23rd MoFo Hall of Fame

Schindler's List

What to do with a film like Schindler's List, Steven Spielbergs best use of historical sentimentalism within the confines of an historical epic. Spielberg wanted to tell his Nazi film and to make it the most comprehensive Holocaust film done before or since...I think that he achieved but the film is also somewhat of a failure if we view the film as a biopic.

The insidious part of the film which you find out when you look into the story is Oskar Schindler may have had very little to do with his list. He was actually in jail during one of the nine lists that was made...so who's story is this really? Did we just get a propaganda piece and element of white knighting that to criticize would be anti-Semitic. We get a Hollywood version of a hero and everyone else who participated and did apparently most of the work is ignored, underwritten and faded into the background. Schindler himself might have made his decisions out of fear as the war was ended and Schindler...a Nazi who profited greatly from the war was in fear of the Russians killing him. They don't tell you that part of the story...we aren't given a warts and all version of the character and that feels like a problem for me in 2020.

Then again Spielberg creates a master class of cinema by building this Polish world and filling it with a collection of heartbreaking and powerful scenes. He captures the madness of the times with scene after scene where each of the anecdotes are pure brilliance. To me the star of the film is Ralph Fiennes Amon Goth who is afforded the opportunities to create a character that blends madness, cruelty and pathos. Goth is at times terrifying but also pitiful, you get somewhat of an idea that the man knows his life is going to end soon when the war ends. He is also in his camp awaiting his death stuck being given ridiculous orders that won't save his life.

The three hour runtime moves fairly unevenly...watching the film again I was surprised at how much I...ugh I don't want to say enjoy at how well made the first act of the story was. I think it a lot of ways the closing of the ghetto is the climax of the film as that is the point in the story that has the most suspense and feels like the strongest scenes. With the camp life being somewhat of a second lesser film to the first.

It's still an incredible film...that does have flaws complicated as they are.

I have to disagree that the film is sentimentalism. I was amazed at how little of Spielberg's patented sentimentalism made it into the film. Most of the acts of violence are handled in an austere manner. People are killed without a big build up of sympathy for them. There's little of the uber close ups or the heart tugging reaction shots that director's often used to evoke sympathy in a viewer.. Of course there's the innate sympathy that most viewers will feel when watching a helpless victim being coldly killed, but that sympathy would occur regardless of the director. I think it's easy to hang the sympathy card on every film that Spielberg has made, but it's not accurate.

Are you accusing a Jewish director of 'white knighting' a character?

It's easy to condemn any of the 100,000+ people who joined the Nazi party during it's initial phase back when it was just another political party. It wasn't until later that the Holocaust and other war crimes occurred. If this was the late 1930s and we were all German citizens a number of us would be ardent supporters of the Nazi party. It's easy to rewrite history in an internet article so that there was no 'good' Nazi's like Oskar Schindler. He might not have written each list but as an industrialist business owner the risk of saving those Jewish laborers was his...he risked being executed and was honored by Israel some years latter.

"when the legend becomes fact, print the legend"


Well the film certainly takes creative license with the story...the central issue that I have is the belief that Schindler was under investigation and had to little to do with the entire point of the film. That in reality Mietek Pemper and Itzhak Stern where the ones who organized and implemented the evacuation of the Polish jews. It seems like Pemper was practically omitted from the film and replaced with Schindler who was my understanding being held by the gestapo. Schindler himself credits those two and did until he died.


For me the central problem I have with the film is that's it's such a serious subject matter creating a somewhat false narrative leaves me with some complicated feelings. Did we just get glimpses of the real Schindler for the sake of creating a hero that was perhaps a bit more complicated.


Schindler being a good man is not up for debate in my eyes...he ran a factory and didn't kill his workers and tried to keep families in tact. He also funded the evacuation of the jews which is once again something he deserves credit for. You take the actions and work of a half dozen people and then you just credit it to one man...that makes me feel a little iffy about the story.

I have faith that Steven Spielberg, a well known director and a member of the Jewish community, would have taken great care not to grossly misrepresent something in his bio pic...As the particular topic is of great important to the Jewish people of the world...and any such gross misrepresentations would certainly come under scrutiny.

I have no doubt that like in all bio pics, some information that would've been interesting, is left out for the film's runtime sake. I believe that the thrust of the film was in good faith with the overall events of Schindler and the Jews he saved.

Im watching "The Fisher King". All I can say is Robin Williams is being Robin Williams..

Glowing with fun and originality, it's hard to find another film quite like Yellow Submarine. The first time I watched it, I was blown away by the stunning detail of every frame, and of course entranced by the great song numbers. This time, the magic wore off just a bit, but not much at all. It still remains a fascinating and one-of-a-kind film.

Of course, with a Beatles movie, what has to tie this all together is the music. In that sense, Yellow Submarine works perfectly. I love the usage of every number, and the addition of an orchestral score actually helps keep this cinematic. There is not a moment where either music isn't playing or odd sounds are going off. Again, it gets wearisome near the end, but perhaps only because I'm drained of all energy watching it.

The opening half hour is by far the best for me. The introduction, first to this magical world, and then to the Beatles themselves, is an absolute treat. The visuals in the city are probably my favorite in the movie (the "Eleanor Rigby" scene in particular), just because of how unique they are. In other parts of the movie, it often feels like its trying to be quirky for the sake of being quirky. Not here... it feels real but also dream-like. Amazing.

Of course, as I enjoy the film less, I actually enjoy the musical numbers more. We are treated to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "All You Need is Love", which as songs are pretty damn entertaining even without the need of visuals. Where it gets dicey for me mostly is in the middle (oh god, all those seas). It's the type of film where nothing and everything matters. If you look away for a second, you don't miss a plot point but you miss the energy the film is building up to. The portions in the middle feel the most energy-draining to me, and for that reason, the much better last third actually feels less fun. Again, I think this is something that could totally just be my problem, but at less than 90 minutes, Yellow Submarine still feels like... a lot.

In the end, however, it's absolutely thoroughly enjoyable. I can't believe I haven't checked out another Beatles film yet, but I've got to. It's always fun to revisit crazy classics like Yellow Submarine!

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An ex-shock jock Jack takes on an unusual friendship with a homeless man Parry, who he feels that he is responsible for the tragedy in his life, after a freak accident. Parry has delusions of the Red Knight of Arthurian Legend and the search for the Holy Grail. Along the way, Jack helps him find love with a woman he sees every day at the subway station. Just as Parry's life turns for the positive, his mental illness causes him to falls to pieces. Jack goes on that search for the Grail to help his friend's life turn for the best.

This film is about hope, dreams, love, homelessness, and mental illness. I had always known it had something to do with mental illness but never watched it nor had the desire. I'm not a fan of Jeff Bridges and only a fan of Robin Williams from his "Mork and Mindy" days. Robin Williams has always been a bit silly and chaotic and that is what he is in this film and Amanda Plummer has the same bit of silliness and chaoticness which makes them a perfect pair in this story.

Have I mentioned how angry I am that I was unable to join this? 😡
Stupid work ended OT one week after the deadline to join. Friggin conspiracy I tell ya.....
So many interesting films nominated here, many I have been interested in seeing for a good while.
The only 2 I was unaware of were Christiane F. And The Mummy aka the night of counting the years.
And they both look interesting.
Grrrrf

You can still watch the movies, review them, and join in on the conversations. You just can't nominate a movie and vote.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

I lost everything I wrote for Yellow Submarine. I am pretty annoyed. I will either angrily throw up something much shorter and of lesser quality or I'll wait a few more days to when I am less peeved and throw up something a little longer and of lesser quality.

That sucks, I hate when it happens.

Ouch. I've had that happen a few times. Sorry, man.

My new air conditioner is supposed to be installed today so I should be able to get more watched this week.

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That's really rough. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.

Were you writing the whole thing here on the site? I always type mine in a word processor so I can constantly save it, then just copy+paste it when I'm ready to make the post.

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Unfortunately I won't be watching this three times in the hopes that it'll change my mind. Sorry Hashtag.

Wow! I think Miss Vicky's reviewing style has finally rubbed off on you Cosmic I don't think I've seen you write such a spicy review! I might have to rethink my plans to nominate the other four Beatles films, ha!...Totally cool of course that you didn't like it. BTW, I hated D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation too, such a boring & stupid film.

Don't forget racist too! If the "heroes" of your film are the actual KKK I don't think you're allowed to act surprised when people say your film is problematic haha.

Yup definitely, I even made a thread about it:
I don't understand all the praise for The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Which sounds like an Ironpony thread, but nope it's mine.