This listing is for Schindler's List - Letterboxed Edition VHS Video Tape Liam Neeson Ben Kingsley. 

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

Directors: Steven Spielberg

Format: VHS

Rated: R - Restricted

Number of tapes: 2

Studio: Universal Studios

Run Time: 197 minutes 

Schindler’s List is a 1993 movie directed by Steven Spielberg. It is set in Poland between 1939 and 1945, and deals with the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews in Europe were subjected to a process that involved being gathered into ghettos, starved, forced to work without wages, hunted down, deported to camps, and systematically killed. The movie follows Oskar Schindler, a resourceful businessman and member of the Nazi party who bribes his way into opening a factory in Krakow. It seems that for the first part of the film, Schindler’s main concern is with his business’s success and the amount of money he is making. Later, though, his focus shifts to using his fortune to save as many Jewish lives as he can afford. Whether or not this was his plan all along is unclear. He seems attached to the workers in his factory, but in several instances he is reluctant to admit that his attachment is anything other than for the convenience of having trained workers. By the end of the film, Schindler shows shame for not having saved more Jews.

This movie, despite being in black and white, does not give a black and white account of the Holocaust. It is not a story of one side being good and the other being evil. Rather, every major character, whether a Nazi or a Jew, is made three-dimensional and realistic by their ability to have more than one role to play. Schindler, as we see throughout the film, is a businessman first and a savior second. He stays in the Nazi party’s good graces in order to further his economic aims, and he is not above bribing people to achieve his goals, but in the process he manages to save over a thousand Jews. Amon Goeth, who clearly deserves the punishment he received at the end of the film, was not portrayed as the stereotypical evil German. He did terrible things and was unjustifiably violent, but he also had his own struggles. Even Itzhak Stern, who forges documents to employ Jews who would otherwise be deemed “nonessential,” is as much an opportunist as Schindler. The film seeks to show the humanity of these characters rather than making them into stock characters. It is all well and good to read about the Holocaust in a textbook, to see the statistics of how many people were killed, or to read about the atrocities committed by Nazis, but it is more engaging and far more effecting in conveying a message to see it acted out in such a striking way.

This movie is well worth its three hours. It is painful to watch, but it is far better to feel pain than indifference. Schindler himself reminds one of Rick from Casablanca, with his general suave attitude and appearance of total control. He moves among the richest and finest company and, despite being married, has affairs with several women quite nonchalantly. The classiness and charm of Schindler’s life is contrasted by the chaos and fear of the Jewish experience. There is hardly any calmness in the scenes that involve Jewish interactions with Nazis. There is always the fear of being separated from one’s family, of being deemed not capable of working, or simply of being shot without mercy. This film also has a striking way of using music to portray Nazi control over Jews. Scenes where records or pianos are played are usually scenes where people are being sorted or killed, such as the scene in which the Nazi plays the piano while the ghetto is being sacked. Aside from its historical accuracy and it being based on a true story, the way the characters are humanized makes the story an accurate portrayal of the Holocaust. It is not sad or dramatic simply for the sake of being sad and dramatic. The intent of this film is not to entertain, but to tell a horrible story that needs to be told.

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