History has proved that the old saying, "God makes mad first whom he intends to destroy", and in the case of Nazi Ralph Fiennes in this Steven Spielberg masterpiece, that is oh, so true. Unfortunately, a lot of innocent people have to pay for that madness in the meanwhile, and that truly adds to the intensity of his madness as it increases and his vileness just gets more and more out of control.
On the other end of the spectrum is Liam Neeson's Oscar Schindler, a businessman who knows by allowing the Nazis to take his Jewish workers away, his productivity will suffer. Selfish motives keep these innocent people from being sent to the death camps, and as Schindler learns the truth about the atrocities going on and becomes closer to the people who work very hard for him, he goes out of his way to keep the Nazis from going through with their evil plans.
The atrocities you see here are things we can't fathom here in America. Innocent children are forced to hide in human waste to avoid discovery. An innocent woman prisoner with a background in architecture is brutally murdered after insisting that a building being constructed is doomed to collapse, after which the evil Fiennes simply orders his men to do what she suggested. Fiennes picks targets and guns them down, and also has Schindler's aged workers killed simply because he considers them too old to contribute. An innocent young girl in a red coat (the only color in this black and white movie) wanders around Warsaw as the ghetto is destroyed. Neeson almost looses his right-hand man (a magnificent Ben Kingsley) because of a paperwork mix-up. This culminates in the most daring of escapes from Nazi persecution, and that is where Neeson realizes the full effect of what's going on, breaking down in a scene that will have you shivering in your seat.
I can't watch these movies without the temptation to scream at the Nazis on screen. Even in the most outlandish propaganda films of the war era, I tended to either applaud loudly or scream in delight "Die, Nazi, Die!" as the villain gets their come-uppance, either through brutal murder or the firing squad after a lengthy trial revealed their shame. Many of those times, my body was shaking so violently as sobs emerged from me that I was unaware I was capable of. You can't call these feelings manipulation by the direction; Spielberg obviously felt a passion for the story he was telling, as if he knows that this can cross over into any race, any culture, any religion.
Rarely in recent movie history has it been so obvious when a film was released that it would sweep the Academy Awards, and "Schindler's List" truly deserved every honor which it received. Some stories are so painful that you can't go back and watch them easily; I find that every so often, I need a movie like "Schindler's List" to remind me of how vile humanity can be, and how one compassionate human being can change the course of history for so many. The finale with real-life "Schindler Jews" honoring their hero is truly awe inspiring and is certainly what you can call triumph over tragedy.
On the other end of the spectrum is Liam Neeson's Oscar Schindler, a businessman who knows by allowing the Nazis to take his Jewish workers away, his productivity will suffer. Selfish motives keep these innocent people from being sent to the death camps, and as Schindler learns the truth about the atrocities going on and becomes closer to the people who work very hard for him, he goes out of his way to keep the Nazis from going through with their evil plans.
The atrocities you see here are things we can't fathom here in America. Innocent children are forced to hide in human waste to avoid discovery. An innocent woman prisoner with a background in architecture is brutally murdered after insisting that a building being constructed is doomed to collapse, after which the evil Fiennes simply orders his men to do what she suggested. Fiennes picks targets and guns them down, and also has Schindler's aged workers killed simply because he considers them too old to contribute. An innocent young girl in a red coat (the only color in this black and white movie) wanders around Warsaw as the ghetto is destroyed. Neeson almost looses his right-hand man (a magnificent Ben Kingsley) because of a paperwork mix-up. This culminates in the most daring of escapes from Nazi persecution, and that is where Neeson realizes the full effect of what's going on, breaking down in a scene that will have you shivering in your seat.
I can't watch these movies without the temptation to scream at the Nazis on screen. Even in the most outlandish propaganda films of the war era, I tended to either applaud loudly or scream in delight "Die, Nazi, Die!" as the villain gets their come-uppance, either through brutal murder or the firing squad after a lengthy trial revealed their shame. Many of those times, my body was shaking so violently as sobs emerged from me that I was unaware I was capable of. You can't call these feelings manipulation by the direction; Spielberg obviously felt a passion for the story he was telling, as if he knows that this can cross over into any race, any culture, any religion.
Rarely in recent movie history has it been so obvious when a film was released that it would sweep the Academy Awards, and "Schindler's List" truly deserved every honor which it received. Some stories are so painful that you can't go back and watch them easily; I find that every so often, I need a movie like "Schindler's List" to remind me of how vile humanity can be, and how one compassionate human being can change the course of history for so many. The finale with real-life "Schindler Jews" honoring their hero is truly awe inspiring and is certainly what you can call triumph over tragedy.