Analysis Of The Film Schindler's List

It is the film Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg where this historical drama has taught me that it is in the state of survival that we are able to fully understand the values of oneself and others. Spielberg created such a vivid story geared towards the millions of lives lost, to give them a voice and to remind the rest of the world to never forget the tragic events that unfolded during these harsh times. Throughout the film strong ideas of tradition and change were portrayed under the theme of what we see emerging while surviving.

The importance of carrying on tradition, of being able to pass them on and keeping them alive was well expressed during the scene where a Jewish couple were holding a marriage ceremony along with many

During the early stages of the film Oskar is expressed as womanizer and war profiteer with the sole interest of making money, we essentially see him as a member of the Nazi Party and not much more than that. It is over a long journey that Oskar realizes his factory is the only thing keeping his Jewish workers from a brutal death at the concentration camps. I believe Oskar goes through a pivotal change during the scene when a woman walks into his factory and begs for Oskar to rescue her family. It is at this moment where Oskar sees this Jews as people and not just his workers anymore. Once he comes to this realization and is faced with the drive to survive, Oskar emerges as a hero, an unlikely savior for thousands of Jewish

This was well demonstrated during one of the beginning scenes where the members of the Nazi party are making lists of every citizen that identifies as a Jew. They were using typewriters and the camera was fixated on the typing of each name. There is a similar scene later in the film where Oskar is dictating names as Stern types them. The camera angle is once again fixated on all these Jewish names. These two scenes consisting of written word are very similar in description however substantially different in context. Hitler’s list and Schindler’s list, in other words one is a list of death, the other a list of life. As Stern says, “The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.” as opposed to the Hitler’s list representing an absolute evil. The use of written word effectively demonstrates the emergence of liberation in a time of despair with the contrast of these two lists. It is in this scene where it is finally clear to the audience that Oskar Schindler is a