On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded and took control of Poland, leading to the annexation of thousands of Jews. They were forced into ghettos with poor living conditions and were eventually either sent to labor camps or were exterminated. One of the biggest Polish cities to be affected was Kraków, which became one of 5 of these major ghettos. In the midst of all this, a womanizing industrialist named Oskar Schindler was looking to profit off the labor force. He started a factory where he employed thousands of Jews to build enamelware and munitions for little to no compensation. However, as Oskar saw what the Nazis were doing to these people, he used his business to save the Jews. He managed to save the lives of over 1,000 Jews and his story was immortalized in the novel Schindler’s Ark. Said book was eventually adapted into Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
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After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, thousands of Jews in Krakow are rounded up and placed in ghettos. Soon, aspiring businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrives wanting to make a profit off of the war. Through bribing several SS officers, Schindler manages to acquire a factory to produce enamelware and hires Jews for cheap labor. Schindler hires a local Jewish official named Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help with the financial and administrative aspects. Before long, SS lieutenant Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) arrives to oversee construction of Płaszów concentration camp and liquidate the ghettos. As Schindler sees the Jewish community being exterminated, he maintains his relationship with the Nazis to keep his factory running. Soon, many of the Jewish workers start seeing Schindler as a savior for keeping them out of the concentration camps. As tensions mount, Schindler soon shifts focus from making profit to saving lives.
By this point in his career, Spielberg was already an accomplished director with several great films under his belt. However, he was always snubbed by the Oscars, in spite of several of his movies being nominated for various awards. That all changed with Schindler’s List, which was his first win for Best Director and Best Picture. This movie is by far Spielberg’s greatest work, both in terms of filmmaking and its intent and message. In talking about the filmmaking, the first thing to compliment is the black-and-white photography, which really adds to the experience. The black-and-white makes the more grisly scenes even more disturbing while also giving the film a 40s noir look. Spielberg really lets loose and does not shy away from showing the audience just how awful and nightmarish this was. You definitely feel for the victimized Jews and desperately hope things turn good soon.
What also makes this film work as well as it does is the cast, especially from Neeson, Kingsley, and Fiennes. Liam Neeson is phenomenal in the lead and is charismatic enough to where you buy how people can trust him. Sir Ben Kingsley also turns in a great performance, perfectly balancing off of Neeson’s more stern businessman-like performance. Ralph Fiennes is absolutely terrifying, not only because he does awful things, but because he looks soulless doing these things. He perfectly captures an evil character with no soul, emotion, or remorse for his actions, which makes him truly evil. Another note-worthy performance is Embeth Davidtz as Helen Hirsch, Goth’s Jewish maid who becomes his object of desire. Honestly, there really isn’t much else I can say that hasn’t already been said by everyone and their mother. All I can say is that Schindler’s List is absolutely required viewing and a masterpiece.
