Schindler's List (1993)

In Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Thomas Keneally (book), Steven Zaillian (screenplay)

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes

Top 250 #8 | Won 7 Oscars. Another 70 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liam Neeson	...	Oskar Schindler
Ben Kingsley	...	Itzhak Stern
Ralph Fiennes	...	Amon Goeth
Caroline Goodall	...	Emilie Schindler
Jonathan Sagall	...	Poldek Pfefferberg (as Jonathan Sagalle)
Embeth Davidtz	...	Helen Hirsch
Malgorzata Gebel	...	Wiktoria Klonowska (as Malgoscha Gebel)
Shmuel Levy	...	Wilek Chilowicz (as Shmulik Levy)
Mark Ivanir	...	Marcel Goldberg
Béatrice Macola	...	Ingrid (as Beatrice Macola)
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Julian Scherner
Friedrich von Thun	...	Rolf Czurda (as Friedrich Von Thun)
Krzysztof Luft	...	Herman Toffel
Harry Nehring	...	Leo John
Norbert Weisser	...	Albert Hujar

Storyline

Oskar Schindler is a vainglorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who managed to save about 1100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. A testament for the good in all of us.

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Plot Keywords:

death | factory | nazi | holocaust | list | 

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Taglines:

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality and actuality violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Universal / CAC [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew German Polish

Release Date:

15 December 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

La lista de Schindler

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,234,591 (UK) (4 March 1994)

Gross:

£16,439,233 (UK) (17 June 1994)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

195 min 185 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the list scene, there was an exchange between Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) and Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) that goes as: Stern - "How many cigarettes do you smoke?" Schindler - "Too many". This exchange was taken directly from a real-life exchange between Edward the Duke of Windsor and his physician (Edward was asked the exact question) weeks before his death in 1972.

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Goofs

In the ammunition factory, Schindler approaches the rabbi working at a grinding machine from behind and asks him a question. The rabbi does not hear it, due to machine noise, so Schindler calls him a little louder. The rabbi then switches the machine off and answers the original question, which he did not hear and Schindler did not repeat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[a Hebrew prayer is chanted, followed by a flashback to 1940s Poland]
Krakow registrar: Name?

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Crazy Credits

The theatrical version juxtaposed images from the film of the actors portraying certain identified "Schindler Jews" as each actual person placed a stone on Schindler's grave. The VHS version does not use this device, showing only the actual persons, credited by name.

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Connections

Featured in Biography of the Millennium: 100 People - 1000 Years (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Oyf 'n Pripetshok"
(uncredited)
Composed by Mark Warschafsky
Performed by The Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir Tel-Aviv
Conducted by Ronit Shapira

User Reviews

A pure masterpiece

Schindler's List is not only a pure masterpiece but, for me, it is one of the greatest films ever made in the world.

The film starts off to reveal a womanizing, Nazi business man who profited off of slave labor. The Nazi business man is of course Oskar Schindler. Oskar is just like most men. He has a love for good wine, beautiful women, and pursues happiness through the success of his business. But on his journey to a successful business, millions of Jews were being killed during a time which most label as one of the darkest periods of human history. As Oskar made money, innocent people were being murdered. That's when the self-centered, often money hungry Oskar steps in and gives up his goal of having a successful business to save the lives of over 1,000 Jews.

This film is about redemption and was beautifully photographed in black and white by Janusz Kaminski (cinematographer). At the helm is no one other than Steven Spielberg, who brilliantly called non-pretentious shots and brought back to life a time and period most want to forget, but shouldn't. This film is a must see by me. I give the film an "A+" (wishing I could give it a higher grade than that) and a 10 out of 10...