Schindler's List

I had never seen Schindler’s List before this assignment, and was very moved by the intensity of some of the scenes depicted throughout the film. I didn’t realize until after the film that it had actually been released in 1993, and believed it was a much older film due to the black and white editing.  Once I had realized this was intentional, I could appreciate it for what it was.  I felt that the use of black and white helped dramatically in setting a dreary and hopeless mood associated with the holocaust.  I was also very captivated with the realness of the murder scenes throughout the film.  Hearing and reading about these mindless killings during the holocaust had always been difficult for me to comprehend the shock and emotion that would come with witnessing such a horrendous act, but Spielberg depicts some of these tragedies very well in short subtle scenes where Nazi soldiers hesitate none to shooting a woman or child dead.  The special effects used are so convincing, even more so than modern movies, that these scenes are still very shocking to witness.    

            One thing that stuck out to me during the readings, which led me to notice during the film, were Schindler’s true reasons behind his actions throughout the duration of the war.  Critics bring up the fact that many decisions made in the beginning of the war that resulted in the saving of Jewish lives, were largely based on and factored around Schindler profiting.  Thankfully, as the movie concludes, it is made clear that his motives had in fact shifted from personal wealth to the well being of humanity.