FILM SOURCE : Schindler's List
FILM PLANS FOR WEEK OF MAY 1
Monday Class 05/01 : IN CLASS WRITING DAY to work on Seminar Written Reponse
Wednesday Class 05/03 : 75 minutes Film Watching
Thursday Class + Break 05/04 : 65 minutes
Friday Class + Break 05/05 : 55 minutes
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Schindler's List (1993) is Steven Spielberg's unexpected award-winning masterpiece - a profoundly shocking, unsparing, fact-based, three-hour long epic of the nightmarish Holocaust. [Italian-American catholic Martin Scorsese was originally slated to direct the film, but turned down the chance - claiming the film needed a director of Jewish descent - before turning it over to Spielberg.] Its documentary authenticity vividly re-creates a dark, frightening period during World War II, when Jews in Nazi-occupied Krakow were first dispossessed of their businesses and homes, then placed in ghettos and forced labor camps in Plaszow, and finally resettled in concentration camps for execution. The violence and brutality of their treatment in a series of matter-of-fact (and horrific) incidents is indelibly and brilliantly orchestrated.
Except for the bookends (its opening and closing scenes) and two other brief shots (the little girl in a red coat and candles burning with orange flames), the entire film in-between is shot in crisp black and white. The film is marvelous for the way in which it crafts its story without contrived, manipulative Hollywood-ish flourishes (often typical of other Spielberg films) - it is also skillfully rendered with overlapping dialogue, parallel editing, sharp and bold characterizations, contrasting compositions of the two main characters (Schindler and Goeth), cinematographic beauty detailing shadows and light with film-noirish tones, jerky hand-held cameras (cinema verite), a beautifully selected and composed musical score (including Itzhak Perlman's violin), and gripping performances.
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian was adapted from Thomas Keneally's 1982 biographic novel (Schindler's Ark), constructed by interviews with 50 Schindler survivors found in many nations, and other wartime associates of the title character, as well as other written testimonies and sources. Oskar Schindler was an enterprising, womanizing Nazi Sudeten-German industrialist/opportunist and war profiteer, who first exploited the cheap labor of Jewish/Polish workers in a successful enamelware factory (Deutsche Emailwaren Fabrik or D.E.F.), and eventually rescued more than one thousand of them from certain extinction in labor/death camps.
The unanimously-praised film with a modest budget of $23 million deservedly won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (the first for Spielberg), Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score (John Williams), Best Editing (Michael Kahn), and Best Art Direction. It also won nominations for two of its male leads: Best Actor (Liam Neeson) and Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Makeup. Other organizations including the British Academy Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Golden Globes, likewise honored the film. It was the first black/white film since The Apartment (1960) to win the Best Picture Academy Award, and the most commercially-successful B/W film in cinematic history.
Why are we watching this? Why are we not just watching the film version of The Kite Runner?
Schindler’s List is going to provide us with additional perspectives on our essential question: What responsibility do we have to act in the face of injustice? You will consider not only the decisions of the protagonist, Oscar Schindler, but also those of Jewish citizens and members of the Nazi regime.
This film is unflinching in its depiction of the treatment of the Jews. As a result, it is very emotionally challenging. If something makes you very uncomfortable, you may leave the room temporarily. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to limit interruptions (i.e. unnecessary bathroom breaks) so that we can have as cohesive a viewing experience as possible. You will have focus questions each day to think about before we start the film.
Over 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
This is the entire population of Washington (state), Massachusetts, or Indiana.
Monday Class 05/01 : IN CLASS WRITING DAY to work on Seminar Written Reponse
Wednesday Class 05/03 : 75 minutes Film Watching
Thursday Class + Break 05/04 : 65 minutes
Friday Class + Break 05/05 : 55 minutes
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Schindler's List (1993) is Steven Spielberg's unexpected award-winning masterpiece - a profoundly shocking, unsparing, fact-based, three-hour long epic of the nightmarish Holocaust. [Italian-American catholic Martin Scorsese was originally slated to direct the film, but turned down the chance - claiming the film needed a director of Jewish descent - before turning it over to Spielberg.] Its documentary authenticity vividly re-creates a dark, frightening period during World War II, when Jews in Nazi-occupied Krakow were first dispossessed of their businesses and homes, then placed in ghettos and forced labor camps in Plaszow, and finally resettled in concentration camps for execution. The violence and brutality of their treatment in a series of matter-of-fact (and horrific) incidents is indelibly and brilliantly orchestrated.
Except for the bookends (its opening and closing scenes) and two other brief shots (the little girl in a red coat and candles burning with orange flames), the entire film in-between is shot in crisp black and white. The film is marvelous for the way in which it crafts its story without contrived, manipulative Hollywood-ish flourishes (often typical of other Spielberg films) - it is also skillfully rendered with overlapping dialogue, parallel editing, sharp and bold characterizations, contrasting compositions of the two main characters (Schindler and Goeth), cinematographic beauty detailing shadows and light with film-noirish tones, jerky hand-held cameras (cinema verite), a beautifully selected and composed musical score (including Itzhak Perlman's violin), and gripping performances.
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian was adapted from Thomas Keneally's 1982 biographic novel (Schindler's Ark), constructed by interviews with 50 Schindler survivors found in many nations, and other wartime associates of the title character, as well as other written testimonies and sources. Oskar Schindler was an enterprising, womanizing Nazi Sudeten-German industrialist/opportunist and war profiteer, who first exploited the cheap labor of Jewish/Polish workers in a successful enamelware factory (Deutsche Emailwaren Fabrik or D.E.F.), and eventually rescued more than one thousand of them from certain extinction in labor/death camps.
The unanimously-praised film with a modest budget of $23 million deservedly won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (the first for Spielberg), Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score (John Williams), Best Editing (Michael Kahn), and Best Art Direction. It also won nominations for two of its male leads: Best Actor (Liam Neeson) and Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Makeup. Other organizations including the British Academy Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Golden Globes, likewise honored the film. It was the first black/white film since The Apartment (1960) to win the Best Picture Academy Award, and the most commercially-successful B/W film in cinematic history.
Why are we watching this? Why are we not just watching the film version of The Kite Runner?
Schindler’s List is going to provide us with additional perspectives on our essential question: What responsibility do we have to act in the face of injustice? You will consider not only the decisions of the protagonist, Oscar Schindler, but also those of Jewish citizens and members of the Nazi regime.
This film is unflinching in its depiction of the treatment of the Jews. As a result, it is very emotionally challenging. If something makes you very uncomfortable, you may leave the room temporarily. Otherwise, I’ll ask you to limit interruptions (i.e. unnecessary bathroom breaks) so that we can have as cohesive a viewing experience as possible. You will have focus questions each day to think about before we start the film.
Over 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
This is the entire population of Washington (state), Massachusetts, or Indiana.