Schindler's List: 1993

I've had to watch a lot of long films for this blog; apparently being long helps a film win Best Picture. And some of those films felt long, dragging on and on with not clear reason for the length. Schindler's List may be over three hours long, but it doesn't feel long. My original viewing schedule was for three days, as I figured I wouldn't want to stay up late watching the film, but I was wrong. The film pulled me in, and even through I knew the ending, I had to keep watching.

I'll admit: I wasn't excited to watch this film. I knew how dark and devastating it would be. I've read a lot of literature set during the Holocaust and reading more about the horrific event doesn't make it easier to digest. Knowing that the film would be difficult made me wait to watch it when I would have more time to process it and wouldn't have to worry about going into work for a few days, which is why I waited until winter break to watch it.

The scenes that the film is known for, notably involving the girl in the red coat (who is responsible for changing Schindler for the better), were incredibly moving, but Amon Goeth's evilness, the commander of the work camp played by Ralph Fiennes in what must have been an incredibly difficult role, is something that struck me continually. He is the epitome of heartless, seeing Jewish people as objects and killing at random for sheer pleasure. In one scene, he shoots Jews from the balcony of his house for no reason other than fun. The only thing the Jewish people in the work camp could do was run faster and hope he wouldn't pick them. It's so horrible, and it's only the beginning because in later scenes he toys with people before killing them. His character showed just how heartless, how evil, the Nazis were. Spielberg's directing of Fiennes and decisions for shots and angles emphasize how helpless the Jewish people are and how diabolical Hitler and his Nazis were.

While his character troubled me, the transformation of Schindler from businessman to savior is remarkable to watch, in large part due to Liam Neeson's abilities to convey his feelings. I could see Schindler's transformation occur throughout his interactions with Stern, Helen, and other Jewish people in his factory. I'd say for the first hour and a half of the film I couldn't stand Schindler; he was profiting because of war and violence against Jewish people. But after he sees the clearing of the ghetto in Krakow and his realization of what the Nazis are doing, he becomes a good man, one that seems alone is this corrupt world. *Spoiler Alert* When he breaks down near the end of the film, saying how he could have and should have saved more people, I teared up. It's heart wrenching to watch because along the way I was thinking the same thing. Sure, I wasn't alive to do something, but why didn't my country do more? And what's happening today in our world that could be prevented?

So yeah, Schindler's List maybe tough to watch due to the violence and cruelty, but it reminds us that there are good people in the world. We just need to choose to be one of them.