Schindler´s List And Schindler's List

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In most cases, when both a film version and book version appear of the same title, the book version is far superior. Think The Hobbit, the Harry Potter series, nearly every Stephen King novel. But in the case of Schindler’s List, by Thomas Keneally and film by Steven Spielberg, the film exceeds the book. Why? Because cinematic techniques and visual symbolism enabled Spielberg to make creative choices that would be impossible to achieve in book form. Both the book and film present more-or-less the same story, based on true events, about a member of the Nazi party, who saves the lives of over 1,100 jews by employing them in his factory during World War II. The difference lies in how Keneally and Spielberg tell it. For example, in the first scene …show more content…

In the book, there’s a lot of description and backstory about the pin. As Keneally describes it: ”in the lapel of the dinner jacket -- a large ornamental gold-on-black enamel Swastika emerged from a fashionable apartment building.”(Keneally 13) It’s repeatedly zoomed in on throughout the movie and becomes a very powerful visual symbol. In both the movie and the book, the lapel pin represents Schindler’s maintaining of appearances and his public image, Both to be equally powerful. However, in the film, one can appreciate It’s subtlety, whereas in the book it is more bluntly …show more content…

Most notably, the movie is shot in black and white. Spielberg most likely chose this for several reasons. First of all, to show the time period. Black and white also represents bitterness and hopelessness of the Jews during the Holocaust. In other words, life without color. But black and white is also the “color” of “serious” cinema. Spielberg’s previous movies were Hollywood blockbusters, movies like ET, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park. Schindler’s List is not a Hollywood blockbuster. It’s a large budget film and features special effects, but it’s primary focus isn’t to entertain, but to educate, and to make you think. In the book, Keneally doesn’t have that option. Books are, by definition, in black and white. The fact that Spielberg chooses to use black and white is a creative

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