Schindler’s List — teenager views classics
No teen likes being told to go watch an old, 3 hour long, black and white movie about the Second World War, but it turned out to be one of the best things I ever did.
This film affected me in ways I didn’t expect and cannot describe. Watching this film was an experience I believe everyone should have, and one I shall certainly never forget. I won’t go into much specifics of the story as many who read this will probably have seen it, but that’s not the only reason. Many moments and many aspects of this film have left me speechless, and even now I’m clueless as to how to describe my impression of the plot.
The interesting thing about this film is that the built up is done very slowly and very subtly, you don’t realize what’s happening until it’s over and you’re suddenly at the climax, and all the feelings that have been bottling up for the past 3 hours all pour out at once. Combine this with a protagonist whose intentions are never explicitly mentioned until the last five minutes of the film, and here come the water works. Oscar Schindler only tells us the audience he needs people for his factory, and while it’s obvious that’s not his main objective, him not saying it out loud makes his actions speak so much louder. It makes the character more flawed and interesting, almost as if you’re watching the horrors of the holocaust through an objective point of view.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Spielberg shies away from the horrors of the holocaust, on the contrary. It is the reason why I think the film actually works well in black and white. We know the holocaust only from old, black and white photos. A frame from this film doesn’t look any different from these photos. From the starving to the barracks to the children, it looks horrific, but it was horrific. So many films use World War II as an easy device to make the audience cry, or to romanticize the period with great heroes, but “Schindler’s List” was none of that. It looked and felt like an honest impression of the war, terrors and all.
Of course this film also contains the usual elements that can make or break a film. The performances were fantastic, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes deserve all the awards, as well as Ben Kinglsey. The cinematography was amazing, but I didn’t expect anything less from Steven Spielberg. The most outstanding element however, is easily the score. Every bit of music is better than the last, and is certainly better than the music from any other movie ever. Not only does it fit the tone perfectly, as a violinist I also have great appreciation for the melodies out of context.
In conclusion, “Schindler’s List” is a film you have to have seen, whether you like it or not. This was said to me often, and now that I’ve seen it, I will say it to others often. It is an experience, it leaves an impression, and next to that it’s also just an excellent piece of cinema.
