Film Analysis of Steven Spielberg's 'Schindler's List'

The Holocaust did not happen like a movie; it is impossible to recreate fully the horrific and grotesque events that occurred. However; in Spielberg’s telling of a true story from the Holocaust, it strived for historic accuracy and exemplified realism to Hollywood’s

In the movie Schindler's List, the story of the Holocaust is told from a dual point of view; that of the Jewish people who are downtrodden,

One of the main themes throughout the book is the title of the book “Night”. There are references from Eliezer about night during the book, which are full of symbolism. The word “night” is used repeatedly, and Eliezer recounts every dusk, night and dawn through the entire book. For instance, Night could be a metaphor for the Holocaust—submerge the family and thousands of Jewish families in the darkness and misery of the concentration camps.

“I took no poetic license with ‘Schindler’s List’ because that was historical, factual documents” - Steven Spielberg. Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, is a historically accurate portrayal of the actions carried out by Nazi businessman Oskar Schindler, who doesn't hesitate to exploit Jewish slave labour in his factory. As World War II progresses, and the motives of the Nazi party become clear, Oskar’s incentives switch from that of a profiteer to that of a saviour. Oskar is able to save a number of Jews from certain death through gassing and labour camps. In the final scene of Schindler’s List, Spielberg’s clever use of colour, mise en scene and text creates a compelling closing scene that helped to convey the horrors of the

Holocaust film has emerged as its own genre throughout time. Originally, directors ignored the possibility of Holocaust films, then the content started to take form in non-fiction recordings. Eventually, the genre of Holocaust film took off and today there is an abundance of Holocaust related films that appear when one scrolls through movie streaming sites. The Pawnbroker (1964), directed by Sidney Lumet, is a perfect example of a film that deals with both the lasting effect of the Holocaust and the stereotyping of a multitude of characters. Exploring the Holocaust in media through The Pawnbroker and The Pawnbroker’s film techniques, serve as a prime example for not only how Holocaust survivors felt emotionally imprisoned, but stereotypes different groups as well. Critics responded harshly to this stereotypical labeling and this shows how the meaning of the film has been interpreted by society differently over time.

An event occurred over half a century ago that took nearly six million innocent lives had left us with all kinds of story about it. Among those are Night by Elie Wiesel and Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg. These two pieces of literatures may be similar, yet different in many ways. For instance, the Holocaust. It is one recognizable way that shows the similarity between the movie and the book. However, they are very different because one is about a person saving, or rather buying, 1200 lives and the other is many lives that were saved by a union, Schindler’s List and Night, respectively. Which can indicate the fact that Jewish were treated as less than human when they were bought like some objects. Other factors include

On one night the Wiesel and the other jews have to leave the concentration camp to another one. Wiesel tells of the darkness of this night and that they were accompanied by “[h]undreds of SS [that] appeared out of the darkness”. The opened gates ahead of him leaded to a “darker night”(Wiesel 84) ahead of them. This unsettling image symbolizes the everlasting uncertainty they have to live in the concentration camps. Furthermore the image conveys heavily on language relating to darkness and night.

However, emotion is not only conveyed through the actions of the main characters. Colour also has a significant impact on how good and evil is portrayed within the film. Perhaps the most moving image in Steven Spielberg?s epic, Schindler?s List, condenses all of the sadism of the Nazi regime into one small pictorial area. One of only four colour images in a black and white film spanning over three hours, the little girl in a red coat, making her way, aimless and alone through the madness and chaos, compels Schindler?s attention during the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto. Schindler identifies with the child, the plight of the little girl touches him in a way the sheer numbers make unreal ? this image transforms the faceless mass around him into one palpable human being. This figure serves as a moral reawakening for Schindler, his conscience consequently kicks into gear. The poignant yet subtle musical score also adds to the haunting atmosphere created by the

The Holocaust is the world’s most dehumanizing incident that occurred from the years 1933 to 1945. It was a racial injustice in which Jews, along with people seen as inferior, were persecuted by the German Nazi’s. Author Elie Wiesel and director Steven Spielberg both do excellent jobs at educating an audience of the horrors people experienced during this time. In Wiesel’s novel Night, the Holocaust is shown from a Jewish boy’s perspective as Elie struggles to survive the torment of several concentration camps. Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List shows the Holocaust from a German Nazi’s perspective, as Oscar Schindler faces an internal struggle while attempting to protect several Jews. The stories share numerous similarities along with differences, however, when it comes down to which is a better representation of the Holocaust, Night will come out on top due to Wiesel’s first hand experiences inside the camps.

One of the first connections I made, was the one where the Jews were treated poorly, and what it had shown in the movie. Throughout Schindler’s List, we see the Jews being bombarded with insults and racial slurs. A majority of the people saying these things, seemed to be neighbors of the Jews, before the Jews were moved to concentration camps or ghettos.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you and your family were forced to move out of your home and leave everything behind. Well this is what happened to the Jews in the holocaust. One thing that the book Night by Elie Wiesel and the movie Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg is they both had some form of violence whether visual or descriptive. One major difference they had was how the main characters survived. Another key difference from both the movie and the book is the main character's motivation.

To begin, Night published by Elie Wiesel, the summary of night, Jews were being sent to concentration camps to work and be safe during the war. the Jews were tortured and killed by the s.s soldiers. The Jews were liberated by the red army at the end of the war. Secondly, Schindler’s List Directed by Steven Spielberg. Schindler only Wants money and cares only about his business. Starts seeing the pain of the jews and he reciprocates by helping them: turning his factory into a safe place for jews. Schindler saved more than 1100 jews and have freed them

From what I read in the book, the world was a living hell. There was an ongoing energy crisis and a global recession. Now that doesn’t really relate to the holocaust (except maybe the living hell part), but that’s not what I’m trying to explain. What I’m trying to say is there are some partial relations between the two. For example, Wade (the main character, otherwise known as Parzival) lives in “the stacks,” basically a bunch of trailers stacked upon each other. I guess you could say this relates to concentration camps on the Holocaust. However, there was little to no killing in the stacks, with the exception of Wade’s Aunt’s trailer getting blown up in an assassination attempt against Wade. On the other hand, nearly six million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust, most of them being in concentration camps.

That was the one or rather the only protection given against being killed, and Stern is aware of all of that. It was a man’s hope and dream to spend his life working nonstop rather than being shot. The movie Schindler's List, directed by Steven Spielberg, and the comic book Maus I and II, written by Art Spiegelman, Consist of several similarities in their history, subject matter, and general depiction of the Holocaust. Schindler and Vladek both represent symbols of hope, despite their different positions in society, giving the people around them often help. One crucial conversation from the film occurs between Amon Goeth and Helen in the basement room. According to Amon Goeth, “Is this the face of a rat? Are these the eyes of a rat? ‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’ I feel for you, Helen. No, I don’t think

‘Schindler’s List’ is no less a “Jewish story” or a “German story” than it is a human story. And its subject matter applies to every generation.’ [Stephen Spielberg] Discuss.