Why, oh why, did I watch this movie? Every movie that I see from here on out will be compared to this film and most of them will fail miserably. Damn you, Steven Spielberg! Why didn't you just stick to making movies the like of E.T. and Jaws? Why do you have to go and challenge my perception of what a great movie should be like?
I never would have thought that I would even consider a repulsive movie to be great. Because that is what it was. It was repulsive and scary but I cannot not watch it. There was a part there where, to make room for more Jews from other camps or settlements, the Nazis conducted medical inspection on the existing Jews on the camp and pick out those who look unhealthy so that they will be sent to Auschwitz. The process involved all of the Jews going out to the yards, falling in line and stripping completely naked. They were then made to run around in front of several doctors. The doctors pointed out those who they think were unfit and immediately a guard would grab that person and pull him out of the line. For the Jews, Auschwitz meant certain death so they did whatever they could to avoid being sent there. During these inspections the women had to resort to pricking their fingers to draw blood and use the blood on their lips and cheeks to appear flushed, ergo healthy. It was the most inhuman proceeding that I have ever seen. Imagine what it was like in real life. Damn you, Steven, for shattering the shield of ignorance that had enveloped me my entire life. How can I go on with my blissful existence now that I know... these?
My favorite part in the film, the part that truly broke my heart, was, toward the end, when Oskar was preparing to leave his employees to flee with his wife after the German's were defeated, he started counting how many more Jews he could have saved with the properties that he still had, even if he was basically bankrupt at that point. It didn't matter that he spent his entire fortune to buy and support more than a thousand Jews for seven months. For him, what mattered was he could have saved more but didn't.
After watching the film, with my brain still on Schindler's List overdrive, I googled Oskar which, of course, only made me hate Steven all the more. After the war, Oskar made several attempts to start other businesses, all of which failed. He lost his wife, he lost money and he was living off of donations from Jewish organizations. By the end of his life, he was penniless. Arguably, he was surrounded by friends and family and perhaps the love of all those he had saved. Many would say that this was better than having all that money and pursued by the Allied Forces for being a "profiteer of slave labor". But I wonder, for a man of such ambition and fine finesse as Oskar, was he happy? Did he ever regret that he went and spent his money to buy every single one of his workers instead of going back to his hometown with more money than he can spend his entire lifetime? Are there still Oskar Schindlers left in this world?
Liam Neeson was perfect as Schindler. He certainly had the aura that would convince a Nazi officer to release all those Jews to his care for a certain fee. Ralph Fiennes was even better as Amon Goth. I didn't even recognize him. He was... portly. The Ralph Fiennes I know was from American Patient and, of course, Voldemort, stately and elegant. In this movie, he was a madman who kills on a frenzy, kills for no apparent reason and kills Jews working on the fields for target-shooting practice from his balcony. Then Schindler told him that real power is when you know should kill somebody but you choose to make him live instead. Oh, the struggle he had to go through to gain that kind of power, it was hilarious. I could almost see his face in contortion as he was stopping himself from killing his stable boy.
I am reminded of another film I saw more than a year ago entitled A Beautiful Life starring Roberto Benigni. It was a comedy about the Holocaust, which was ironic. But I ended up laughing and cringing at the same time. I thought it was a great movie. I still do. But compared to Schindler's List, it was a feel-good movie. That's how heavy Schindler is. It is the best movie I ever saw, one of my favorites, but understandably a movie that I would only like to see again after a considerable lapse of time. It has been a week since I saw it and I have yet to recover.
I still hate you, Steven, but thank you for slapping me in the face and making me realize my mediocrity. I owe you big time.
