The best experience my high school (Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky) ever offered me, when I was a teenager, was a field trip to go see Schindler’s List. I remember going into the theater with a bunch of rowdy kids, sitting down, hearing snickers from some of my cohorts when small bits of trouble begin happening in the film. Then the snickering stopped as suddenly as it began. Complete silence fell over the group when a German Nazi nonchalantly shot a Jewish man in the head for having one-arm, as he was trying to depend his worth. The silence thickened when a Jewish woman, trying to help out Amon Goeth build the foundation of a barrack that would her house her people through WWII, gets a bullet in the head for being outspoken. Shortly after, Goeth tells his men to do what she says, as blood is spurting from her bullet wound as her body lay motionless in the snow of a Nazi concentration camp.
Imagine that reaction from teenagers. When is the last time you read that? Probably never.
Schindler’s List kept these kids silent, engaged, and most importantly aware. You see, dear readers, the holocaust wasn’t something that was fully explained to us as I was growing up as a Gen Xer. Maybe myself social studies teacher combed over it during a week’s worth of explanation about Nazis or World War II, but nothing in-depth. Nothing in the brutal truth sort of way. We all knew that Jewish people had suffered major loses because of World War II, but it was never fully explained how that happened. In an America where everything was ‘fine’ and we all were living the good life, the atrocities of war, especially on the Jewish community, weren’t a topic of conversation growing up.
Thank God for some teacher’s sensibility in high school for seeing the importance of Schindler’s List.
The mere existence of this film helped to paint the picture for not only me but other kids in my school. Schindler’s List laid it all out, never beat around the bush, rather told the story of Schindler’s Jews exactly how it happened. Spielberg honored his people by not pulling punches. Showing the world all the hardships Jewish prisoners had, the amount of family they lost, and the sincere lack of care for them from their German captives, who believed the Jewish were sub-human. It was a harsh reality that Spielberg help build for those folks, such as myself, needing to know and realize how bad it truly was for Jewish communities. A story that wasn’t good enough for a social studies book, rather only appropriate for visual experience. Without this film, we get small bits and pieces from documentaries, but never names with faces, which help to burn in the emotions and reality of the situation that the Jewish community suffered through, almost to the point of genocide. Schindler’s List was and is a film that was meant to not only inform but also to change audiences that experienced it. For me, the film expanded the world, its history, its successes, and its tragedies, and it most certainly made me remember that tyranny has no place in this world.
Schindler’s List also provided hope in the midst of all its darkness, which is another life lesson that makes it an invaluable piece of art. The film shows the complete transformation of its lead, Oskar Schindler from greedy war profiteer to an unlikely savior of 800 Jewish people, even going as far as giving up everything he had to save people he didn’t know existed until his eyes finally focused on what mattered. While I would like to say he is the main star of this film, and it would certainly be easy to label him as the hero, considering his contributions in the story, but he is merely a co-star to the struggling survivors he saved. The Jewish victims struggled to survive, they had to maintain their will to press on, and stay together to depend on each other to prevail through mounting tragedy. This is what makes them the quintessential heroes of this story.
All of the above makes this film important. From knowing the Jewish community’s struggle with genocide, the recognition of tyranny and the need for change, as well as the element of hope that keeps people alive in the face of death. These are the benefits from the story told within Schindler’s List. For that, I personally thank Steven Spielberg for teaching an 18-year old kid truth that was merely glossed over in passing. I certainly will never forget this film, even 25 years after seeing it. It’s a story I will listen to and pass on for generations of my children and their children.
4K
Absolutely stunning 4K. Universal Studios did a superb job of transferring this emotional journey to the best possible format available. Beautiful depth in picture and frightfully too close to the action with visual clarity. It helps quite a bit that the film is in black and white, but when color does come into play it’s simply stunning.
Special Features
Here are some highlights for this 4K release on the special features side of things:
– Schindler’s List: 25 Years Later
– Voices from the List
– USC SHOAH Foundation Story with Steven Spielberg
There are a ton more features from this release, but these really do stand out. The first feature gives retrospect about the film from the actors and director. The Voices and the USC SHOAH foundation story are equally as important and amazing.
Overall, just a superb release for this unforgettable film.
