Schindler's List
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
Reviewed by Jon Land
This film traces the remarkable story of Oskar Schindler and his efforts to save some 1100 Polish Jews from the Nazi Holocaust. Adapted from the novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, it vividly displays the horror and anguish of Jews in Krakow under Nazi occupation and the totally dehumanising existence forced upon them.
Schindler's List is an emotion-packed drama that brings to life the true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Schindler is an entrepreneur, con and member of the Nazi Party who sets out for Krakow to make his fortune.
For Schindler, the war means a quick and easy way to make a lot of money. He plays the game of winning influence amongst the military and bureaucracy through bribes and rorts, receiving army contracts for the confiscated enamelware factory that he runs using Jewish conscript labour.
As his business adventure develops, so too does the relationship between Schindler and the Jewish workers, especially his accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), who becomes essential to Schindler's business success (keeping track of who to bribe and how much). For the Jewish workers, Schindler's factory becomes a haven from life in the ghetto and the concentration camp, where they can escape, even if only temporarily, from the brutality of the soldiers and the prison guards. Word soon spreads that working in the factory can make the difference between life and death.
The most intriguing part of the story is why someone as self-centred as Schindler should develop such concern for the Jewish workers, who to him are merely cheap, exploitable labour. Perhaps it is just reality catching up with him. Perhaps witnessing the liquidation of the Krakow Jewish quarter had a profound impact on his conscience. This is how Spielberg portrays Schindler's growing concern for the plight of his workers and their relatives as the Nazis' "final solution" gathers pace.
With the growth of right-wing extremist groups throughout Europe and the claims of some revisionist historians that the Holocaust never really happened, the release of Schindler's List is timely. A public opinion poll conducted across the United States last year revealed that nearly 25% of young Americans have not heard of the Holocaust or are uncertain what the term refers to.
Thomas Keneally described a conversation with Spielberg about the timing of its release: "This is the first period since World War Two when governments — not some ratbag on a street corner, but governments — are using terms like ethnic cleansing and therefore [there was] a sense that this was an appropriate time".
Schindler's List was filmed entirely in black and white, which creates and captures a special atmosphere. Ten years in the making, it is one of the most ambitious productions ever to be filmed in Poland, most of it in the city of Krakow. " We had a tremendous set in Krakow itself", explains co-producer Gerald Molen. "It's a wonderful piece of history. We used the city in so many different ways."
This is a film that keeps you absorbed from start to finish and deserves the wide acclaim it has received. At the press conference to launch the film in Australia, actor Ben Kingsley described Schindler's List as "looking into the abyss and finding that looking into the abyss can be redeeming and strengthening and purifying ... I recommend that you take a large box of tissues and an open heart and have a wonderful time watching it. It is about humanity and the full spectrum of human experience."