Schindler's List (1993)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Thomas Keneally (book)
Steven Zaillian (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

Plot:

Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them.

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Businessman | Death | Jewish | Holocaust

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 65 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Liam Neeson	...	Oskar Schindler
Ben Kingsley	...	Itzhak Stern
Ralph Fiennes	...	Amon Goeth
Caroline Goodall	...	Emilie Schindler
Jonathan Sagall	...	Poldek Pfefferberg (as Jonathan Sagalle)
Embeth Davidtz	...	Helen Hirsch
Malgoscha Gebel	...	Wiktoria Klonowska
Shmuel Levy	...	Wilek Chilowicz (as Shmulik Levy)
Mark Ivanir	...	Marcel Goldberg
Béatrice Macola	...	Ingrid
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Julian Scherner
Friedrich von Thun	...	Rolf Czurda
Krzysztof Luft	...	Herman Toffel
Harry Nehring	...	Leo John
Norbert Weisser	...	Albert Hujar

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and actuality violence.

Runtime:

195 min | Turkey:185 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | German | Polish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-13 (re-rating) | Finland:K-14 (original rating) | Malaysia:18PL (re-rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | New Zealand:M | India:A | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Israel:PG | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Poland

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Steven Spielberg's resolve to make the film became complete when studio executives asked him why he didn't simply make a donation of some sort rather than wasting everyone's time and money on a depressing film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): (German version only) When Schindler and Goeth argue about the disposition of Helen Hirsch, we hear Goeth spelling the name of Auschwitz incorrectly, he says "Aus-schwitz". This is a mistake often heard in German public as people indeed seem to confuse the name of Auschwitz with "Ausschwitz" (where "ausschwitzen" actually is a German term that means "to exude").

Quotes:

[first lines]
[a Hebrew prayer is chanted, followed by a flashback to 1940s Poland]
Krakow registrar: Name?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

GUTE NACHT MUTTER

A perfect film

To sum up Spielberg's masterwork in one word is a nearly impossible task, but I have come to the conclusion that Schindler's List is perfect. Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler is truly great in recreating the role of a modern day Moses. Making this film all the more compelling is John Williams' perfectly composed original musical score. This film deserves all the awards bestowed upon it, especially best picture by the National Board of Review and the Academy and the Academy Award for best director Steven Spielberg. It deserves all these awards and more. Schindler's List is a film that everyone should see and appreciate to its fullest extent. Spielberg will remain an immortal filmmaker through the work he put into this film.