Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Schindler's List

As Polish Jews are herded into the Krakow ghetto at the onset of World War II, a German entrepreneur and member of the Nazi Party (Liam Neeson) begins employing them as a source of cheap labor with the assistance of a Semitic accountant (Ben Kingsley). Increasingly, as his conscience is stimulated, he views his factory as a refuge from concentration camps and certain death and begins employing as many workers as possible while outwitting party officials, including a sadistic, mentally unstable commandant (Ralph Fiennes) whom he must keep in his corner. Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List is a triumph on every level, from its brilliant, graphic, empathetic script by Steven Zaillian (from Thomas Keneally), superlative, impeccably lit cinematography from Janusz Kaminski, and the performances from Neeson (one he’s never truly been able to live up to), Kingsley, and an absolutely frightening Fiennes.
**** out of ****