Looking Back: Schindler’s List & the art of Dispiriting Nazi Features
I am a positive person. I always try to see something affirmative even in the most negative of situations.
So, being an avid movie buff, not that I am averse to negative movies but I am naturally more attracted towards the flicks which portray a certain sense of enthusiasm or sends a message of hope at the end.
But such is the irony, although I am looking for something constructive and optimistic in every feature I watch, I am distinctly enchanted by the bleak and immensely cynical films which are based on Nazism and the German time period during the second World War.
This is a very odd predicament I find myself in. Most of the movies based on Nazism are gloomy and are miles away from rendering any sort of positivity. This is one of the famous criticisms of Nazi movies, but I don’t see the point in such condemnations.
How can you illustrate or showcase any sort of pragmatism or efficacious messages in a flick which is based on one of the darkest periods in the human history.
But, there are some Nazi features which have balanced the books and tried to counterbalance the gloomy and antipathetic characteristics along with shades of some positive and affirmative moments, a task which I feel is really herculean in nature.
One such movie is Schindler’s List which just happens to be my favourite of all time, eclipsing stalwarts such as The Godfather Trilogy and 12 Angry Men. We all know the story of Oskar Schindler who saved some thousands of Jews from the Nazi death camps and has forever been a statue of inspiration and hope.
As inspiring as the story is, making a movie out of it must have been equally strenuous but I have to say, Steven Spielberg has created an absolute masterpiece.
The starting sequence where the we are enchanted by the flaming candle along with the Jewish prayer in the background, to the Nazi emblem which Schindler buttons on his collar as a sign of authority; is one of the best opening sequences I have ever seen.
Again, the movie is a long feature film, but manages to keep me gripped by its sheer gloom ridden and discouraging scenes which perfectly capture the sentiment and terror of the Jews under Adolf Hitler’s Germany. For some reason, the sheer dispiriting and defeatist baseline of the movie is appealing to me. Somehow I seem to find an amalgamation of despair and happiness in the course of the movie, a balance which many flicks of the same genre fail to provide.
On one side, we see certain scenes like the luggage of the Jews who are getting transported, being unpacked and the valuables being stored by Germans, while on the other hand we hear the tales of Jewish workers in the Nazi camps reassuring themselves about the value of their own lives as they struggle under the siege of the trigger happy Amon Goeth, the sadist Nazi commander.
The ever evolving relationship of Oskar Schindler and his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern, which starts off as a business agreement and ends with a hug amidst thousands of Schindler Jews is a testament of humanity in a time of intense atrocities.
Steven Spielberg showcases his brilliance in one of the best and most heart wrenching scenes in the history of world cinema with the ‘Girl in the Red Dress’, which takes this movie on to another level.
Movies are meant to inspire people and make them aware of the realities of life. There are many ways to send a message across to the audience. Some take an affirmative and more commonly taken road where they stress on the humanity and goodness in people to create a positive vibe which enthralls the onlookers.
While on the other hand, some inspire and motivate by showing the darkness and despair which I think is a much more difficult task.
To Oskar Schindler, Die Gesundheit!
