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Directed by: Steven Spielberg Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes Set in Germany prior to and during World War 2, Schindler's List chronicles the exploits of the sly, womanizing, Catholic German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who is also a member of the Nazi Party. Seeing opportunity in other people's misfortune (and the forgiving wartime environment), Schindler seeks out the money from disenfranchised Jewish investors, convincing them to invest their money into an enamelware factory which will sell exclusively to the German military, who during wartime, are in dire need of pots, pans, utensils, plates and cups for their soldiers on the frontlines. For years Schindler rakes in the money from his plant, oblivious to the horrors inflicted upon his Jewish workers and investors by the Nazi Gestapo in the nearby ghetto, whose ills only increase when they are relocated from their ghettos to a work camp, under the heel of the sadistic Kommadant Amon Goeth (brilliantly realized by Ralph Fiennes). Only when Schindler discover's Hitler's Final Solution and sees the mounds of dead Jews being piled into a raging bonfire does Schindler grasp the horror of the Nazi regime and, out of his own pocket, tries to buy his workers from the clutches of Auschwitz in an attempt to save them from the gas chambers and ovens. Filmed in black and white (with the occasional flicker of color to emphasize the necessary emotion) Schindler's List is a modern masterpiece that very effectively documents the thuggish and monstrous Nazis and their sociopathic commanders while illustrating the terror and helplessness felt by the persecuted Jews. There are also comedic moments to be pulled from the dire source material, curt little jokes and wisecracking one-liners that only accentuate the horror of the Final Solution when the film chooses to plunge back into it. Liam Neeson gives a masterful performance as Oskar Schindler, who chases skirts and money with the same determination and glee as Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes, in an Oscar-winning role), either through murdering entire cabins of workers or chasing Jewish workers through the scope of his sniper rifle. Ben Kingsley also does a fine job, first as a rigid Jewish accountant who's reluctant to work for a Nazi to a man of genuine warmth (when not mired by the pessimism that permeates a decrepit, ailing, war-torn country). The supporting cast, who plays everything from Jewish workers to Nazi generals that fall under Schindler's charisma, is also outstanding. Spielberg is known for eliciting a lot of emotion with his films, usually because of his musical score (done by John Williams) and his obsession with getting moviegoers to cry. I've resisted his blatant attempts up to this point, when at the end of the movie I was bawling like a little girl. As far as I can remember this is the only movie that's made me do that, and in my book that alone makes it worth a viewing. RATING: 5.5 PROS: Powerful, moving, heartbreaking (let's just settle on EMOTIONAL) film, fine acting by all parties CONS: Uhhh... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/
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# ? May 31, 2004 09:32 |
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# ? Apr 17, 2024 22:29 |
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I liked the addition of documentary style footage, which really gave the film a sense of presence, but some of the dramatic scenes were way over the top in terms of melodrama. One of the problems with making a film like this (one that has a "message") is the filmmaker will often end up just telling his audience what to think instead of letting them discover things on thier own, and this movie succumbs to that temptation a few times. Great acting all around though. The leads were all impressive, and the smaller parts were very authentic. The directing was pretty sharp too, but there were some scenes of emotional excess. Not worthy of the praise it gets, and not even the most effective Holocaust film, but worth seeing.
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# ? May 31, 2004 17:14 |
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quote:Mr. Sleep came out of the closet to say: Sometimes I think Spielberg romanticizes Schindler a bit too much though. And Spielberg is also guilty of his tense "which way are things going to go!!?!" scene that finds its home in all of his films; in Schindler's List it's when the Jews are in the showers and you don't know if it's going to be gas or water. I think he holds those scenes (see: Jaws, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, Minority Report, Minority Report) a few seconds too long and it becomes a tad annoying. Still, a great film about heroism in light of atrocity, the dualities of man, blah blah blah. And Ralph Fiennes was good. 4/5
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# ? May 31, 2004 18:00 |
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A friend of mine described this as an attempt at a serious holocaust drama with the cartoon Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'm inclined to agree. I really wanted to punch Spielberg when he paraded the survivors out at the end.
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# ? May 31, 2004 18:44 |
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This film is not particularly good, and has benefitted from being a "historical" piece on a well-known 20th century tragic event. (Historical in quotes because it is a dramatization that takes liberties with the Schindler character, using him as the vehicle to depict the surrounding events, not because I'm some neo-nazi conspiracy kook.) So it's like Titanic in a way, except that Titanic had the good sense to be occasionally entertaining. If you think an "entertaining" movie about the holocaust cannot be made, let me kindly direct you to Life is Beautiful and To Be or Not to Be (kind of). So if you're going to make the serious holocaust picture, then at least make it engrossing and ultimately moving. Spielberg utterly fails on that account. The acting is terrible. Ben Kingsley is a high point as always, but Liam Neeson is a disaster. My main complaint is that at the end of the film when Schindler breaks down over the realization that he could have saved one more Jew, he just doesn't sell the moment. That moment should capture the stark reality that circumstances had made a human life equivalent in value to an unsold trinket. The impact of the whole movie should culminate right there, but Liam Neeson simply was not up to the task. I found him unconvincing not only there, but throughout the movie. "Red dress girl" was gimmicky and distracting. I did, however, actually like the shower scene. I thought it had real impact, even though it's apparently considered an overused Spielberg trademark. Overall, it's not a movie I ever plan to watch again, and I don't recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet seen it. If the holocaust is to be remembered by film, let it be that French documentary. 2.0
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# ? Jun 1, 2004 11:08 |
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I finally got this movie on DVD. I've seen it several times, and every time it gives me a colossal kick in the balls. It is the only movie that makes me a total crying sissy. Give it a critical look, and it is not flawless, however. Spielberg minimizes, but doesn't entirely do away with, his big weaknesses as a director. -He tends to be Really loving Obvious with his themes and show things in cartoon black-and-white to a completely silly degree. See: almost every movie he ever made. This is less of a problem because, hey, the Nazis running death camps don't deserve any loving sympathy. And Spielberg also shows Jews being retarded or acting like douchebags (at least a little bit). -He often goes for horribly cheesy melodrama/sentimentality/obvious as gently caress "make the audience cry" manipulation. In this movie, the historical reality is so loving awful that he doesn't have to make up poo poo to make us cry, he just has to shut the gently caress up and show it as it was. Mostly, he does this. -For want of a better way to put it, he has a nasty habit of totally wimping out on us. See: the end of War of the Worlds, the entire middle section of Saving Private Ryan, a bunch of his other movies. In this movie, he has a true story that has a happy ending (1,100 people saved), so he doesn't have to contrive that poo poo, and the overall situation is so hosed up (6,000,000 not saved), that he couldn’t go too sunshine-y even if he wanted to. -The ZOMG OBVIOUS PERIL SWITCHEROO (see above). Yeah, he did one in this movie, too. It was cheap as gently caress. But it still works, because the actors do such a good job depicting sheer paralytic mass terror. -One massive negative I'll give this movie is the soundtrack. It is Really loving Obvious for the most part. OH NOES SAD SCENE CUE VIOLINS! I think John Williams screwed the pooch on this one. -The girl in the red dress bit (colorized into the black & white) was a gimmick. Let's be honest. This movie does have some serious strengths to its credit, though. + The movie sticks to the source material, and the source material was very good. + Liam Neeson. I think he did a great job overall. Some people complained about his emotional meltdown at the end, but I think it was still effective, no doubt in part because of his exchange during it with... + Ben MOTHERFUCKING Kingsley. He could say the simplest poo poo and it was like a needle in the eyeball. "This list... is an absolute good." + This movie does not pull punches. People get shot in the face, dunked in poo poo, bodies are burned in piles the size of hills, and human ashes take the place of snow. This is a movie that takes place in a system of arbitrary, merciless evil. All the happy moments are equivocal, because for every person saved, 10 or 100 or 1,000 die. It has a lot of brutality in it, as it should given the subject matter. + The supporting actors were really good. There are some extremely good depictions of sheer catatonic fear & hysteria that really help to sell the story to the viewer. I give this movie a solid 4/5. The best serious movie Spielberg has pulled off. Side note: The picture & sound on the DVD are good, but the extras are lame. No commentary track. Some random tidbits on Side 2, that's it. And why the heck couldn't they fit the entire movie on 1 side of 1 DVD? sean10mm fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Dec 7, 2005 |
# ? Dec 7, 2005 03:14 |
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For all time, there will be two Shower Scenes in movies: Psycho's and this one. Burned into my memory for all time... except not Psycho's quite as much. I watched this movie years ago in my AP Euro class. It was great because my teacher was the coolest guy on the planet, and you could tell he was getting off on the Nazi that sniped the jews. 4.5/5, just because the moment I saw the red jacket, I was like well, she's dead
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# ? Dec 8, 2005 01:58 |
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Spielberg has a long history of movies with nazis, much of them pulpy. So here comes along a true story about a man who masqueraded as a nazi to save as many Jews as he could. The film does excellent justice to the awful memory of the holocaust, and borrows/homages countless noir and holocaust movies. It is a film with a message that should be heard by everyone - that even in the belly of inhumanity, there are those who would defy the tide of evil swelling around them simply because they know that it's the right thing to do. Pros: Excellent cinematography. Excellent acting. Visually captivating. Emotionally involved. Beautifully scored. Terrifyingly true-to-history and true to its source material. Cons: Um...another movie where nazis are rotten bastards? Okay, that's not exactly a con per se. 5.5/5 Spacedad fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Dec 9, 2005 |
# ? Dec 9, 2005 20:35 |
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I definitely don't think it's the best movie ever (it seems manipulative and sappy at times), but it does a good job of telling a touching story of a tragic time. Plus it got me out of doing work at shool many a time (including a field trip that a hag teacher took us on to watch a private screening). 3.5
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# ? Dec 10, 2005 05:05 |
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Manipulative and sappy are great words to use when describing Schindler's List. To me it will always been the movie I did not like but I can't say that I didn't like it because it's about the Holocaust and everyone said it was great. Whatever love I give this movie is due to Ralph Fiennes. 3/5
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# ? Dec 11, 2005 09:22 |
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# ? Apr 17, 2024 22:29 |
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This is possibly the saddest movie ever made. If you make it through the scene of the girl with the red coat without crying, then you may have a problem. I love this movie, but absolutely hate to watch it because it is so drat horrible and sad. 5.5/5.
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# ? Dec 21, 2005 06:24 |