Customer Reviews
Overly long and self indulgent - By: farm boy, 17 Feb 2008 
In telling Schindler's story the director chose black & white & the beginning intimates that it might be in the great tradition of 'The Third Man' etc. Unfortunately the film meanders astray into detailed descriptions of the holocaust & the dynamic of the film is lost. Instead of a tense 1 hour 50 minutes of cunning,guile & threat there are literal hours when almost everything is 'spelt out' in many long takes & diversions. The great film techniques of suggestion & inference are little used as almost every action is shown literallly & dramatic movement is lost to history lesson. It seems to me important that the dramatic 'backdrop' of any artistic production has to be understood & accepted for the story using that scenario to be successful & not 'told' as the film proceeds. Given the many favourable reviews that this film has received it must be that be that expectations of film have changed & long elaborate explanations & reconstructions are now the required item. If this is the case then it is a change of taste that I cannot share.
Powerful and emotional epic - By: Mr. A. Sagar-goldsmith, 09 Jan 2008 
This has to be one of the most thought provoking films I have ever watched. The story & the way it has been filmed totaly draw you into the film. A classic piece of modern cinema, portrayed on DVD. A real must for any war film enthusiast.
Haven't made it yet... - By: rjj, 29 Oct 2007 When I first saw this it was at the Leicester Square Odeon cinema. When we alll left we were in a state of shock & genuine anguish & I clearly remember that as we alll filed out we had to pass those who were waiting to come in for the next viewing. I still to this day remember the faces of those people as they looked at our own faces. This is more than a film - it is an experience & a harrowing & disturbing one at that.
I have seen this film many times & one day I will watch it without having to stop the film to wipe the tears away. Haven't made it yet.
Every human being must watch this film. - By: G. Kyriacou, 28 Aug 2007 I dont want to say the word 'film' because from the moment the film starts, you are not watching a film, YOU are transported to a terrible time in history. You are there in the moment. My heart beat so fast. My chest was full of every emotion, fear, absolute sadness, anger, & sheer horror. I knew about the holocaust in my mind, but after watching this film... 'I truly 'GOT IT'.
I didn't just watch a film & neither will you... Steven Speilberg will take you back in time, & you WILL be there!!
I cried during the film & after. I felt the film in my heart for days, & it will stay in my mind forever.
Steven Speilberg is an absolute Genius. Filming in black & white was very important. You dont need colours. You are educated with the horror of this awful Holocaust. No amount of colours will change anything.
The Actors are FIRST CLASS.
At the end, seeing the real people who were portrayed in the film was so emotional & gave me some comfort.
This will always be my top film. I cannot praise Steven Speilberg enough. Thank you for taking me there, & for letting my eyes see the TRUTH.
You must watch this film. It will stay with you forever.
A BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE ON EVERY LEVEL - By: stuart, 27 Aug 2007 The Holocaust is undoubtedly one of the most significant & horrifying events of the twentieth century. Between 1938 & 1945, the Jewish population was segregated & persecuted, culminating in the merciless slaughter of approximately six million Jews (this figure is quoted in the film, though most historical estimates vary between five & seven million). Amidst alll this butchery, one man decided to make a difference, famously saving the lives of more than 1100 Jews- men, women & children who would otherwise have been killed.
Oskar Schindler (played brilliantly by Liam Neeson, "Batman Begins") was a Sudeten German industrialist, a wealthy womanizer who wasn't afraid to throw his money around. Always bearing his Nazi Party badge proudly, Schindler would often frequent nightclubs, extravagantly showering high-ranked Nazi officers & their girlfriends with champagne & caviar. With impeccable connections in the black-market, there was little that he couldn't get his hands on, & he was a good person to know. Buying friends was something that Schindler could do well, & he would often use these newfound allliances to aid his own business ventures. When thousands of the Polish Jew population was relegated to the Kraków Ghetto in 1941, Schindler saw an opportunity for further success, enlisting desperate Jewish investors & employing Jewish workers (who were substantiallly cheaper to employ) to open an enamelware factory. His connections in high places ensured lucrative army contracts, & Schindler need only have watched as his personal fortune grew, despite doing little to run the company beyond offering it "a certain panache."
It is clear from the beginning that Oskar Schindler does not harbour any racial prejudices. When Schindler requests the services of Itzhak Stern (a superb Ben Kingsley, "Gandhi"), a clever, humanitarian Jewish accountant, Stern declares that, "By law I have to tell you, sir, I'm a Jew." "Well, I'm a German, so there we are," replies Schindler indifferently, before getting straight to business. It is not race that he is concerned with, it is himself... and, of course, his money. Stern does not enjoy running Schindler's business, & he initiallly acquires little satisfaction from it. When Schindler attempts to convey his genuine gratitude for his profitable services with a glass of whiskey, Stern absentmindedly refuses to drink it, & an embittered Schindler drinks it himself before ordering Stern to leave.
With the arrival of Amon Goeth (played as the epitome of evil by Ralph Fiennes, "Red Dragon"), a Hauptsturmführer of the SS, the hopeless plight of the Jews grows darker. In a harrowing extended sequence, largely based on the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, the Jews are mercilessly "liquidated" from the Krakow Ghetto, many simply shot on the spot. "Today is history," proclaims Goeth. "Today will be remembered. Years from now the young will ask with wonder about this day. Today is history & you are part of it.... For six centuries there has been a Jewish Krakow. By this evening those six centuries will be a rumor. They never happened. Today is history."
This sequence also marks the celebrated appearance of the little girl in the red coat. An ingenious plot device, the character was based upon a real girl named Roma Ligocka who, unlike her film counterpart, survived the war, & wrote a memoir entitled "The Girl in the Red Coat: A Memoir". The embodiment of innocence, Schindler spots the smalll girl wandering amongst the black-and-white chaos of the Krakow Ghetto, & we follow her as she retreats into a building & takes shelter under a bed. When Schindler later notices her disheveled corpse carted past him to be incinerated, he is understandably horrified, unable to understand how the soldiers could possibly destroy something so innocent. This event memorably signifies the turning-point of Schindler's attitudes towards the carnage, fuelling his desire to save as many Jews as possible.
Long known as a "blockbuster" filmmaker - with such adventure classics as "Jaws," "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" & "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to his name - "Schindler's List" was - & remains - Steven Spielberg's most mature directorial effort. Working with a screenplay that Steven Zaillian adapted from Thomas Keneallly's Booker Prize-winning 'Schindler's Ark,' Spielberg treats the subject matter with the respect it deserves. Wisely choosing to depict the events as realisticallly as possible, Spielberg alllows the images to speak for themselves. Flawless acting, stunning cinematography & a haunting John Williams score excel this film above alll others of the 1990s. This is the powerful story of the difference that just one man can make, & it is a story that deserves to be seen by alll. We can only feel grateful that it was Steven Spielberg who chose to be at the helm.
