Schindler's List

Hollywood has the reputation of films encompassing more exaggerated drama than realism; however, the movie Schindler’s List (directed by Steven Spielberg) is exemplified by a mostly accurate portrayal of historical events. Spielberg’s paid homage and use of a man’s story provides a realistic view of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Six million Jewish residents of Eastern Europe were exterminated during the Holocaust of the 1940’s. Families were taken out of their homes and put into ghettos, which were large prison type establishments that housed dozens of people in one small apartment. They were then separated from their families, "men to the left and women to the right", and were placed in concentration camps, where most of them were killed and cremated. In 1993, Steven Spielberg directed a film, Schindler’s List, which depicted the life of one man who risked his life and money to save the few Jewish families he could.

Initially, the film opening transitions from color to black and white, foreshadowing the gloomy events to take place. The story revolves around a German businessman named Oskar Schindler, who is eager to develop his own manufacturing company by profiting off Jewish labor as they are perceived as nothing more than worthless individuals. (marginalization) By attending several dinner parties and dressing in Nazi attire while interacting with guests, he managed to convince Schutzstaffel officials to provide him with his own factory. (folkways) In order to run a successful business, he

Schindler's List is one of the most powerful movies of all time. It presents the indelible true story of enigmatic German businessman Oskar Schindler who becomes an unlikely saviour of more than 1100 Jews amid the barbaric Nazi reign. A German Catholic war profiteer, Schindler moved to Krakow in 1939 when Germany overran Poland. There he opens an enamelware factory that, on the advice of his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern, was staffed by Jews from the nearby forced labour camp at Plaszow. Schindler's factory prospered though his contacts with the Nazi war machine and its local representatives, as well as his deft skill on the black market. Then, somewhere along the way, Schindler's devotion to self-interest was

On behalf of someone who thoroughly enjoys movies due to entertainment purposes, the importance of a movie following an historical plot or a literary work is of least significance. I watch movies for the sole pleasure it brings to myself. With endless genres and various actors/actresses, how does one not invest time into some of the greatest artworks ever produced by mankind. To have a movie prearranged on a set path by already shadowing another work is underwhelming and expected, to say the least. This belief is already widely represented among the majority of film directors. Historical events like Dunkirk depicting a famous battle in World War II, 13 hours showing the Benghazi raid on a United States operated compound, and Hacksaw Ridge exposing

The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity quotes Elie Wielsel’s, “Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and human sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place- at that moment- become the center of the universe.” Many people suffered and had to give up their lives during the holocaust. The days of horror and torture during this time is to be told by many different writers. Elie Wiesel, Corrie Ten Boom, and Anne Frank, three writers I chose, all wrote books about the holocaust to make it a little bit easier to understand the real life situations they had to go through while in hiding. If it wasn’t for them, people today wouldn’t know the pain and hardships people had to face at that time. The holocaust was a life changing event that shaped the world to how it now is today.

To get rid of the bodies the staff killed in the gas chambers, the Nazis used crematories to burn them (The Holocaust). At the Dachau concentration camp, the Nazis stuffed twenty-eight railway cars with dead bodies to limit the amount of evidence the Allies could use against them in court. In the country of Romania, the citizens killed the Jewish people themselves. The Jewish people were desperate for help. They had few resources, few allies, impossible choices, and few people came to their rescue. In Denmark, Jews were protected by the Danish and sent to Sweden for more protection. People like Oskar Schindler came to the Jews aid. Oskar protected his Jewish employees, by providing places to hide, food, and shelter. The Allies made no military

It all started on April 1st, 1933 when law to the registration of professional civil service removed people of Jewish faith from all civil service jobs. Hitler instituted the Holocaust slowly over time through a series of laws and policies like the one stated above. Through the use of propaganda, Adolf Hitler was able to proselytize the general public into adopting anti-semitic views, the dislike or hatred of Jewish people. In a span of just four years a total of 11 million innocent Jewish people, Slavs, Russians, Catholics, homosexuals, gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses were murdered in cold blood. A simile commonly associated with the Holocaust is that Jewish people “marched like sheep to the slaughter”.

The captions also imply that the set locations are real and not created in a Hollywood studio. The use of black and whites also adds to Spielberg's objective of realism, as black and white is more reminiscent of the time of the Holocaust. He makes effective use of handheld cameras in a few of his scenes; this creates a sense of urgency and fear. This also conveys that the film is not a Hollywood studio made film and mesmerises the viewer into believing that the events are nothing but the sober reality. The documentary styling contributes to the intensity of the film and creates stronger emotions within the viewers by adding to their disbelief and horror.

‘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.

In October 1944, after the SS transferred the Emalia Jews to Plaszow, Schindler sought and obtained authorization to relocate his plant to Brünnlitz (Brnenec) in Moravia, and reopen it exclusively as an armaments factory. One of his assistants drew several versions of a list of up to 1,200 Jewish prisoners needed to work in the new factory. These lists came to be known collectively as “Schindler's List.”

The screen throughout the entire movie is bright, light, and positive. The colors could be described as vibrant and overall project an optimistic mood. If someone who had never watched the movie before, looked at the color choices, they would assume the message of the movie is positive. This interpretation is false, as the movie offers numerous conflicts and the characters endure many hardships. The director, Tate Taylor. Obviously had a reason for this, one that perhaps contributes to the theme. As mentioned before, the theme of this motion picture is segregation. One might ponder how a bright color choice reflects a dark topic. However, the director was quite clear in making this choice. During the duration of the movie, a lot of white citizens were oblivious to the civil issues going on at the time. These issues were raised, along with the whole civil rights movement. With such a large group of ignorance, change was hard to come by. The director’s choice of using of using a color that didn't resemble the real issues going on at the time, is his way of revealing the ignorance of the common man. This choice is brilliant and once again contributes to the theme of

Schindler's List The film Schindler’s List has a tendency to simplify and sentimentalize the character Oskar Schindler compared to the novel Schindler’s Ark in which the film is based on. The film Schindler’s List lacks depth and understanding of the character Oskar Schindler, and tends to over dramatize events within the film in which Oskar Schindler is responsible for. The novel Schindler’s Ark begins its in-depth documentary story with the earlier life of Oskar Schindler.

In the film, Schindler’s list, many film techniques were used to present important ideas of the film. There were many scenes that took place in the movie that stood out and was filled with film techniques. The liquidation of the ghetto was filled with important themes and ideas that were shown through various film techniques. The ending also presented various film techniques.

The film initially presents a Jewish family as it sings a prayer on the Friday before Sabbath. As the prayer ends the family disappears and viewers are presented with the two candles on the table as they burn out. This is most probably meant to stand as a reference to the fact that the Jewish people have almost been removed off the face of the earth during the Holocaust.