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Re: Schlinder's List on DVD

64.180.114.81

Posted by RGA on March 10, 2004 at 18:25:55

In Reply to: Schlinder's List on DVD posted by townsend on March 10, 2004 at 16:40:08:

This was the movie that made me decoide to get a minor in history...well one more course to go this summer and I can say I have the minor. Naturally I foussed it on this period.

I was going in thinking that I would probably find things to pick and to my surprise I actually ended up liking the film a LOT more because of the very subtle points the film makes as a side discourse that are so "UP" on even current debates between the some very notable historians such Christopher Browning and D.J Goldhagen. Schindler's List manages to take a more centerist view which considering the Director is Jewish and had an obvious close tie to the subject matter manages to stay detached.

There are three scenes where criticism often comes for this film and all three I consider to be brilliant moves by the director. Spielberg uses one long colour sequence with a girl in a Red Dress. We see her twice. The first time it is used to offset innocence from evil - this scene was highly stressed from testimony used for the Thomas Keneally's novel, and to serve Oscar Schindler's REAL look at what was really going on. Yes there is war and there is the wholesale slaughter of fellow citizens. Historians argue that many Germans didn't "know" what is going on - or didn't want to see. Well Schindler did...this scene opens up - in combination with several others - another complaint people have which was Schindler's break-down at the end of the picture. The "I could have done more" speach which never actually happened - well not at that time.

Spielberg did his homework. Well after the war it is strongly indicated that Schindler was never the same man - he felt an enormous amount of guilt, became an alcohic and lived off handouts from Jews until his death. Spielberg took those after war events and placed that into the final scene. Some argue it but if you know his life after the war it make sense...because in fact he COULD have done more. I can't imagine a worse guilt than knowing you could have sold a few meaningless trinkits to save someone's life.

The third scene some grumbled about was the Gassing scene where the woman were not gassed and just sprayed with water. This actually did happen to the Schindler Jews and I think it was a vry strong sequence. Spielberg doesn't need to show what happened here - Instead he uses a woman to glance back at that stacks leaving the rest for imagination - which is more tasteful.

Certain characters were combined. Itzhak Stern for example was a real Jewis Accountant but his actions in the film are composites of several Jews. The obvious reason to combine several people's actions into one man makes obvious cinematic sense - and since the character was also serving as Schindler's conscience - this too is acceptable historical maneuvering. It's the big picture we're after so long as the small things aren't twisted to throw us off.

Some complained that Amon Goethe should have been a German just following orders and torn up about commiting these acts. While that would have made a deeper Camp commandant cinematically I don't think Spielberg could bring himself to lie for cinematic reasons. Amon Goeth's history suggests that he entirely enjoyed what he was doing.

In fact Spielberg and Fiennes bring an incredible amount of undeserved "niceness or charisma" to Amon that I doubt from the records was actually there. Amon Gothe did far more horrendous things than this film portrayed. There is a scene where the Jewish mechanic is cleaning the road of suitcases. In the book that Jewish mechanic prior to that scen witnessed Amon throw a toddler in the air and shoot him. Something for obvious reasons which was not shown - but perhaps part of the editing room floor film.

Scenes where he attempt to shoot an old man and the guns keep sticking apparently were real as was the maid the target practice the lost chicken and mass shootings. Both the Browning and Goldhagen books wil support the mass shotting of innocents of even regular German citizens in Police Battalions.

Naturally, no 3 hour film can cover this subject matter in full but it manages to cover a heckuva lot of the essential parts and the progression highly effectively. Spielberg uses Fiennes and we see a LOT of charisma in the man - sadistic. But we get a glimpse as to why people followed the Nazi Regime or even got sucked into it. After all joining you would get a new big house money people to push around. for the 20-30 people in all societies who border on the psycho or sociopathic lines this is the group to join. And that doesn't even count the ignorant morons out there that just need to blame some group for their lot in life.

The Nazi engine was all about propoganda and image and of course hypocracy. They even get this in there when Amon who supposedly believes that all Jews are rats manages to fall for or at least get horny for one of these rats.

Fiennes I have down as my number one supporting performance of the 1990s for this role which is the lynchpin forthe whole thing working. He has to be both a sadist but he has to instill a hefty and scary amount of charisma. He has to create depth from a one dimensional sadist - and he does it better than I've ever seen it done frankly by anyone in any role IMO. But hey it did make his career.

Cinematically, it is simply a great looking film with unparallelled cinematography. There are shots in this film - on the balcony looking in - as if we are Jews looking at Amon and Oscar deciding our fate. Unlike Citizen Kane which Uses the Camera as a stunt which works to distance the audience from feeling, Kiminski has the Camera distanced from the events with a chilling view of what will come.

Great soundtrack by one of the great violonists - great performances throughout. Fiennes was robbed of an Oscar, Kingsly and Davidtz were robbed of nominations, and Neeson, if he was going to lose, should have only lost to Anthony Hopkins in Remains of the Day. But what does the academy award know. At least they got the film right which IMO has happened twice since 1990.

IMO, Schindler's List is the best film of the 1990s to current and quie frankly there isn't anything that I find even close as a total moviegoing experience.

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