Poll Position: Schindler's List

I really was not surprised "Schindler's List" won the poll; it was by far one of the most talked about movies in any of my History classes and from my friends. I am a huge history nut and I did not hesitate on watching this movie again, it is such awesomeness. I kind of already gave away my feelings for this movie, and I don’t think there is much of a surprise anyways. But click more to find out why.

To start off, I always forget that Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler himself, I am not sure why but he is so damn good in this movie. He pulls off being a strict business man very well, and how he transitions into an amazing humanitarian is smooth as butter and perfect. But who I think gets shadowed by Liam is Ben Kingsley, who played Itzhak Stern, Oskar’s right hand man. He is a Jewish worker for Oskar and helps him with his book keepings and hiring of other Jewish workers. I might have a soft spot for Kingsley because he played Ghandi in "Ghandi (1982)" and loved him in that documentary. He plays the scared but noble right hand man perfect, the chemistry between Neeson and Kingsley is astonishing and I loved everything about the pair.

Oskar Schindler and Itzhak Stern

To move on, even though this is a documentary, the story behind this movie is staggering; I say this because it is so thought out and feel so epic. There are so many little things that happen in the movie that just builds on the main story and just makes it that much better. Even watching the movie the second time around, there was no shortage of me holding my breath or being on the edge of my sofa wondering what was going to happen next. To add on, the little symbolisms that are brought up in this movie, like the little girl in the red jacket, the movie being in black and white or even seeing the road ways paved in Jewish headstones, give the movie a dark and eerie message.

The last point I would like to make is that this movie is quite graphic. I know we have seen worse than what is shown in this documentary, but nothing that feels as real as Schindler’s List. I agree that Death Race showed a lot more blood and gore, but there were no emotions behind the kills and death. To see a man get separated from his wife and shot in front of her, there are no words to describe how dreadful that is. Also, the sense of desperation and helplessness that is felt throughout this movie is as strong if not stronger than the graphical killings. The atmosphere sets up a gloomy and dark moment whenever you see a slave worker. It is real dark and puts a shiver down your back.

To recap, I would love for everyone to see this movie, really puts words and ideas into images of how bad the Holocaust was. We take one day of the year to recognize the sacrifices that were made by our veterans to give us the freedom that we have, but surely that is not enough. If you have not seen it and even if you aren’t necessarily interested in history, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie. If not for the information, but at least for the story.