tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post6476992801539707801..comments2024-03-28T02:30:08.913-04:00Comments on Not Just Movies: Steven Spielberg: Schindler's ListJakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-48733241198380478692012-09-28T10:53:59.448-04:002012-09-28T10:53:59.448-04:00Ger aces for cool math games online free found at ...<a href="http://giogamer.com/" rel="nofollow">Ger aces for cool math games online free found at http://giogamer.com</a><br />http://giogamer.comhttp://giogamer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-54491624104845743942012-09-18T11:55:27.105-04:002012-09-18T11:55:27.105-04:00have just returned from a visit to Cracow and saw ...have just returned from a visit to Cracow and saw where the film was shot - have never been so moved in all my 60 years. richard lawrencenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-23793320268217905212011-03-16T21:06:05.660-04:002011-03-16T21:06:05.660-04:00Hehe, thanks Hatter, and thanks Jake. It's nic...Hehe, thanks Hatter, and thanks Jake. It's nice to be conversing once again about these heavily-criticized Spielberg masterworks from the 90's.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-29185673107441717402011-03-16T17:21:09.715-04:002011-03-16T17:21:09.715-04:00Hatter, you definitely have to read his own Schind...Hatter, you definitely have to read his own Schindler's List post. I went took another look at it after finishing mine and found even more to love about it. He's also got a phenomenal entry on Saving Private Ryan that makes me question my own indecisive view of that film.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-64211284955725568122011-03-16T17:10:10.203-04:002011-03-16T17:10:10.203-04:00@ Adam... Congrats - that has to be the fastest I&...@ Adam... Congrats - that has to be the fastest I've ever clicked to follow a person's blog based on a comment they left on someone else's blog.<br /><br />More eloquence in that comment than I see in some blogs' entire posts! Lookin' forward to reading more.Ryan McNeilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00440134802928893661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-67268720861028313402011-03-16T16:39:32.847-04:002011-03-16T16:39:32.847-04:00Man, I wish there were more reviews like this of S...Man, I wish there were more reviews like this of <i>Schindler's List</i> in the blogosophere. Jake, well done. Well done. I truly hope this is a start of many such examinations of the film by others--it's such a relief to finally read the review of another blogger who understands the movie thoroughly and is not afraid to confront the most hotly-debated sequences in the film.<br /><br />For one thing, I'm glad you addressed the shower sequence and every aspect of it. The sequence <i>does</i> work emotionally, and it is true to what the real women experienced and felt in that same situation. And the often-missed moment when they walk out unscathed and see the line of soon-to-be-gassed Jews descending into the barracks while the camera tilts up and reveals that smoke... I mean, Jesus Christ. That's an unforgettable reminder to the audience that the rescue of Schindler's Jews comes at an awful price.<br /><br />It's great that you've done so well a job of contrasting Schindler and Goeth here, too. Everybody claims that Goeth is a one-dimensional freak, but as you've stated here he's actually well-developed with a horribly tortured sexual evil consuming his mind. I think he has two revealing scenes in the film: the scene where he has to ponder over Schindler's "power" advice; and the scene at the end, when he and Schindler play a game of cards over Helen Hirsch while Goeth quivers that he's too afraid to let her go. Spielberg doesn't undermine Goeth's monstrosity, but he does make a noble attempt to examine him as a human being, just like you and me. Or Schindler, for that matter--in a sense, when it comes to women, they're both pretty much rapists, with Goeth making Helen his sexual slave and Schindler forcefully kissing the Jewish mother on his own friggin' birthday.<br /><br />The sequence where the Rabbi is nearly executed is curious. McBride's biography tries to make a case for the scene by suggesting that the Rabbi is "symbolically unkillable" (like Spzilman in <i>The Pianist</i>, perhaps). A lot of Jews, after all, managed to survived the Holocaust by enduring such absurd strokes of luck. There's another way of making a case for the scene, though: it's also in Thomas Keneally's book. And since Keneally claims his book is almost entirely based on fact, we might be able to assume that this incident actually took place. There was a Rabbi, he almost got shot by Goeth, and then Goeth's gun jammed. Maybe it's a <i>little</i> too much for Spieberg to have BOTH of Goeth's guns jam, but I don't know. I'd like to ask Keneally what really happened.<br /><br />Your criticism of Emile Schindler is valid--it's possible she could have gotten more credit. I'm not entirely convinced she's marginalized to a poor degree in the film--she takes Schindler to task for his infidelity, and at the end, although it's only hinted at, there's a scene (I can't remember the full details) where she comes to the factory and is shown around the factory so that she can assist to the proceedings. True, her role there isn't emphasized, but it's there at least. If I remember correctly, she also joins in easing the pain of Schindler's breakdown at the end (even though, in reality, this breakdown never actually took place).<br /><br />Like I said, I wish there were more discussions like this on <i>Schindler's List</i> in the blogosphere; I'm rather appalled at the film's ludicrous backlash. Ryan and I are working on a joint piece discussing the film that we tried to upload during the blogathon, but we couldn't get it finished in time. I'm not sure when we'll get it finished, but when we do I'll see if we can link to this review of yours.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-55473418434024635502011-03-14T14:38:28.263-04:002011-03-14T14:38:28.263-04:00Whats in a name in Jake? I will call you 'Jack...Whats in a name in Jake? I will call you 'Jack' instead of 'Jake' and we can call it quits :)Kushal Shahhttp://twitter.com/#!/KayKayShahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-7640458497931914122011-03-14T00:43:31.114-04:002011-03-14T00:43:31.114-04:00Hi Jake
Yes I agree.The point of movie was to hig...Hi Jake<br /><br />Yes I agree.The point of movie was to highlight the way humans can come together during crisis and how one man made a difference and was successful in saving some of Jews form those gruesome acts.point noted.I took it as an implicit assumption:)<br />I have seen most of movies you have written about on this blog.looking forward for healthy discussion.let me bookmark your blog for now:)Kushal Shahhttp://twitter.com/#!/KayKayShahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-74347867846015293682011-03-13T17:26:08.869-04:002011-03-13T17:26:08.869-04:00P.S. Apologies, Kushal, not Kushai. I didn't h...P.S. Apologies, Kushal, not Kushai. I didn't have my glasses on.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-57663059313528829132011-03-13T15:04:31.800-04:002011-03-13T15:04:31.800-04:00Hey Kushai,
I actually don't think the point...Hey Kushai, <br /><br />I actually don't think the point of the movie was to show how Jews suffered. It certainly has scenes of suffering -- that shot of a conveyor belt loading Jews into a bonfire as if moving concrete continues to make me shiver -- but I think Spielberg is instead looking to highlight the way humans can come together even when others lose their own humanity. Empire of the Sun showed that breakdown in order among the starving and selfish, but Spielberg does not spend much time here asking how and why the German people could let this happen. Apart from scattered shots -- that horrid girl shrieking "Goodbye, Jews!" over and over -- Spielberg limits the atrocity to the actual soldiers and focuses on how Stern and Schindler help others and how those they help aid each other.<br /><br />As for Emilie, I think they could have kept the film roughly the same length if they just incorporated her into existing scenes. Here, she's just mad that Oskar cheats on her and is glad at the end when he reforms. She could have been with him in some of his reflective moments. I don't mind artistic license, but it seems grossly unfair to turn her into a 2-D type instead of the great person she was, especially for a story that is partially hers.<br /><br />I have of course seen Night and Fog, which is, as you rightly say, superb. Taken with Shoah, I think the two are the best Holocaust docs out there.<br /><br />As for your last question, I believe I prefer The Pianist. Both films are masterful demonstrations of two masters' styles, but I think Polanski's own personal experience with the Holocaust makes it that much more personal. He, like Spielberg, is technically telling someone else's story, but you can tell that Szpilman's story is also his own.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-22021874611534416412011-03-13T14:40:44.839-04:002011-03-13T14:40:44.839-04:00Hi Jake,
First of all a very nice write up.A deta...Hi Jake,<br /><br />First of all a very nice write up.A detailed analysis of film.I watched Schindler's list 3 years back and while I was going through your article i felt that the movie is actualy being played in my mind<br />I agree that some parts or characters may be historically incorrect but then the primary focus of the film was to show holocaust,to show how Jews suffered,how nazi's screwed their lives,the hatred,their barbarism.<br /><br />The images of Holocaust will forever remain in mind.Now coming back to historical discrepancies one needs to understand that this movie was a mainstream cinema.so spielberg had to make sure that he doesn't loose out money on this one.Merely trying to provide footage to Emilie would have increased the duration of film.(the film is painstakingly long over 180 mins).so keeping commercial interests and "entertainment"(i know the morbidness shown in the film cant be called entertainment but I cant find a suitable word) value the role of Emilie had to be kept out.It would be very difficult to make a historically accurate mainstream film.<br /><br />Talking about Holocaust films there is a superb French Documentary "Nuit et brouillard"(Night and Fog).one of the most gruesome & hard hitting documentary I have ever seen.<br />Also,The other movies of a similar genre/type that immediately come to my mind is "The boy in stripped pyajamas"<br /><br />One question Jake:which one did you like the most:The pianist or Schindler's list?<br />More to Follow.Kushal Shahhttp://twitter.com/#!/KayKayShahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-4490054458296760702011-03-13T01:09:27.350-05:002011-03-13T01:09:27.350-05:00I've just been sitting on them for a month bec...I've just been sitting on them for a month because school kicked into overdrive. Also, I watched Schindler before Jurassic but since I'm doing a retrospective I wanted to post them in order. Now that I've got a light weekend I'm clearing the vaults, as it were so I can get back to a faster turnaround.<br /><br />And like I said to a friend, I always feel like I should hate Schindler's List on some vague principle, yet all those moments I'm "supposed" to resent work beautifully in context and they deepen the film in my opinion. Apart from the erasing of Emilie, the film really does honor its subject matter while still adding some style to the proceedings.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-69677086695394034482011-03-13T00:42:56.796-05:002011-03-13T00:42:56.796-05:00One of Spielberg's finest to be sure...and goo...One of Spielberg's finest to be sure...and good on ya for bringing up those debated scenes and techniques. To me they give the film texture, as opposed to playing for shock value or sentiment.<br /><br />Diggin' the Spielberg kick - any reason in particular for the back-to-back posts?Ryan McNeilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00440134802928893661noreply@blogger.com