[108] According to scriptwriter Frederic Raphael, when he suggested to Kubrick that Schindler's List was a good representation of the Holocaust, Kubrick commented, "Think that's about the Holocaust? However, Spielberg was unsure of letting Scorsese direct the film, as "I'd given away a chance to do something for my children and family about the Holocaust. The Jews walk to a nearby town. “Schindler’s List” is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech businessman Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labor to start a factory in occupied Poland. His adaptation focused on Schindler's numerous relationships, and Keneally admitted he did not compress the story enough. Lanzmann also criticized Spielberg for viewing the Holocaust through the eyes of a German, saying "it is the world in reverse." [142] Under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, Coburn apologized, saying, "My intentions were good, but I've obviously made an error in judgment in how I've gone about saying what I wanted to say." The film is an outstanding achievement. Among others such as Citizen Kane and Sunset Boulevard, it has been called one of the greatest movies ever. [111] Filmmaker Michael Haneke criticized the sequence in which Schindler's women are accidentally sent off to Auschwitz and herded into showers: "There's a scene in that film when we don't know if there's gas or water coming out in the showers in the camp. The movie was named the best of 1993 by critics such as James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert, and Gene Siskel. "[62] Robert Gellately notes the film in its entirety can be seen as a metaphor for the Holocaust, with early sporadic violence increasing into a crescendo of death and destruction. [92] James Verniere of the Boston Herald noted the film's restraint and lack of sensationalism, and called it a "major addition to the body of work about the Holocaust. "[116], Schindler's List featured on a number of "best of" lists, including the TIME magazine's Top Hundred as selected by critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel,[4] Time Out magazine's 100 Greatest Films Centenary Poll conducted in 1995,[118] and Leonard Maltin's "100 Must See Movies of the Century". [130], For the 1997 American television showing, the film was broadcast virtually unedited. [5] The Vatican named Schindler's List among the most important 45 films ever made. [66] In Germany, where it was shown in 500 theaters, the film was viewed by over 100,000 people in its first week alone[67] and was eventually seen by six million people. [27] Fiennes looked so much like Göth in costume that when Mila Pfefferberg met him, she trembled with fear. Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley revisit Schindler’s List in an emotional reunion Schindler's List, made for just $22 million (Steven Spielberg declined a pay check), grossed $321 million worldwide and won seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best director. A Channel 4 poll named Schindler's List the ninth greatest movie of all time, and it ranked fourth in their 2005 war movies poll. Forty percent of the film was shot with handheld cameras, and the modest budget meant the film was shot quickly over seventy-two days. That a contributing editor of the Forward (God help us!) [15], Principal photography began on March 1, 1993 in Kraków, Poland, with a planned schedule of 75 days. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński wanted to create a sense of timelessness. [13] Spielberg tried to pass the project to director Roman Polanski, who turned it down. 50. Cast summaries include actors who played the part along with character descriptions. John Williams composed the score, and violinist Itzhak Perlman performed the main theme. Neither audio nor subtitles are available in your language. [42], Spielberg occasionally used German and Polish language dialogue to create a sense of realism. Schindler and Stern create "Schindler's List" – a list of 850 people to be transferred to Brünnlitz instead of Auschwitz. The Bejski that Stern refers to is none other than Moshe Bejski – who eventually became Oskar Schindler’s document forger and later the Israeli Supreme Court Judge from 1979 to 1991. Schindler is careful to maintain his friendship with Göth and, through bribery, continues to enjoy SS support. "I think he was a bit of a saint and a bit of a sinner," he said. He initially considered making the film entirely in those languages, but decided "there's too much safety in reading [subtitles]. [104], Bartov wrote that the "positively repulsive kitsch of the last two scenes seriously undermines much of the film's previous merits". The movie also won numerous other awards and nominations worldwide.[1]. It is based on the 1982 non-fiction novel Schindler's Ark by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. [57] Upon seeing the film again as an adult, she was proud of the role she played. [79] Spielberg used proceeds from the film to finance several related documentaries, including Anne Frank Remembered (1995), The Lost Children of Berlin (1996), and The Last Days (1998). It was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, and won numerous other awards, including seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globe Awards. Spielberg, astounded by Schindler's story, jokingly asked if it was true. [41] Robin Williams called Spielberg to cheer him up, given the profound lack of humor on the set. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked Schindler's List 8th on its list of the 100 best American films of all time. Schindler is touched but also ashamed, as he feels he should have done more. I cried all the time. [35] To avoid filming inside the actual death camp, the film crew constructed a replica of a portion of the camp just outside the entrance of Birkenau. When he was handed back the project, Spielberg found Zaillian's 115-page draft too short, and asked him to extend it to 195 pages. "What would drive a man like this to suddenly take everything he had earned and put it all in the service of saving these lives? [13] In the end credits of the film, Pfefferberg is credited as a consultant under the name Leopold Page. [44] Universal chairman Tom Pollock asked him to shoot the film on a color negative, to allow color VHS copies of the film to later be sold, but Spielberg did not want to accidentally "beautify events. [97], Criticism of the film also appeared, mostly from academia rather than the popular press. [107] The success of Schindler's List led filmmaker Stanley Kubrick to abandon his own Holocaust project, Aryan Papers, which would have been about a Jewish boy and his aunt who survive the war by sneaking through Poland while pretending to be Catholic. Schindler’s List tells the story of Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), a German businessman and a member of the Nazi party, and his role during the … [86], Stephen Schiff of The New Yorker called it the best historical drama about the Holocaust, a movie that "will take its place in cultural history and remain there. Spielberg meant well – but it was dumb. [129] The film also won numerous other awards and nominations worldwide. Later, when Schindler wants to buy Helen to put her on his list, Goeth refuses. He describes the humanization of Schindler as "banal", and is critical of what he describes as the "Zionist closure" set to the song "Jerusalem of Gold". [34] The production received permission from Polish authorities to film on the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, but objections to filming within the actual death camp were raised by the World Jewish Congress. – nominated, This page was last edited on 27 December 2020, at 23:37. "[15] Spielberg offered him the chance to direct the 1991 remake of Cape Fear instead. Ideas for a film about the Schindlerjuden (Schindler Jews) were proposed as early as 1963. The station has to do everything possible to broadcast the film without interruption. To help him run the business, Schindler enlists the aid of Itzhak Stern, a Jewish official who has contacts with black marketeers and the Jewish business community. I feel split about him, sorry for him. It is based on Schindler's Ark, a 1982 book by Thomas Keneally. "[55] Professor André H. Caron of the Université de Montréal wonders if the red symbolises "innocence, hope or the red blood of the Jewish people being sacrificed in the horror of the Holocaust. [57] Although it was unintentional, the character is similar to Roma Ligocka, who was known in the Kraków Ghetto for her red coat. [73] The laserdisc gift set was a limited edition that included the soundtrack, the original novel, and an exclusive photo booklet. As the Germans begin losing the war, Göth is ordered to ship the remaining Jews at Płaszów to Auschwitz concentration camp. [126], The film also won the National Board of Review for Best Film, along with the National Society of Film Critics for Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematography. [37] Nonetheless, Spielberg stated that at Passover, "all the German actors showed up. "[2] The picture was assigned a small budget of $22 million, as Holocaust films are not usually profitable. "[26] Doctors Samuel J. Leistedt and Paul Linkowski of the Université libre de Bruxelles describe Göth's character in the film as a classic psychopath. The film aired on public television in Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day in 1998. In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindlergradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. In the film it is men who perform this ritual, demonstrating not only the subservient role of women, but also the subservient position of Jewish men in relation to Aryan men, especially Göth and Schindler. Schindler's List featured on a number of "best of" lists, including the TIME magazine's Top Hundred as selected by critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel, Time Out magazine's 100 Greatest Films Centenary Poll conducted in 1995, and Leonard Maltin's "100 Must See Movies of the Century". "Fiction is a transgression, I am deeply convinced that there is a ban on depiction [of the Holocaust]", he said. The producers scrambled to find the Schindlerjuden and fly them in to film the scene. "[87] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described it as Spielberg's best, "brilliantly acted, written, directed, and seen. [17] Brian De Palma also turned down an offer to direct. Director:Steven Spielberg|Stars:Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall. "[56], The girl was portrayed by Oliwia Dąbrowska, three years old at the time of filming. "[88] Ebert named it one of his ten favorite films of 1993. [103] Spielberg responded to criticism that Schindler's breakdown as he says farewell is too maudlin and even out of character by pointing out that the scene is needed to drive home the sense of loss and to allow the viewer an opportunity to mourn alongside the characters on the screen. [22] Neeson felt Schindler enjoyed outsmarting the Nazis, who regarded him as a bit of a buffoon. For once, Spielberg has found a worthy theme for his bravura technique. [20] Warren Beatty participated in a script reading, but Spielberg was concerned that he could not disguise his accent and that he would bring "movie star baggage". Spielberg said that "to start the film with the candles being lit ... would be a rich bookend, to start the film with a normal Shabbat service before the juggernaut against the Jews begins. Filmmaker Billy Wilder wrote to Spielberg saying, "They couldn't have gotten a better man. [99] Horowitz notes that while the depiction of women in the film accurately reflects Nazi ideology, the low status of women and the link between violence and sexuality is not explored further. [41], Spielberg spent several hours each evening editing Jurassic Park, which was scheduled to premiere in June 1993. [127] Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle were also won for Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematographer. A member of the Nazi Party, Schindler lavishes bribes on Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and SS officials and acquires a factory to produce enamelware. [114] Hungarian Jewish author Imre Kertész, a Holocaust survivor, feels it is impossible for life in a Nazi concentration camp to be accurately portrayed by anyone who did not experience it first-hand. They put on yarmulkes and opened up Haggadas, and the Israeli actors moved right next to them and began explaining it to them. Reddit user redbulls2014 asked the burning question “How historically accurate is ‘Schindler’s List‘?” in the r/AskHistorians subreddit, hoping to find some answers. [128] The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded the film for Best Film, Best Cinematography (tied with The Piano), and Best Production Design. [89] Terrence Rafferty, also with The New Yorker, admired the film's "narrative boldness, visual audacity, and emotional directness." It was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, and won numerous other awards, including seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globe Awards. "[26] Fiennes put on 28 pounds (13 kg) to play the role. Luedtke gave up almost four years later, as he found Schindler's change of heart too unbelievable. "[32] Spielberg decided to use black and white to match the feel of actual documentary footage of the era. Spielberg won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film for his work, and shared the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture with co-producers Branko Lustig and Gerald R. Molen. Polanski's mother was killed at Auschwitz, and he had lived in and survived the Kraków Ghetto. It's not an appropriate use of the form. For once, Spielberg has found a worthy theme for his bravura technique. [26], The character of Itzhak Stern (played by Ben Kingsley) is a composite of the accountant Stern, factory manager Abraham Bankier, and Göth's personal secretary, Mietek Pemper. [81][82] World leaders in many countries saw the film, and some met personally with Spielberg. Schindler was later honored by Yad Vashem for his efforts to save his workers from being killed. Audio is available in Italian. 273-279. Oskar Schindler, an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia, arrives in the city hoping to make his fortune. Nothing was being done to slow down ... the annihilation of European Jewry," he said. That's why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black-and-white. As time passes, Schindler's focus shifts from making money to trying to save as many lives as possible. He describes the sequence as "realistic" and "stunning". “This is the true story of the Schindler List in reverse. Oskar Schindler, an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia, arrives in the city hoping to make his fortune. Pfefferberg, one of the Schindlerjuden, made it his life's mission to tell the story of his savior. Last night, the Tribeca Film Festival hosted a 25th-anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List,” the true story of a … [36], There were some antisemitic incidents. The list is life." [117] Albert L. Lewis, Spielberg's childhood rabbi and teacher, described the movie as "Steven's gift to his mother, to his people, and in a sense to himself. An epilogue reveals that Schindler's marriage failed after the war, as did his attempts to start new businesses, while Göth was executed for crimes against humanity. While the Schindler's List film painted Oskar Schindler as a hero, Mr Gross said the truth was more complicated. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. In the present, many of the surviving Schindlerjuden and the actors portraying them visit Schindler's grave and place stones on its marker (the traditional Jewish sign of respect on visiting a grave), with Liam Neeson laying two roses. He notes its presence in the scene where Schindler arranges for a Holocaust train loaded with victims awaiting transport to be hosed down, and the scene in Auschwitz, where the women are given an actual shower instead of receiving the expected gassing. [43] Spielberg felt that this gave the film "a spontaneity, an edge, and it also serves the subject. [25], Fiennes was cast as Amon Göth after Spielberg viewed his performances in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The workers give Schindler a signed statement attesting to his role in saving Jewish lives and present him with a ring engraved with a Talmudic quotation: "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire". "[44], John Williams, who frequently collaborates with Spielberg, composed the score for Schindler's List. Oskar Schindler. [81][83] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 97% based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 9.06/10. Spielberg hired Kurt Luedtke, who had adapted the screenplay of Out of Africa, to write the next draft. 9 Real Life: The List Wasn’t Really Schindler’s.Strangely, despite the film being called Schindler’s List (or the book, Schindler’s Ark), the actual idea of the list isn’t particularly accurate. It was the first time a television broadcast had ever received the TV-M rating (soon to be called TV-MA). Playing 'the girl in red coat' left her 'ashamed' and traumatised for years. "[113], At a 1994 Village Voice symposium about the film, historian Annette Insdorf described how her mother, a survivor of three concentration camps, felt gratitude that the Holocaust story was finally being told in a major film that would be widely viewed. "[68] As a compromise, the broadcast included one break consisting of a short news update framed with commercials. Spielberg shows a firm moral and emotional grasp of his material. The issue resurfaced recently when Oliwia Dabrowska recounted how her role as the totemic Girl in the Red Coat in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List had "led to years of trauma and shame". [80], Schindler's List received acclaim from both film critics and audiences, with Americans such as talk show host Oprah Winfrey and President Bill Clinton urging their countrymen to see it. [72] Also released for both formats was a limited edition gift set, which included the widescreen version of the film, Keneally's novel, the film's soundtrack on CD, a senitype, and a photo booklet titled Schindler's List: Images of the Steven Spielberg Film, all housed in a plexiglass case. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed Schindler I wouldn't be able to do Jurassic Park. [144], According to Slovak filmmaker Juraj Herz, the scene in which a group of women confuse an actual shower with a gas chamber is taken directly, shot by shot, from his film Zastihla mě noc (Night Caught Up with Me, 1986). He continues to finance that work. He said to Spielberg, "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains, AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition", "6th Annual Chicagos Film Critics Awards", "19th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Awards", "The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners", "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains", "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition", "Michael Kahn, Michael Brown to Receive ACE Lifetime Achievement Awards", "Red coat girl traumatized by 'Schindler's List, "Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon, "Drowning the bad times: Juraj Herz interviewed", "Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry", "New York Critics Honor 'Schindler's List, "A Life Like A Song With Ever Changing Verses", "Prime Time Commemoration: An Analysis of Television Broadcasts on Israel's Memorial Day for the Holocaust and the Heroism", "Steven Zaillian to Receive WGA Laurel Award", "Steven Spielberg's year of living dangerously: How he reinvented cinema with Jurassic Park and Schindler's List", "לכל איש יש שם – גם לילדה עם המעיל האדום מ"רשימת שינדלר, "Schindler's List: Box Set Laserdisc Edition", "Schindler's List (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1993)", "Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) (1993)", "Schindler's List Collector's Gift Set (1993)", "After rebuke, congressman apologizes for 'Schindler's List' remarks", "GOP Lawmaker Blasts NBC For Airing 'Schindler's List, "How did "Schindler's List" change Krakow? "[111] He also confirmed with Spielberg's office that payment had been sent from there. Kastner was a hero turned Nazi collaborator. Votes:1,203,292|Gross:$96.90M. He tells Schindler he will never let her go, that he wants to bring her back to Vienna and grow old with her. [16] Billy Wilder expressed an interest in directing the film as a memorial to his family, most of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. To better protect his workers, Schindler bribes Göth into allowing him to build a sub-camp. This movie is absolutely perfection. "[94] Mintz notes that even the film's harshest critics admire the "visual brilliance" of the fifteen-minute segment depicting the liquidation of the Kraków ghetto. At the new factory, Schindler forbids the SS guards from entering the factory floor without permission and encourages the Jews to observe the Jewish Sabbath. The movie was designated by the Library of Congress in 2004 and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. [125] Steven Zaillian won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. [143], Controversy arose in Germany for the film's television premiere on ProSieben. Steven Zaillian won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 195 minutes. [2], In 1983, Keneally was hired to adapt his book, and he turned in a 220-page script. "[17] Polanski, who turned down the chance to direct the film, later commented, "I certainly wouldn't have done as good a job as Spielberg because I couldn't have been as objective as he was. Principal photography took place in Kraków, Poland, over 72 days in 1993. [46] The clarinet solos heard in the film were recorded by Klezmer virtuoso Giora Feidman. Pfefferberg attempted to produce a biopic of Oskar Schindler with MGM in 1963, with Howard Koch writing, but the deal fell through. He clarified his opinion, stating that the film ought to have been aired later at night when there would not be "large numbers of children watching without parental supervision". While commending Spielberg for bringing the story to a wide audience, he found the film's final scene at the graveyard neglected the terrible after-effects of the experience on the survivors and implied that they came through emotionally unscathed. [31] The crew shot at or near the actual locations, though the Płaszów camp had to be reconstructed in a nearby abandoned quarry, as modern high rise apartments were visible from the site of the original camp. [32] Several actresses broke down when filming the shower scene, including one who was born in a concentration camp. "They don't quite take him seriously, and he used that to full effect. [50][17] While Göth is characterized as an almost completely dark and evil person, Schindler gradually evolves from Nazi supporter to rescuer and hero. [100] History professor Omer Bartov of Brown University notes that the physically large and strongly drawn characters of Schindler and Göth overshadow the Jewish victims, who are depicted as small, scurrying, and frightened – a mere backdrop to the struggle of good versus evil. As the Jewish workers are transported by train to Brünnlitz, the one carrying the women and girls is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz-Birkenau; Schindler bribes Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, to win their release. He extended the ghetto liquidation sequence, as he "felt very strongly that the sequence had to be almost unwatchable. In Israeli prints of the film the song was replaced with "Halikha LeKesariya" ("A Walk to Caesarea") by Hannah Szenes, a World War II resistance fighter. 3 for the week with a 20.9/31 rating/share,[70] the highest Nielsen rating for any film since NBC's broadcast of Jurassic Park in May 1995. The Vatican named Schindler's List among the most important 45 movies ever made. The two scenes bracket the Nazi era, marking its beginning and end. [141] Tom Coburn, then an Oklahoma congressman, said that in airing the film, NBC had brought television "to an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity", adding that it was an insult to "decent-minded individuals everywhere". He watched historic newsreels and talked to Holocaust survivors who knew Göth. Spielberg said of Fiennes' audition that "I saw sexual evil. For Spielberg, they represent "just a glint of color, and a glimmer of hope. [52][53], While the film is shot primarily in black and white, a red coat is used to distinguish a little girl in the scene depicting the liquidation of the Kraków ghetto. The museum opened in June 2010.[147]. With the rise of neo-Nazism after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he worried that people were too accepting of intolerance, as they were in the 1930s. Special features include a documentary introduced by Spielberg. The film Schindler's List tells the story of factory owner, Oskar Schindler, who saved thousand's of Polish Jews who he employed as slave labour 15 Eva spoke at a UN conference back in 2018 after deciding to tell her story for the first time Credit: Israeli mission to the UN [68], In the Philippines, chief censor Henrietta Mendez ordered cuts of three scenes depicting sexual intercourse and female nudity before the movie could be shown in theaters. [116] Norbert Friedman noted that, like many Holocaust survivors, he reacted with a feeling of solidarity towards Spielberg of a sort normally reserved for other survivors. Ligocka, unlike her fictional counterpart, survived the Holocaust. [58] The girl in red may have been inspired by Kraków resident Genya Gitel Chil, according to a 2014 interview of her family members. Played by Liam Neeson. Drama. "[54] Andy Patrizio of IGN notes that the point at which Schindler sees the girl's dead body is the point at which he changes, no longer seeing "the ash and soot of burning corpses piling up on his car as just an annoyance. Every frame of "Schindler's List" demonstrates Spielberg's anger and urge to chronicle a catastrophe that defies any logic or rational understanding. [48] Selections from the score were released on a soundtrack album. Protests among the Jewish community ensued when the station intended to televise it with two commercial breaks of 3–4 minutes each. If he is born into a Jewish Zionist family, he will be raised in the trauma of the Shoah, in the hatred and mistrust of non-Jews, in communitarianism. [95] He points out that the film has done much to increase Holocaust remembrance and awareness as the remaining survivors pass away, severing the last living links with the catastrophe. [115] Rabbi Uri D. Herscher found the film an "appealing" and "uplifting" demonstration of humanitarianism. Universal Pictures bought the rights to the novel, but Spielberg, unsure if he was ready to make a film about the Holocaust, tried to pass the project to several directors before deciding to direct it. Schindler's List (1993) - IMDb. [105], Schindler's List was very well received by many of Spielberg's peers. Country.