A Retrospective: Schindler's List

There are good movies. Then there are great movies. And then there are movies like Schindler’s List.
If you needed any confirmation that Steven Spielberg is pure genius, then Schindler’s List is what you need to pick up from your DVD store. For a person who has always been fascinated with history, I have always read up many books, lapped up every documentary on the Discovery channel and watched so many historical movies that I thought nothing could surprise me anymore. As far as the Holocaust was concerned, I did see the award winning Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist”, and I thought it was a great movie. Well, that’s before I saw Schindler’s List.
The movie is about a flawed profiteer in the Nazi era called Oskar Schindler, a proud member of the Nazi party. He runs a factory which produces enamelware, employing Jewish workers as they need not be paid. With a Jewish accountant, Itzak Stern for company, he sees his factory going from strength to strength… until the genocide starts and all employees are bundled into labour camps. During the movie, we see how this seemingly heartless and at times hateful businessman transforms into a messiah for the thousands of Jews who are being massacred mercilessly at Polish labour camps, and saving them from being sent to the dreaded Auschwitz concentration camp. By cleverly remaining within the Nazi party, Schindler is never short of funding, and he uses this money to buy out the Jews from the despicably nasty SS commander Amon Goth, on the pretext of running a new factory to make ammunition (he purposefully sees that none of the ammunition is usable)
Never before have I seen a movie so lovingly taken care of by its director till I saw Schindler’s List. Spielberg refused to take any money while filming this movie… and the love shows. There are countless scenes that make you shriek out in pain in unison with the characters, countless scenes that leave you gasping and depressed. The entire movie being in black and white, the effect pierces you with such ferocity that you wish it could just stop… then it hits you that this REALLY happened.
John Williams, the music legend, whose work includes such iconic soundtracks like Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park, Star Wars and most recently Harry Potter, gives an Oscar winning score that would melt even the coldest of hearts. It’s almost as if Spielberg obsessed over this story scene for scene, line by line, till he got it just right – and perfection just does not get better than Schindler’s List. Running for 3 ½ hours, I was so riveted by the moving drama on screen that time ceased to be a factor at all.
Ideally, I would really prefer that everyone, adult or child, should be made to watch this movie. Though I know it’s impractical because of the explicit nudity and graphic violence that pervades throughout. No doubt meant to shock us out of our wits, it succeeds, and how!
Every heartbreaking movie has that one special moment, that one particular scene when the viewer loses all self control and reaches for the handkerchief. Although there are many moments like that in Schindler’s List, the ultimate defining moment comes a few minutes before the end, when Schindler has to flee from the victorious Allied forces at the end of the War, as he is technically still a member of the Nazi party. He leaves his factory and all the thousands of workers are there to send him off. At this point, Schindler is completely bankrupt and penniless, as he has used all his money to buy the Jews to safety. Schindler looks at everyone and says that he should have done more, he could have saved more lives. He looks at a pin bearing the Nazi symbol on his shirt, and says, “This is made of gold. I could have had two persons for this, maybe one person. One person…”. And he completely breaks down on Stern’s shoulder… and I’m sure, so would have millions of viewers.
Would you believe it, that Schindler’s List AND Jurassic Park released in the SAME YEAR? Now that’s called sheer genius.