Lissa's Schindler's List

[varana]

OK, I'll get a lot of pepper for saying this, but I feel I need to say it anyway. Here we go:

First of all, I agree with you Lissa, this is a powerful, absolutely amazing movie. you've allready said all the good things that need to be said, so i won't say anymore, not being as eloquent as you are.

However...as I've mentioned before I have a real issue with Hollywood changing true stories to make them "fit" the audiences tastes. And here is what I've always felt is a real let down in Schindler's List; the speech Schindler gives before leaving his factory. You know, the emotional "I could have saved more" speech. This never happened! It may be a small thing, but seriously, it bugs me when things like that are added to a movie. somehow I feel like they are belittleing his great work when something so emotional is written into the story. Wasn't what Oscar Schindler really did enough? To me the movie would have been even better if it had ended with him ordering that every worker was to receive three meters of cloth, a bottle of vodka (great fas black market currency) and asking his workers to show their true spirits by NOT taking part in any looting. And then see Oscar Schindler leave after his Jewish workers leave.

I know a lot of you will disagree with me on this, I just feel it needs to be said. Please don't tak this as me saying it's not a good movie. it is a GREAT movie.

The whole Holocaust issue means a lot to me personally. Why? My maternal grandparents were true blood Rroma. Grandma spent WWII in "hiding" posing as a "normal, non-ethnical" child.

[Lissa]

Thanks!

Actually, it's funny, because normally I get a little green around the gills with historical accuracy as well, and that's one thing that doesn't phase me.

I think the reason it doesn't phase me is I can see Schindler thinking that at some point in his life afterwards. I don't know nearly enough about the man to know if he did or he didn't, but I can see where he would. To me, that scene is emotional because the magnitude of what he's done just hits him, and he can't quite deal with it. What they added, while maybe not historically accurate, is in character and believable at that moment, so I personally don't have a problem with it.

I'm not sure where I draw the line at historical accuracy in movies. I know nothing in Schindler's List bugs me, even the things I found out were inaccurate while writing this (like that it was Goldberg, not Stern, who helped Schindler put the list together- although I understand why Spielberg made that decision). Nothing in Amadeus bugs me, although I know there are a lot of inaccuracies there. For example, by all reports, Salieri and Mozart didn't have a competitive relationship (although the film gets around that neatly by most of it being in Salieri's mind, and he hides it). I know that Pearl Harbor drives me INSANE, because they took the deeds of real men and attributed them to (very boring) fictional characters.

I guess, for me, the line is "is there a reasonable rationaliztion that I can find quickly?" With Schindler's List- I can. Like I said, I can see Schindler actually feeling that at some point in his life. It fits for me. Salieri's competitiveness is (as mentioned) neatly hidden. I don't even have a problem with Titanic being made because they at least explained how these two were on a boat with a set passanger list. But yeah, personal taste and what you can tolerate.

And that's my contribution to the Black Hawk Down conversation I never added to.

[varana]

I didn't mind the whole Goldberg/ Stern thing. I guess I just felt this speech was too theatrical, and as allready stated, like it was somehow taking away magnitude of Schindler's great work. I had an image of Spielberg going "Hm...we need an ending that will really drive the fact home even to the dimmest audience member. Who can write some teardrop inducing speech?" I wouldn't actually have minded at all if the same speech had been done as an internal monologue after the Jews left the factory. That would tie in with your idea of this being something Schindler would think in hindsight.
I guess my real problem is that it's a bit too over the top, and doesn't quite fit with the somber mood of the rest of the movie.

In my humble opinion, this movie scores 9 out of 10. If that said speech had been cut, I'd give it a 10