Schindler’s List is perhaps the most graphic holocaust movie ever made. The purpose of this film is to show the world what the holocaust was really like for Jewish people. Spielberg, a jewish man himself, knew that if he were to make a movie about the holocaust, he would have to do it brilliantly and accurately. This is why he used actual survivors of the holocaust to play most of the Jewish people in his film. He had the children who experienced the Holocaust play their parents in the movie while the survivor’s children or grandchildren played their parents or grandparents. The casting for this film was done so well that when one of the survivors met Ralph Fiennes, she was trembling with fear because he reminded her so much of his character Amon Goeth.

Spielberg made sure every detail of this movie accurately represented how gruesome and tragic the holocaust was. In the beginning of the movie, you see soldiers making fun of a Jewish man’s payot or side curls. When the jews move to the ghettos, you see the little girl throwing stones at them yelling, “Goodbye Jews!” As the film progresses, things become more graphic. You see people being killed for stopping to tie their shoe. However, the audience does not just hear the gunshot and see that the gun was pointed to a jewish person. Spielberg shows the jewish person’s reaction to being shot; he shows the puddle of blood formed around the person’s head; he shows how all of the other jews are forced to keep walking and not be upset by this tragic spectacle; Spielberg shows what it was actually like to experience the holocaust from a jewish person’s perspective.

One thing that I loved that Spielberg did was how he showed how filthy and inhumane the ghettos were. He shows Schindler’s luxurious new home and then he shows the jewish family walking into the ghettos. Schindler is seen smiling, amazed at how beautiful the house is. The jewish family is in complete shock as they walk into their apartment. There’s a few families already living there; the apartment is overcrowded; their new “home” is filthy. Then the audience sees Schindler laying in his bed, smiling, saying to an officer, “it could not be better”. Right after he says that, the scene changes to the wife of the jewish family saying, “it could be worse.” That dramatic comparison happening simultaneously really showed the audience how unfair and inhumane the whole situation was. Imagine living in a nice home and then one day the government says this home isn’t your home anymore. They tell you that you have to live in this crappy apartment with three other families. And why might you ask? Because of your religion. Because of who you are.

I think Spielberg did a brilliant job directing this movie. I think it was wise of him to use a true story for this movie, because it really resonants with the audience that the events taking place actually happened. If the story wasn’t real, the audience may say, “oh well that didn’t really happen” or “oh it may have happened but probably not.” They won’t fully understand the meaning behind the movie. I like how Spielberg chose to have some parts of the movie in English and some parts in Polish or German. I think it helped make the audience feel what it was like to actually be there. I think Spielberg considered every detail of this film. He chose to do it in black and white instead of color because black and white helped establish the depressing tone of the movie. He made sure to have the actors use certain phrases in the movie to reveal how inhumane the situation was. Instead of the solider saying, “we do not need him”, he says “you’re not essential.” The negative connotation of the phrase makes the audience realize how the Nazis didn’t see the Jews as people. They saw them as equipment or materials. They saw them as things they can dispose of. How can a human being not be essential? How can someone rank someone as not essential? What qualifies as essential? Just the context of the phrase shows how grim the whole situation is. Every aspect of this movie had thought and purpose behind it. It truly is a masterpiece.