmaker through the work he put into this film.
Rewatched this in 2023 and upped my rating. Im older now and have a new perspective on the brilliance and significance of this film. It’s quite a harrowing watch TBH.
Ralph Fiennes is superb and totally creepy.
This is one of the most impressive stories of all time. What I can’t believe is that this wasn’t a mandatory watch at my high school or something. It’s a real shame that I only watched it today, because it’s so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Everyone should see this until the end of days.
I lost it when they showed true survivors leaving stones on his grave. This movie is a masterpiece
THE BETTER: ‘SCHINDLER’S LIST’
WRITING: 95
ACTING: 95
LOOK: 100
SOUND: 100
FEEL: 95
NOVELTY: 90
ENJOYMENT: 90
RE-WATCHABILITY: 100
INTRIGUE: 90
EXPECTATIONS: 100
THE GOOD:
Spielberg’s decision to shoot this film in black-and-white truly helps to strengthen the period atmosphere, as the black-and-white blend seamlessly with the production design. Add to this a grounded, but never dull, cinematography and editing and you have a visually simple, yet charmingly stunning feature.
Openly embracing the filmmaking and storytelling techniques of the era, Spielberg shows a great understanding of not only the historical events that form the basis of this film but also the way movies were made at the time. The combination of a historically accurate script and old-school filmmaking techniques make this film look and feel legit and well thought out. You can feel just how personal this project is for Spielberg and how much heart he has poured over his vision.
What truly helps this film stand out from many other war movies is John Williams’ score. It might not be his most recognizable work, but it’s characteristically emotional, lively and layered. It helps elevate several scenes into unforeseen heights.
Part of the beauty of this film lies in the simple emotional strengths of the scenes with no dialogue. They manage to convey so much without a single line of dialogue being spoken.
Similarly strong scenes are the chaotic sequences of German soldiers terrorizing Jewish citizens. They do a great job of showing just how harrowing, terrifying and chaotic experiences these must have been for the involved parties.
It is refreshing to see a war movie less occupied wth actual war and fighting, and more focused on the smaller characters and their actions during the war - particularly when they turn out to have played an important role historically. It’s these rough sides of the victims of the war we rarely see in the American war epics.
Military characters, german in particular, are often played over-the-top. That’s why it is wonderful to see Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes fully embrace their characters for realistic, yet grounded and immersive performances.
Neeson, Fiennes, Ben Kingsley and the rest are all great. None of the actors stands out more than the rest, but all performances are well-rounded. None of the characters feels superfluous or unwarranted. Neeson’s performance is a slow-burner, with explosive power unleashed in the final act.
Seeing all the grime, blood and terror is shocking and upsetting. Speilberg doesnät try to gloss things over, which is perfect.
You’d think that a film this long starts to feel repetitive and tiresome at some point, but amazingly that never happens. Speilberg allows the story to play out slowly but steadily, feeding us enough content to keep us satisfied yet hungry for more and slowly showing howe Oskar Shindler turned from a simple businessman into a great humanitarian worker.
I can’t even begin describing the heartbreaking, distasteful, terrible, horrifying and evil crimes the Nazis committed during the war and which have been faithfully re-created for this film.
There are a certain satisfaction and energy embedded into the final hour of the film, as Schindler’s plan is put into motion.
I’ve never been so touched by a film ending before. It’s the most meta-ending to a film I’ve ever seen, mixing real survivors saved by Schindler with the actors from the film paying their tributes to the real Schindler. It’s incredibly powerful, and probably one of the best scenes Spielberg has ever directed.
THE BAD:
As much as I hate to enjoy watching the Nazi terror that forms a surprisingly large chunk of this film, I came in expecting a deeper look into the life and career of Schindler, as well as his important effort to save the lives of some 1,200 Jews during the war. There’s surprisingly little of that until the third act.
THE UGLY:
That little girl in red, the only flash of colour in this black.-and-white film, remains the strongest emotional symbol in anything I’ve ever seen.
VERDICT:
Spielberg’s personal masterpiece is a harrowing, realistic and shocking depiction of the horrors of the holocaust and the small heroic efforts of one man that still mean so much all these decades later.
96% = :white_check_mark::white_check_mark: = BETTER
Was kinda disappointed with this film. I feel bad in myself that I wasn't impressed. It was just a bit uneventful for me and that sounds ridiculous considering the subject. Obviously that brings emotion and the story was interesting but my attention and emotions weren't played with enough. It just didn't impact me and my expectations weren't met at all.
Fantastic movie, heartbreaking. It's hard to believe that things like these could happen...
I Absolutely Enjoyed Literally EVERYTHING About this film..
The Pace was just TOO SLOW.
But A GREAT MOVIE!!!
2/2 Plot/Writing
1/1 Acting
1/1 Characters
/1 Pacing
1/1 Dialogue
1/1 Directing
1/1 Theme/Message/Symbolism
1/1 Tone/Mood
1/1 Living Up To It's Genre
Boring movie and not up to the hype. Cinematography was flat and just plain mediocre.
If the editor had cut about an hour or so, then maybe he would have had a good movie.
The most horrifying part of all is that it actually happened.
No words. Best movie i ever seen.
"I could have got more"
Dehumanization, utter depravity, crushing despair... but still, there's an inkling of hope left for humankind.
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
Neeson and Kingsley play off of each other perfectly. Schindler's greed slowly changing in the light of what he sees, Stern's quiet grace... and Fiennes... well, if there is evil incarnate on this world (and history and present show that there is) Göd is a prime example.
Granted, those 3 hours are hard to get through as this is no happy-go-lucky movie, but heartbreaking and soulrendering - but it's important to do so. Even more so now, not only as a testimony to the past but as a reminder to be watchful that it doesn't happen again. But I guess, the latter is wishful thinking unfortunately.
People list this as one of the most depressing films that can't be watched more than once but the filmmaking is so extraordinary that it's worth revisiting every few years.
And of course, antisemitism still being alive and well makes this even more important.
"Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't."
This is by far the best movie about the holocaust. Not all war movies show you the worst parts of war but Schindler's List doesn't shy away from that. It is difficult to watch, but that's the point. Everything from the script to the score to the cast is borderline perfect.
Wow, I cried a lot at the "I could have got more" scene... It hit me hard...
Haven’t watch this one since the release... made me feel exactly the same... just chills...
How the Holocaust was captured in this film and the cruelty... and that puts in perspective the amazing person that Schindler was...
I visit Auwzich few years ago.. just seeing it again in the film when the train of the women got directed there, I felt the terror, I can’t imagine what they actually felt.
I didn’t remember what happened in the movie...
I was sure it was gas that was going to come out from the showers, can’t believe it was water, according to our tour guide those showers were use for extermination purposes, I was glad they were spared long enough for Schindler to come get them.
It's a good movie.
It was just hard for me to watch.
Wow, this is a very poignant and must watch film. I even teared up at a few parts. I lived the fact that it was filmed in black and white so it added to the authenticity of the time period in which it was portraying. Literally, nothing more I can say than wow!
“ Whoever saves one life saves the world entire”
Schindler’s List is an complete and utter Masterpiece. It’s long and not easy to watch but it’s the most well made movie ever. I went into this movie with the highest expectations and it still exceeded my expectations. This movie is very important and it’s great that It won Best Picture. I had my eyes glued to the screen in shock at how amazing the movie was. The plot is great Spielberg perfectly addresses the holocausts and even better that Oscar Schindler’s story was told to the world. The acting is top-notch, Liam Nesson gives a great performance, Ben Kingsley gives a great supporting performance, And as well as Ralph Fiennes. The direction is amazing Steven Spielberg gives his best movie and you can tell it was made with passion. The cinematography is some of the best and the score is great too. The psychology of this movie is amazing the movie will have you think for days. The end is the best part how It cuts to real people with the last title card. Overall Schindler’s List is a classic movie and the closet a film will ever get to being Perfect.
( 10 out of 10)
Powerfull movie with a story we need to know about.. Neeson was lucky to be in this but with his perfomance he showed that he was great for this role.I am glad Spielberg eventually decided to direct this movie! 8.4/10
3rd time i watch this movie in my life and each time it's always tough.
I'm going to be honest and say that even though I think that the film was amazingly directed and scripted, portraying the story of Oskar Schindler astonishingly, I found this movie extremely boring. It was really difficult to keep myself engaged in the film's story. I guess that going into the film with such high expectations from reviews, I expected a lot more action to happen, but instead, it was a lot of conversation and very little pauses for a three hour movie. World War II is such a widely utilized topic that I guess I just wasn't that shocked having watched so many other movies based on it beforehand. I have to give it up to the cinematography though. My fucking god, Schindler's List's has the most amazing scenes in cinema history! Steven Spielberg captured the reality of the second world war exceptionally flawless. The cinematography is 100% what kept me engaged. I really felt the harsh, brutality of concentration camps. Really sad.
not my favorite genre.but won 7 Oscars enough to put among the best film ever.
Amazing movie.
My heart is quite sensitive to Nazi action related themes.
To all those who loved this movie, and also loved "The pianist" (another gorgeous movie): ponder watching "Surviving with the wolves".
[ https://trakt.tv/movie/surviving-with-wolves-2007 ]
Quite unknown, but emotionally devastating - following the Nazi action on peoples lives on Europe - and how many hearts rotten. Following a Jewish girl who got away.
I believe it's score is low (with only 4 votes) thanks to it being filmed in Belgium, hence originally filmed in french. I came to see how many uncultured people sadly despise any movies that aren't spoken in english, as they don't like to read subtitles.
That indeed limits life. How sad.
But since there are many openminded, cult, artistic users in here, I am recommending that movie to them (actually, all those three mentioned, if unwatched).
Watched it for the first time. A very strong movie.
Unfortunately, after so many years of people praising it into heaven every time the name 'Schindler' is said, it could not live up to it's legendary reputation. It is one of the best films in its genre but not THE best.
This is just too perfect...
97%? I mean, WHAT THE FUCK?! This is the(!) greatest movie I've ever seen, and I saw a couple.. What's the problem with it?
Shout by echelon_fourBlockedParent2014-09-19T10:37:21Z
I just watched this for the first time. I cried like a small child through the whole "I could have got more" scene.
This movie is heartbreakingly perfect.