At the completion of Schindler's List, I was moved to several different emotions, after sitting through a movie that was over 3 hours long, but felt like nothing of the sort. The movie was powerful, moving, inspiring, and depressing, but yet none of these feelings were pushed upon me but instead, the journey just caused the emotions to be felt. This movie, although brilliant, was admittedly difficult to endure, not because of its length (The movie almost seemed too short to tell such a story), but instead due to its very difficult subject matter.
I felt that this story better than any other (and believe me there are plenty of Nazi movies that have come out, including 5 that were in theaters simultaneously this year) told of the true devastation and horror of the concentration camps and of the complete disregard for some human life that was evident. It is almost difficult to analyze this movie in-depth as Nick said but I do believe that there were several elements that do deserve to be analyzed.
One thing I noticed that is rather trivial and also probably not correct but was the similarity in appearance of Ralph Fiennes (Goeth) and Liam Neeson (Schindler). Now it was not too difficult to tell the characters apart but when seen on screen both apart on seperately, the two characters certainly shared several characteristics of appearance. My belief in terms of this was that Spielberg sought to get similar looking Germans to play the leads because he wanted the Nazis to look similar, like Hitler wanted the one race of people who all looked the same and wanted to destroy the races who were impure. However, I believe that even though the two characters looked similar, Spielberg showed that although appearances may be the same, actions and ideals set people apart, not how they look. Schindler and Goeth were both Germans, who were Nazis but their beliefs could not have been more different. This was especially evident in the scene where Schindler says that "True power comes from when a man has every right and reason to kill a man, and doesn't. " Goeth thinks that he is drunk and finds those comments ridiculous. That is just a thought I had as to the failing of Hitler's idea that he could create a race of people who were all identical and pure.
Also, I will likely be ridiculed for these comments by people who love this movie, and I myself do believe that it is great work but the one element of the film that I did not like was the girl in the Red Jacket. It is probably easy to remember when Schindler is riding his horse and all he sees very clearly is the girl in the Red Jacket, the only color on the screen. Clearly, this girl was symbolic and I know that and I may have missed her overall significance but I felt that her presence in her two scenes cheapened the movie because it gave too much of an obvious symbol to the film. I believe that it detracted from the message of the rest of the movie, and that her appearance was unnecessary to the film as a whole.
Beyond that, I had no other complaints and felt that the movie was very well-directed and that Liam Neeson brilliantly executed a very difficult role, and felt that the movie was not drowned in an unnecessary emotion but rather showed the Holocaust as it truly was. I will possibly have more thoughts on it if I choose to re-watch it, although Nick believed that it may tarnish its quality. I, on the other hand, think that it could enhance my understanding and would allow me to post more thoughtful comments on symbols and techniques throughout the film. The first time watching it, I was too engrossed in the film to note as many symbols as I would have liked.
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Your two main points are really on target, particularly the first one about the similarity of the actors. It's funny, but I often get these two guys mixed up. It's hard to beleive that Spielberg was not thinking exactly that, and you explained the significance beautifully. And, best of all, it's such an obvious point, and yet, I (and millions of others, I'm sure) never noticed it. That is the case with really good analysis. It is usually so transparent.
ReplyDeleteYour second point is more debatable. As I recall the scene, there is all sorts of chaos on screen, and yet we are able to follow this one figure because of her red coat. I thought it was an attepmt to overcome a problem when presenting the pathos of the Holocaust. That problem is that we tend to deal with the six million, rather than the individual. It's hard to get all emotional about six million. In fact, the Holocaust starts to ressemble an atheletic contest. How many can the Nazis kill? Do I hear 6.1 million? Come on Hitler, you can do it! Even that great lover of humanity, Joseph Stalin, once stated, "the death of thousands is a statistic, the death of one is a tragedy."
Thus, in this scene, Spielberg tries to focus on the one AND on the six million at the same time. I thought it was well done, but you are right in that it is a gimmick, of sorts, and inserts the director into the film in a way that we are not used to.
Mr. Bennett, I thank you for your comment, and I believe that I have been mistaken in the analysis of the little girl. I have often thought of the death of one individual as tragic and the fact of trying to show the horror of just one person dying makes the Holocaust seem much more personal. However, I now recall that in the other scene where she appears, she is on a wheelbarrow with several others, dead, when Goeth was told to burn all the bodies. Despite the tens of thousands dead there, Schindler, still notices her because of the coat and is saddened by her death more than the other 10,000. I believe, therefore, that I will too judgmental and cynical in my original thought and that the singling out of one person was actually a very smart move, as I now recall her death. I am not sure if this was the best method Spielberg could have chosen, but the idea to focus on the individual and the whole simultaneously was clearly a conscious choice, and an emotional one. (I guess your cynicism is starting to control me, Mr. Bennett.)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr. Bennett about the girl in the red coat. When Schindler first sees her, I felt like that was the turning point of his life, whether he realized it immediately or not. When we first see her, the red coat stands out and there is almost a hope that comes with it. Schindler sees her go into a building and may even believe she gets away. When he sees her on the wheelbarrow later, it finally hits him that these are PEOPLE being killed.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't notice how similar Fiennes and Neeson looked. When I was watching it I was paying so much attention to what their character's did that I never really took in their appearance. That's a really good point you brought up and I'm glad you did. It just gives me one more reason to love this movie.
And did you know that Ralph Fiennes name is pronounced Rafe Fines? I didn't know that. I only bring it up because I read on IMDb that Fiennes said one of the reasons he liked playing Amon Goeth was because both of their names were spelled differently than they were said. It seems a bit weird, but I'll take that rather than him saying he liked playing him because he wanted to kill Jewish people. That probably would have caused problems for his career.