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Schindler’s List (1993)

Director: Steven Spielberg Cinematographer: Janusz Kamiński
Schindler's List (1993) on IMDb

The film that finally earned Spielberg an Academy Award for best director, follows Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German entrepreneur, who, during the Holocaust, finds himself developing a moral conscience while running an operation to supply the Nazi war effort. This leads to him unexpectedly saving the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees. The film features stunning black and white photography, an emotive score and an almost unbearably brutal realism. Although accused by some as turning one of the most horrific episodes in human history into entertainment, the film also brought commercial titan Spielberg huge critical recognition and perhaps even helped to reconcile the long struggle between Hollywood’s artistic and moral aspirations and the need for box office success. It’s also notable for the tremendous and charismatic performance of Neeson that’s maybe even bettered by Ralph Fiennes’s chilling portrayal of the inhuman German camp commandant, Amon Goeth.

Buy or Rent (Watch Online)
4K Ultra HD + Digital [Blu-ray]
Soundtrack
25th Anniversary Bonus Edition (DVD)
Main Theme
Three Pieces from Schindler’s List: Violin and Piano
Steven Spielberg World War II DVD Collection: Saving Private Ryan [DVD] / Schindler’s List [DVD + Blu-ray] + 2 Bonus WWII Documentaries – Price For Peace / Shooting War

Lists:

CAST

  • Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler
  • Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern
  • Ralph Fiennes as Amon Göth

Fiennes was cast as the Nazi war criminal Amon Göth after Spielberg viewed his performances in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Spielberg said of Fiennes’ audition that “I saw sexual evil. It is all about subtlety: there were moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold.” Fiennes put on 28 pounds (13 kg) to play the role. He watched historic newsreels and talked to Holocaust survivors who knew Göth. In portraying him, Fiennes said “I got close to his pain. Inside him is a fractured, miserable human being. I feel split about him, sorry for him. He’s like some dirty, battered doll I was given and that I came to feel peculiarly attached to.” Fiennes looked so much like Göth in costume that when Mila Pfefferberg (a survivor of the events) met him, she trembled with fear.

  • Caroline Goodall as Emilie Schindler
  • Jonathan Sagall as Poldek Pfefferberg
  • Embeth Davidtz as Helen Hirsch
  • Małgorzata Gebel as Wiktoria Klonowska
  • Mark Ivanir as Marcel Goldberg
  • Beatrice Macola as Ingrid
  • Andrzej Seweryn as Julian Scherner
  • Friedrich von Thun as Rolf Czurda
  • Jerzy Nowak as Investor
  • Norbert Weisser as Albert Hujar
  • Anna Mucha as Danka Dresner
  • Adi Nitzan as Mila Pfefferberg
  • Piotr Polk as Leo Rosner
  • Rami Heuberger as Joseph Bau
  • Ezra Dagan as Rabbi Menasha Lewartow
  • Elina Löwensohn as Diana Reiter
  • Hans-Jörg Assmann as Julius Madritsch
  • Hans-Michael Rehberg as Rudolf Höß
  • Daniel Del Ponte as Josef Mengele
  • August Schmölzer as Dieter Reeder
  • Ludger Pistor as Josef Leipold
  • Oliwia Dąbrowska as the Girl in Red

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen, Branko Lustig
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Janusz Kamiński
Edited by Michael Kahn
Running time 195 minutes
Country United States
Language English

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