How bad is Schindler's List?

Question

How much does it get to you? And how graphic is the violence?

Answer 1

Actually, this is a very well done movie. Yes, it is difficult to watch by I feel it is important for everyone to see this film so they can understand how difficult it was for the Jews in the second world war. It was awful, it was not pretty. Therefore the movie is not pretty either. However, it does get the point across and it is brilliantly scripted and the storylines flow well together. The violence is no less or more then it was in the real day. If you ever get the chance visit one of the concentration camps over in Europe if you get over there. It'll definitely be a surreal experience and you can almost feel the pain and sorrow of those ghosts that still lurk there. The films they show before you take the tour are very graphic. There were many tearful and upset people in the one I went to. I went to Dachau, near Munich in Germany. It was the only one that never actually used the gas chamber; I didn't think I could handle any of the others. I'd have to say it left a profound effect upon me. There are no words to describe that horror. Lets hope we all learn and don't go there again.

Answer 2

To use 'bad' and Schindler's List in the same sentence is wrong on so many levels.

Thinking back on the movie, I don't really recall it being a particularly violent movie, although there are a couple scenes that are some what brutal. What's disturbing about the movie is watching the way people were treated. It's heartbreaking and painful at the same time. The Holocaust was probably humanity's darkest hour and, while troubling to watch, I think every person needs to see a movie like Schindler's List.

Answer 3

How bad? Rephrase that and don't ever ask a question like that again without phrasing it correctly; Schindler's List perhaps from all the holocaust films really shows what it was like, it is an epic film and should be watched by everybody.

Answer 4

Schindler's List is an excellent movie. It is very difficult to watch. Harrowing.

I don't easily cry. But I cried, at the very end.

There is one scene towards the end [SPOILER ALERT!] when Liam Neeson is saying, "I could have saved one more... I could have saved one more..." that I thought was overwrought and not believable. But that was one, small, poorly-done scene in a movie that is, in most other ways, perfect.

This and Sophie's Choice are two very good movies about the Holocaust.

Answer 5

Come on dude. It's the best holocaust movie ever. U know Spielberg is also Jewish and he wanted to reflect all the grief his accestors had to go through. the film being all black an white and just that little girl's coat being shown in colour... doesn't that mean anything. That really was the case with those poor people they were slaughtered and a nice German man, starting with a commercial intention that soon turned out to be humanity and affection he helped them. Maybe not all of tham but some and he made a difference for the ones he saved.

Answer 6

It is very good and i think unless you dont have a heart then it wont affect you. I mean all those people suffered cause some moron did not like jews. It is not that graphic i dont think it has been a while since i have seen it come of it is graphic though.

Answer 7

Justin H said it all.
Everyone should see the movie once.

Quote......George Santayana:
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Answer 8

graphic enough that you shouldn't let your kids watch it till at least 13 or so, then you should be there to explain things. there is strong language and full nudity.

Answer 9

I would say R rated. Found some links for you to check it out.

Schindler's List, a Steven Spielberg film, is a cinematic masterpiece that has become one of the most honored films of all time.

Winner of seven Academy Awards ®, including Best Picture and Best Director, it also won every major Best Picture award and an exceptional number of additional honors. Among them were seven British Academy Awards; the Best Picture Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Producers Guild, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Chicago, Boston and Dallas Film Critics; a Christopher Award; and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe Awards. Steven Spielberg was further honored with the Directors Guild of America Award.

The film presents the indelible true story of the enigmatic Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, womanizer, and war profiteer who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference, and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film, which also won Academy Awards ® for Screenplay, Cinematography, Music, Editing, and Art Direction, stars an acclaimed cast headed by Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle, and Embeth Davidtz.
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Schindler's List (1993)
reviewed by
Dragan Antulov

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SCHINDLER'S LIST
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 1999
Watching the news from Kosovo, we are again reminded that human beings can sink to the lowest levels of depravity. We are also reminded of the sad fact that people in general tend not to learn anything from history, nor do they know how to apply that knowledge properly. As a result, the last decade of this sad century, with the tragic events in former Yugoslavia, Caucasus or Central Africa, looks like nothing has changed, that the mankind is again in danger to be sucked into another vicious cycle of ethnic, religious and racial hatred. The only comfort is in the fact that the intolerance never managed to reach the levels of Holocaust.

Holocaust is the word most often associated with the World War Two. It was also the word that became almost universal synonym with the worst evil imaginable. Events like the Holocaust happened before, and, sadly, it would probably happen again, but the scope, magnitude and utter irrationality of the event is something quite unique. It shocked the contemporaries, who had been used to much lower standards of human conducts than us, and it still baffles many historians, philosophers, psychologists and other scholars. Holocaust also inspired numerous works of art.

Among those works of art, Hollywood also gave its contribution, which shouldn't surprise anyone due to the strength and influence of Jewish lobby within American motion picture industry. SCHINDLER'S LIST, "Oscar"-awarded 1993 film by Steven Spielberg, may not be the best among them, but it is definitely the best known.

The film is based on the book by Thomas Keneally, which described the fascinating true story about Oskar Schindler, one of the more unusual and perhaps a little bit brighter episodes in that darkest chapter of world history.

The film begins in 1939, after the conquest of Poland by German army. That country becomes anything but happy place for local Jews, who are forced to abandon their careers, property and homes and live in overcrowded ghettos, experiencing hunger, disease and utmost poverty.

Their situation is an excellent opportunity for Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), small-time German businessman from Sudeten region of former Czechoslovakia. He comes to Krakow and buys local factory with the money he had borrowed by local Jews, who got raw deal in the process. He employs local Jews as the cheapest labour force available, and begins making large amounts of money.

Unlike most of the other stories that inspired filmmakers, story of SCHINDLER'S LIST is an excellent opportunity for all those who want to have a broader perspective of the Holocaust, perspective that transcends simple formulas and simple explanations.

First of all, screenplay of book by Thomas Keneally and screenplay by Steve Zaillian are evading some popular myths. First of all, Holocaust, although ignited by Nazism, wasn't some unexplainable aberration that came to Europe out of blue; it was a nothing more than a case of old anti-semitism driven to extreme; and it wasn't uniquely Nazi nor German.

Second, as some newer examples may show, pure irrational hatred wasn't the sole motive - Holocaust was fine opportunity for many shady characters to fill their pocket. Protagonist of this film, who at beginning, wants to bleed Jews dry of their money, is a fine illustration of that, often overlooked, economic aspect of the Holocaust. What happened to Jews in WW2 Europe was heinous crime, but it was also good business for those who knew to use opportunity.

Perhaps that was the greatest quality of SCHINDLER'S LIST. It evades black-and-white characterisation and gives us a protagonist who is hardly example of virtue. His motives, as well as his moral alignment, gradually changes through time. At first he is nothing more than war profiteer - probably the slimiest category of all people we might see during the armed conflict. But in the same time, Liam Neeson portrays him with irresistible charm - the charm of the same magnitude that saved thousands of innocent people and brightened Schindler's reputation among critical historians. As movie gradually progresses, and Schindler transforms into good Samaritan, we are still left with the mystery - why did that character change. But, in the end, it didn't matter much to the people he had saved and who would always be grateful to him.

Actors were, however, outshined by director. Steven Spielberg made this film partially for personal reason, trying to finally come to grips with his own Jewish heritage. But it was also opportunity for him to improve his reputation of film artist, much tarnished with commercially successful, but artistically disappointing JURASSIC PARK. And that opportunity was exploited in almost every regard. Spielberg made film different from everything he had ever made and very few people would recognise his style. First of all, he used black and white photography by Janusz Kaminski, which was good choice. Most people associate Holocaust with black and white photographs, and by being monochromatic, SCHINDLER'S LIST became more realistic and thus more powerful. Another thing that distinguishes SCHINDLER'S LIST from previous Spielberg's work is the use of steadycams and constant movement of cameras that also provided more realism and brought viewer right in the middle of the story. Finally, unlike in all of his earlier films, Spielberg felt unrestricted with his reputation of family entertainer -

SCHINDLER'S LIST contains scenes of unimaginable atrocities, random violence and graphic bloodshed, as well as foul language and nudity. Considering the subject matter, such elements were necessary and many critics argued that Spielberg, by refusing to compromise on them, actually matured into real cinema artist.

However, even with such flaw, SCHINDLER'S LIST is a very good film, probably one of the best in 1990s. It is very good piece of cinema and those who are ready to spend three hours in front of the screen would be rewarded with powerful, thought-provoking piece of seventh art.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)
Review written on June 28th 1999
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax