Schindler’s List: The award-winning masterpiece about Nazi atrocities turns 30

Certainly the most important film about the Holocaust and one of Steven Spielberg’s best films is the now famous “Schindler’s List”, which stands out for its artistic perfection, the accumulation of all the experiences of the great director, who clearly presents the cinematic of adulthood.

A film that hopefully completes 30 years and is now considered a classic. It was 1993, when another of his films, the acclaimed fantasy adventure “Jurassic Park” and the awakening of the masterful digital dinosaurs, gave him the record for the highest grossing of all time.

Time Value

Spielberg, may have already changed course from his first period, with the wonderful “Jaws of the Shark”, “E.T. the Extraterrestrial”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and the unimaginable adventures of Indiana Jones, which established him as the greatest storyteller of Hollywood, but at the same time he seemed ready for a historical film of memory, which could be identified with the turbulent contemporary social and geopolitical becoming. And indeed without entering the molds of political correctness and talking about timeless values, which did not only concern his own nation, but also all the downtrodden of the earth. And most importantly, to make a film relevant even today, as nationalism, intolerance, racism are constantly flaring up. The prisoners of the Labor and Death Camps, Jews, Slavs, Gypsies and Communists were mere numbers to their exterminators, but even today numbers play a very ugly game for millions of people around the globe.

The melancholy triumph of the Oscars

Spielberg’s film will triumph at the 1994 Oscars, winning seven golden statuettes, including those for Best Picture and Best Director, while the stars Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes were left out of awards, although they were nominated respectively for the Oscar A ‘ and Supporting Actor, for their sensational performances, which made them protagonists of enormous scope. It was a special night for Spielberg, who had told celebs and non-attendees that “there’s nothing festive about the night,” adding: “It was nice to win, but at the same time I remember how excited I was when our producer Lasting showed to the world that he was in Auschwitz and had numbers on his hand.”

At the top

Steven Spielberg may be watching his latest film, the autobiographical drama “The Fabelmans” today, flopping, which proves that the public has understood that the “great storyteller” has crossed the street, next to the Hollywood powerhouses, has changed to a show business man, an Oscar winner, but thirty years ago he was at the top. He knew unprecedented acclaim, even from those who had disparagingly characterized him as a “commercial” director. And this was due to his artistic achievement, “Schindler’s List”, which has beyond enormous cinematic value and great prehistory.

Thirty years ago…

It all started many years before Spielberg entered the studio. The idea of ​​a Holocaust film had been pitched to film producers since 1963, when Poldeck Pfefferberg, one of Schindler’s Jews, made it his life’s goal to make Schindler’s story known. When, after much back-and-forth, producer Sid Sheinberg sent a synopsis of Thomas Kennelly’s novel to Spielberg, he was excited and in turn tried to pitch the idea of ​​a film to other directors, producing it himself. Eventually, he will decide to direct the film, hearing about Holocaust denial.

The epic horror story

The screenplay, written by Thomas Kenally himself along with Steven Zailian, is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a Moravian-born German adventurer, dashing businessman, industrialist, who will try to exploit his extroverted communicative nature , his acquaintances with Nazi officials and his success in taking bribes in order to make money building a munitions factory for the German war machine. In order to find the required funds, he will come to an agreement with Jewish blacksmiths, who will give him the money, while he in return will hire only Jewish workers, who will avoid the labor camps and will have some minor privileges. When he arrives in Krakow, where Schindler had set up his factory, the psychopathic SS lieutenant Amon begins the mass purges. Schindler will realize the criminal nature of the Nazis and the horrific results of their hideous ideology, deciding to do whatever it takes to save the approximately 1,200 Jews in his employ.

Awareness and money

Beyond the grim and hideous face of the Nazis, the small human stories of the victims, the madness of power given by the Nazi uniform, Spielberg highlights the realization of even an amoral adventurer when he sees the criminal activity of the Germans. The scene towards the end of the film, where Schindler breaks down when he realizes that he has failed to save yet another Jew, is heartbreaking. And at the same time, it highlights the madness that the Germans had, beyond the Nazi ideology, for money, proving that even in the darkest times, money was what moved the strings…

Magnificent achievement

Spielberg, with the great master Janus Kaminski as his director of photography, will film intelligently in black and white, with a realistic look, illuminating the blackness of history, the absolute brutality and the end of reason. Its shots, sets and magnificent sequences, combined with the flawless decoupage and emotionally charged, iconic score of John Williams will force even its naysayers to bow before its greatness. And if all this is not enough, the sequence with the massacre ordered by Amon in the streets of the frozen city is enough, which Schindler observes from above with his mistress and among the panicked crowd is a little girl in a red coat. A few minutes long sequence that will forever beautify the history of cinema.

Liam and Rafe

Liam Neeson, as Schindler, gives the role of his life, managing to be disarmingly convincing in his transformation from an oblivious adventurer to a man who will sacrifice everything to save his “workers”, while Ralph Fiennes, who plays the psychopathic Amon, escaping the danger of falling into caricature, will demonstrate his enormous acting education. Up close the wonderful Ben Kingsley, in the role of the chief accountant who directs Schindler, while the performances of all the many and thoroughly studied secondary characters are also excellent.

“Schindler’s List” will forever remain in world history, its viewing will move and shock. A film that Spielberg himself should see again, to remember his original talent, the maturity of the artist, before it is eroded by the certainty of power. And of course for Liam Neeson to see her again, who in recent decades has fallen very low, embodying a one-dimensional bunch of heroes, many times as a remnant of the ideologies that made Schindler a conscious, sensitive man…

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