I have been putting this off for a long time.
The reason why is that I don't think I am capable of adequately describing the what this movie is.
To recap, back in 2019, I finally completed a bucket-list goal of seeing every theatrical Steven Spielberg movie.
Steven Spielberg is the greatest director of all time and I don't think anyone will be able to change my mind on this subject. He has left behind a body of work that no one in film history will be able to reach. Quentin Tarantino has famously said that he is going to only make 10 movies so that he has a celebrated body of work without fading into obsolescence. Spielberg has made nearly 40 films and not all of them are good. But the ones that a great are some of the greatest movies ever made.
Since starting this list, Spielberg has made two more movies. Unfortunately, they fall into the category of what I call "Lesser Spielberg." West Side Story is visually strong, but Spielberg felt the need to "fix" the original in ways that miss the point entirely. And his latest semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans is more indulgent than it is insightful. For the complete list thus far, here are the rankings:
This brings us to not only Steven Spielberg's greatest movie, but also what is tied for the greatest movie ever made in the history of film:
Schindler's List.
I was in high school when this movie came out. My mom took us to an out-of-the way theater because it was not playing anywhere near us. One of the great things about my mom was that she made sure we learned about the horrors of the Holocaust. She was strongly opposed to any anti-semitism and instilled that in all her children.
Spielberg did not expect that many people would see this movie. Universal only allowed him to make it because he agreed to also make Jurassic Park that same year. While filming Schindler's List during the day, he would be on satellite video calls going over the special effects for Jurassic Park. Because of this compromise, Spielberg had complete freedom in making this movie. As we see in the movies Spielberg made after this, this freedom would lead to a diminishing return on his talent. But here, he was constrained by time, budget, and a fantastic script by Steve Zaillian. And as we saw in Jaws, Spielberg works best under constraint.
First, he decided to film the movie in black and white, which was incredibly rare and tended to be box office poison. He made the movie three and a fifteen minutes, which would push audiences attention. The movie was the most violent thing he had made up until this point. While he had Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley, this movie was not promoted by its star power. Instead of focusing on only one or two families, the movie takes in dozens of characters who you can only truly follow and connect to after multiple viewings.
As I said, my mother took us brought us to the theater and I was expecting an interesting, but ultimately forgettable movie.
Instead, I had one of the most transportive film experiences of my entire life.
When the end credits began to roll, it was like coming up for oxygen after three hours. The power of that movie made me forget that I was even sitting in a movie theater. And I wasn't the only one. Everyone in the theater was riveted to their seats. No one wanted to move or talk. It felt almost sacrilegious to break the silence.
So what is it about this movie that makes it so powerful?
Again, I don't know that I will be able to convey what this movie is in this simple blog post. But I will try.
Spielberg draws you in with a simple family praying the Kaddish, which glorifies God but is also a traditional Jewish prayer for mourning. As we saw in Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg is letting you know that we are about to tread on hallowed ground. Before he undertakes to take us on the story, he invokes God in prayer to truly capture the magnitude of what is about the happen.
Here is also where he does a reverse Wizard of Oz, by transporting us from our present world of color to a world of black and white. The use of black and white does a number of important things. The first is that it gives us a feel for the fact that we are watching something of history. Another thing it does is that it creates a buffer to the gore we are about to witness. It is a small psychological veil that makes the horror feel shocking and tragic rather than gross. The final thing that it does is that it highlights the power of the actors' performances.
The introduction of Schindler is brilliant. We learn who he is without seeing his face. He is a man of fancy clothes and expensive tastes and a sympathizer to the Reich. When we do see him, you can watch his predatory gaze as he stalks his prey, either for economic or pleasurable gains. The lavish charm and luxury is juxtaposed to the suffering of the Jews in the Krakow Ghetto. Once again, Spielberg speaks volumes with his camera. When Schindler visits the Judenrat, the council of Jewish elders, Spielberg tracks as Schindler walks past hundreds of waiting Jews and skips to the front of the line for his own ends.
The first part of the film almost lulls you into thinking that this movie will be only and intersting drama about the early days of the Holocaust. But you can feel the shocking change when the one-armed Jewish man is summarily executed. Spielberg sends a shock down your spine and lets you know that he is not going to shield you from the horror of the Holocaust through any artistic trickery. He wants you to feel the senseless violence thrust upon his people. I remember being in that theater when Amon Goth says very coldly to one of his officers: "Shoot her." Goth says this far away from the camera with his back facing us. He is not acting out of dramatic anger. But in that same shot we see the shock on the prisoner's face. Spielberg holds the camera here, not letting you escape from this horrible moment, forcing you to watch it as if you were one of the witness.
I will not continue catalogue all of the violence in the film, but it is one of the bloodiest movies I have ever seen. Throughout the movie, you never feel safe for anyone. And all the while we see Schindler slowly change.
Spielberg expertly shows us the transition Schindler makes. He is intentionally blind to the suffering of the Jewish people. But in one of the most talked about moments in the entire film, Schindler watches the liquidation of the Jewish Ghetto, but keeps his eyes on a little girl in a red coat. Spielberg brings us sharply into Schindler's point of view by giving us the one dash of color. He cannot look away and it gets to him.
To illustrate his change, we have a shot composition that some say is the greatest things he ever shot, and I might agree. While someone is trying to convince him to save her parents, Schindler looks out a window onto his factory floor. His reflection comes back to him. And right over where his heart is, you can see the furnace fire blazing. So much is going on in this shot: Schindler is looking out over his slave labor like a king, but his reflection is one of sadness as he finally really sees their suffering, so his heart is being stirred into a flame. In the next scene we get Schindler's first real conscious steps to helping others along with a tender version of the theme.
I have to take a moment here to talk about John Williams' score. It is unlike anything else in his catalogue of music. It is heartbreakingly delicate with its melancholy strings that move the heart to sadness with the inclines of hope beyond. Spielberg knows exactly how to use Williams' power and when to hold back. This might be Spielberg's most reserved use of film score, but one of his best.
From a technical point of view, every single shot is a masterpiece of framing, lighting, and composition. He knows when to use a smooth and lyrical pan or when to give you the jarring chaos of a handheld camera. Spielberg not only gives you the incredibly large and complicated shots, but he brings his full power to a simple scene of two men sitting across a desk from each other, their eyes covered in shadow.
But the technical is subservient to the emotional. Spielberg wants you to feel as deeply about this story as he does. Some have accused Spielberg's style of being sentimental and emotionally manipulative. You do not get that with Schindler's List. In fact, he does something incredibly brave and odd: by draining so much sentiment from the movie, it makes moments of real sentiment stand stronger. For example, Schindler and Stern have a strange symbiotic, but semi-antagonistic relationship. Throughout the film, Schindler offers Stern a drink, but he always refuses. But when Stern understands that they are all to be sent to Auschwitz, Schindler says that they will get a drink when all of this ends. Ben Kingsley (playing Stern), shows such incredible potency by keeping his usual serene expression but unable to hold the overflowing tears from his eyes as he says, "I think I better have that drink now." The meaning of that moment, both for his relationship with Schindler and for his acceptance of death is made powerful with wonderful restraint.
There is so much that Spielberg does with Zaillian's script that has set up and pay off. Whenever the list makers show up, something truly horrible happens. The Germans were horribly efficient at their evil. You can see the dread that occurs whenever one of the Jewish people see the list makers being prepared. But when Schindler makes his list, you can feel the utter reversal of this. So much so that when Stern says, "The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf," you feel exactly what he means.
Spielberg gets some of the best performances from any of his movies. Liam Neeson has never been better than here. Ralph Fiennes embodies the evil of the Reich perfectly. Ben Kingsley plays Stern as a man of utter competence with no ego. Embeth Davidtz should have won an Oscar as the terrified maid Helen Hirsch. All of the supporting cast is fantastic, disappearing into their roles in order to make you forget they are acting.
Neeson gives the performance of a lifetime with his final scene. His cool veneer finally cracks completely. Spielberg is brave enough to show you that Schindler is living in a kind of hell because his conscience was awakened. Before he was blind to all of the evil. Now, he is forever haunted by all the good he failed to do. Schindler cannot even find joy in the lives that he saved; his conscience will not let him. Spielberg shows us the truth: that the road to righteousness will break your heart of stone. But you intuitively understand, and Spielberg has shown you throughout this journey, that the hell of a good man is infinitely better than the heaven of a wicked one.
Had the movie ended there, it might still be considered his greatest movie. But then Spielberg does something so intense that it defies my poor attempt at description: he makes the movie real.
Spielberg breaks his own spell and throws you into the light of day to let you know that he has not been telling you a distant tale. The story is true. Once again doing a reverse Wizard of Oz, Spielberg returns us to the real world, but instead of turning the story we saw into a powerful dream, we bring the story into our waking mind.
The last four minutes take us to the grave where the real Schindler is buried. Spielberg assembled all the remaining "Schindler Jews" and their families. Each of the survivors walked side-by-side with the actor who played them as they paid their respects to the man who saved so many. Seeing them walk together, Spielberg helps you make the transference from movie to reality. We see the real-life people who lived the Holocaust. The story is now incarnated in a way that no movie I have ever seen has done. Spielberg uses this time to solidify the bonds between the history and the audience.
The movie embodies the mantra of "Never Forget" because Spielberg has given you an experience that is unforgettable.
The film ends with a dedication to the 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.
As I wrote above, this was Spielberg's most personal movie at the time and he had no expectations of it being a hit. On a budget of $22 million, the film went on to gross over $322 million, making nearly 15x its budget back. Audiences came to see it because it not only told a powerful story of the Jewish people, but also a universal story about kindness in a world of cruelty. It went on the win 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Score, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and also gave Spielberg his first Best Director Oscar.
Awards and accolades aside, Schindler's List is an experience like no other. I have seen it in the theaters six times and I have gained something new every time. It is the first movie that moved me to uncontrollable tears. It will forever remain in my heart because it does what only the best art can do.
Schindler's List is a movie of unspeakable beauty, unvarnished evil, and sacrificial heroism that makes you want to be the best person you can be.
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