If you’re used to watching 90 minutes movies then Schindler’s List is one that you really need to clear your schedule for because its runtime is 3 hours and 15 minutes. As someone who was not into historical nonfiction, this movie made me more opened to that genre as a whole.
This movie is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a man who used his power as an industrialist to save hundreds of Jews from dying in the Holocaust. The movie starts with Schindler at a Nazi party setting his willingness to swim with the sharks to save people from the horrible things that would come. Then you will follow the building anxiety of the European Jews as their lives change in the early stages of the Holocaust. Liam Neeson portrays Oskar as a man who struggles to hide his good intentions even around though he cares about.
The whole film is in black and white except for few striking details shown in color to increase their significance. This choice of Steven Spielberg gave the movie the bleak tone needed to convey his message to his audience, there was nothing to distract the audience from the raw realities shown. This made the cold winters colder, the deaths more cruel, and the emotions more vivid which makes the fact that the movie is based on reality even more chilling to its audience.
This film not only conveys the panic of the Jewish people but also the life of someone who chose to stand up to the Nazis in the height of their power. It serves as both a warning for history not to repeat itself and a reminder that good people exist.
You should check it out whether or not you like historical nonfiction.
