Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The Oscar Project #66: Schindler's List (1993)



Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors of all time, and I think it’s unfortunate that, at least in some circles, his contributions to cinema aren’t appreciated to the fullest extent. I think most people enjoy his movies, but he’s not often considered as one of the top “artistic” auteurs in the medium. Perhaps there’s some truth to that, but when you have a filmography like his, it’s impossible not to acknowledge his genius.

I believe this lack of universal respect for his artistry is the main reason why only one of his movies has won Best Picture. He’s considered more of a populist director, and while many of his biggest blockbusters have been nominated, only Schindler’s List took home the top prize, likely because it is an “important” movie in addition to just being a great one. Just to be clear, I am taking nothing away from Schindler’s List; it is brilliant, but I wish his more “fun” films garnered more respect.

Anyway, about the movie. I assume it’s a movie where, even if not everybody has seen it, at least everybody knows what it’s about. It is a holocaust film, yes, but more than that, it’s about a man who dared to take action, at great personal risk, in an attempt to save the lives of more than 1,000 Jews.

Oskar Schindler is a very complicated man. He has many qualities, both good and bad, but most importantly, he is a man of compassion. He starts a factory in order to make a huge profit from cheap Jewish labor. He succeeds, but in the process, he realizes that the factory is also a way to save many lives.

I think the decision to show Schindler’s personality in all its ambiguity was the proper one. Because he did so much good for so many people, it must have been tempting to portray him in an almost saint-like manner. But Spielberg’s films always have a message, and here, the message is that anybody can make a difference. Oskar Schindler is deeply flawed, but in spite of his negative traits, he still does a tremendous amount of good. If he were a perfect man, it would be hard to identify with him, and it would seem like only another perfect man could do something similar.

The famous girl in the red dress.
The villain—well, there are many villains, but only one is given a real personality—lacks any such ambiguity. Amon Goeth, played by Ralph Fiennes as a character whose evil is comparable to Lord Voldemort’s, is a ruthless killer who makes many of the other Nazis seem cuddly. He is the counterpoint to Schindler’s morality; Goeth coldly murders Jews without any thought.

There are many other characters who populate the film, both Jews and Nazis, and as in real life, it’s hard to imagine why one group hated the other so much. Anti-Semitism is such a strange hatred, and it is impossible to understand how such a horrific act could have ever occurred, especially on such a systematic basis. But perhaps the bureaucratic nature of the extermination made it even easier to carry out. It allowed the Nazis to believe they were following orders, carrying out directives, and made it more difficult to view the Jews as actual people.

Whatever the reason, Schindler’s List offers a ray of hope during one of the darkest periods in human history. Schindler proved that, no matter how strong the pressures might be, you can always do something. He saved so many lives, and yet he felt like he had not done enough. One of the most famous lines from the film is “He who saves one life saves the world entire.” Schindler saved over a thousand. Who else could claim even a fraction of that? In the epilogue, it is mentioned that there are over 6,000 descendants of the Schindler Jews, compared to 4,000 remaining Jews in all of Poland. He is directly responsible for all of those lives.

This is one of those movies that should be seen by everyone, not only for the cinematic skill on display, but because of its cultural importance. Maybe it’s Spielberg’s greatest movie, and maybe it’s not, but either way, it’s hard to come up with many more meaningful films.

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