Schindler's List
Cast
Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler
Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern
Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth
Caroline Goodall as Emilie Schindler
Jonathan Sagall as Poldek Pfefferberg
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Rater #1 has description and review
Rater #1
10/10. Oh, my god. This was a great movie, horrible, but great. Oskar Schindler is a manufacturing plant owner, who eventually tries to save the jews. He takes them from the ghettos, and employs them in his factory. Sometimes the jews will disappear, but he always tracks them down to rescue them. He always swindled the nazi's out of prisoners.
I had to break up the movie into about 6 parts because I couldn't watch it all at once because of how long it is. Though from what I hear, it was probably a smart thing to do. I was truly amazed at the quality of this is. I bet Steven probably stretched it a bit. It was also written into a book.
The acting in this was superb but we mainly focused on 2 characters. Liam Neeson as Schindler was awesome. He really pulled me into the movie while I was absorbed in this. He said a few lines that were funny, but it was mainly serious. Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern was awesome too. He played his character wonderfully. The rest of the acting team did a great job too.
The camera angles throughout the movie really pulled me in. I was sad towards the end with the way Schindler was acting. Another part, I was happy that the Nazi's couldn't shoot a rabbi because their guns didn't work. You just felt that something bad was going to happen. I applaud Steven for such a good job.
If I were to take off anything at all during the movie would be how long it is. It felt a little slow during some parts, but then again I watched it in 6 parts. Another thing would be a little less killing.
All in all, this was a great movie, and should be seen by anyone who can handle anything that has to do with the Holocaust.
Rater #2
8/10. Eventually, I would have had to have seen Schindler's List. Not only was it a staple in modern filmmaking, but I'm also Jewish and have
been taught all about the Holocaust. I like Spielberg, and I can sit
through long movies (although I did watch the movie in three pieces),
so I plunked this newly released DVD into my player and was treated
to an adventure, the likes of which I had never seen before.
Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a German during World War II. All he
cares about is money, and runs a business while the height of the
Nazi regime in Poland is taking place. He realizes that he can save
money on hiring Jews instead of Poles to work in his factory (since
the Jews would be taken from the concentration camps, they would not
really require much, if any, pay). After some pleading from his wife
and his desire to hold onto his accountant, Itzhak Stern (Ben
Kinglsey), Schindler decides to make a list of Jews to save from
certain death to work in his factory.
Quite obviously, this movie will have different effects on different
people, much like the recent Passion of the Christ did. Those who had
relatives who were captured by the Nazis, or knew someone, or were
alive at the time, or anything of the like, would be much more
affected by this film than others. I found myself horrified by many
of the atrocities brutally shown, especially ones done by Amon Goeth
(Ralph Fiennes). It's amazing, how you can be so affected by
gruesomeness done to characters you know nothing about.
On a lesser side, I found many scenes to be unnecessary and
uninteresting. They only added to the already obscenely long runtime.
Also, the character of Goeth, when not brutalizing Jews, seemed to
become perfectly normal and balanced. Goeth seemed duplicitous, and
therefore somewhat unbelievable. Neeson was good, but Kingsley was
excellent. One more thing that bothered me was the girl in the red
dress. Filmed in almost all black-and-white, there's some sort of
symbolism there, but there's no telling what it is.
Overall, Schindler's List is an important film, and a tough one to
get through, but what you'll get out of it will differ from what
others will.
Rated R for language, awful killings, and nudity.
Running time: 197 minutes
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