#6 - Schindler's List (1993)

Thank goodness I chose this one over Scarface for today's movie. Because it definitely is one of the best movies I have seen in my life. Plus, right after the goofy portrayal of the Nazis in yesterday's The Great Dictator, I just had to see the more dramatic, heart wrenching one. I admit being in the verge of tears more than once (manliness!).

Schindler's List tells the story of Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), a German businessman during Nazi Germany who realizes how much antisemitism sucks and tries to sneak as many Jews out of concentration camps as he can with the excuse of needing more workers for his factory.

The pallete choice is very welcome. The entire film, except for two things and the ending, is entirely black and white. Those two things are a candle (symbolizing hope, duh) and a little girl's coat. I will not spoil the last one, just keep in mind that it is a very powerful piece of imagery. Powerful indeed.

This will destroy you. I mean it.

Liam Neeson is a terrific actor and here it shows. Schindler starts out as a complete jerk: partying his life away while hundreds around him die for no reason. Throughout the movie he witnesses some of the worse crimes against humanity in... well, ever, and realizes how sickening and unfair the situation is, and takes action.
The best thing about his performance in my opinion is how little emotion he shows throughout it. He may be trying not to let the situation get to him, or hiding the satisfaction from his comrades... the point is you can see he tries to hide it, instead of overacting or just... pulling a Kirsten Stewart (is that still funny? Yeah I didn't think so.)

"I may look angry but deep inside me is an ocean of tears. Thank god I didn't brood over it for the entire movie."

In the end, however, the message the movie tries to get across was the most memorable aspect of the movie.  In my opinion, that message is "How much is a human life worth?" Even after saving over 1100 jews, Schindler still mourns the death of one more failed attempt to save a life. Selling his car would have saved 10 more. No matter how many of us there are, no matter how much money will it cost to replace us, we are priceless. And it's one hell of a message.

One thing bothers me a lot about this movie, though. Is it historically accurate? No. I have seen plenty of documentaries and read a bunch books on the matter, and the depiction of the Holocaust here is not very precise (read Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" and you'll see what I mean). While it works for the movie's tone and plot, that's not how things really went. I reccomend being more informed on the matter before watching it.

But should that keep you from watching it? Christ, no. In conclusion, fucking fantastic. One of the best movies I have ever seen, period. Glad to have ticked it off my list (no pun intended.)

"I'm shoulder-deep in Nazi shit, but we got seven Oscars, so totally worth it."