Review of Schindler's List (1993) by Ben B — 19 Sep 2016

Schindler's List is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Liam Neeson as Oscar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of hundreds of Polish Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. Ben Kingsley also stars as Itzhak Stern, a Jewish accountant under Schindler's employ, and Ralph Fiennes as Nazi officer Amon Goth.

Has there ever been a movie you've always wanted to see but have never taken the time to watch? That was my situation with Schindler's List. I had heard fantastic things about it, but just didn't want to take the 3+ hours to sit down and watch. I jumped at the first good opportunity I had to view this movie, and I'm glad I did. Schindler's List is a masterpiece.

Typically, I'm not the biggest fan of Spielberg movies. I find a lot of his works are a bit overrated. However, there's no denying that he is an expert when it comes to crafting a production. Every stylistic decision Spielberg made paid off; the black-and-white recording effectively painted the bleakness and hopelessness of the Holocaust, and the cinematography and editing always matched the scene presented (quick edits during the frantic purges, etc). There was also one big instance of color in the film: Schindler spotted a little girl in a red coat running during a scene where Jews were being purged out of their homes. Later, Schindler saw that girl dead, still wearing her red coat. To me, that symbolized the turning point in Schindler's mindset, where he went from businessman to savior. Little things like this throughout the film really stood out, and John Williams' score only magnified the emotional impact of each scene.

Of course, it helps that Spielberg had tremendous talent to work with. Liam Neeson delivers his best performance to date as the layered Schindler, and Kingsley and Fiennes give powerful deliveries as well. Neeson especially delivers towards the end of the movie, his scene with Fiennes about what power really is standing out. And yes, I teared up at the end during Schindler's final scene with his employees.

I hate to be nit-picky with a movie like this, but there is one thing that bugged me. The length of scenes depicting the hardship of the Jews were unnecessarily long. I understand that it's that way on purpose to emphasize the horror of the Holocaust, but a lot of those scenes seemed to go on and on. Some of those scenes could have been cut down without sacrificing their impact. It would have helped the run time of the movie as well, keeping it at 3 hours instead of going over.

Overall, this is a must-see for everybody, movie fan or not. Spielberg delivers what I believe to be his best film, and the entire cast shows up to play. I'll probably never watch this movie again, but I'm forever glad I did. If you find yourself in the right mindset with 3+ hours to kill, go watch Schindler's List and let it change your life.

Final grade: A.

-Ben.