The scenes in the film show another one of Spielberg’s strategies. During the Holocaust over 6 million Jews died horrifically. For us the audience to imagine the atrocities and hardship of such a huge group is next to impossible, so therefore Spielberg focuses on small groups and individuals to create a stronger impact and greater emotions among the viewers. Right the way through the film the camera focuses on small groups and individuals we constantly see throughout the film and get to recognise. We see this small fraction of Jews that were part of the Holocaust portray the hardships the whole of the Jewish community experienced through their characters. Constantly through the film we see people having their names typed and called out. We see photos of these people and during the end a road of tombstones to memorialise those who died. We therefore sympathise strongly with them, as they are no longer anonymous, alien and nameless. They are people worth something to their family and have importance. By focusing on individuals Spielberg personalises the tragedy and get his message across with greater impact.
Spielberg adds an extra touch of personalisation and heightens the emotion experienced by the viewers by showing violence as individual acts committed against other individuals. This is significant through the scene where Goeth is shown shooting Jews from his balcony as if they were unnecessary birds of prey for a beast with a full belly. Spielberg avoids showing scenes of gas chambers with hundreds of Jews dying in them (the most common way of killing the Jews in the Holocaust). These types of scenes wouldn’t just be that effective in achieving his objectives. By showing violence as individual acts committed against other individuals he makes it more shocking, confronting and deplorable. The audience receives this kind of violence as real and are affected emotionally. Most of the people that die in the film are the ones we already know and recognise because of Spielberg’s strategy of personalisation. When these people die a horrific and brutal death we feel for them. By personalising Spielberg also highlights the brutality of one person against another.
Spielberg further explores the idea of what a person is worth when in one of the scenes Schindler recalls names of all his workers as Stern types them to make a list of the Jewish workers they are trying to save. This shows that these people mean something to Schindler and that he must care for them, as he knows them all by name. This in turn emphasises on Schindler’s hero status due the heavy treatment of hollywoodisation. It is pretty significant that it is pretty much impossible to recall the names of 1100 workers and in reality it would have been done in a different way.
In the film it is arguable that Schindler is depicted as Indiana Jones and Spielberg himself makes it evident through his constant emphasis on Schindler’s hero status. It was quite noticeable that Schindler was taller and bigger then every else, this made him look superior to all the characters in the film. The cameras contributed to stressing this by continually shooting him from below and avoiding shooting him from above. In one of the scenes Schindler’s leads his Jewish workforce into the new factory. This stresses that he is the Moses of the modern world who saves the Jews by transporting them from the danger zone to his factory in Auschwitz.
Further emphasis on Schindler’s hero status is shed by the constant comparisons Spielberg draws between him and Goeth. Two of the most effective scenes that show this strategy of Schindler are the two scenes with Helena Hirsh in the basement. In these two scenes we see Schindler respond positively and Goeth negatively to the situation. Spielberg intention here is to lead us to compare Goeth and Schindler and realise the fact that they both come from the same background yet make different choices not only in this particular scene but throughout the film. Spielberg wants the audience to see the effect one person can have whether it is positive or negative. Throughout the film we see these comparisons, for example when two scenes are juxtaposed together where Schindler is picking a secretary and Goeth is picking a maid. Further comparisons are evident through the character of Goeth and Schindler. Goeth is shown urinating and sometimes badly dressed whereas Schindler is always immaculately dressed and never shown urinating or doing anything bad. The contrast between the two makes us fond of Schindler and therefore makes us feel strongly about the historical events.
Other comparisons are evident in general between the good and the “evil”. In the film the Nazis speak in German and all the Jews and Schindler speak in English. The film is in English and aimed at English understanding audience. We know English and know what the Jews and Schindler are saying, we know and understand them better and therefore can sympathise with them. On the other end of the spectrum the Nazi mostly speak and shout in German, especially when doing something bad or sinister such as burning Jewish bodies. German is an alien and strange language for the English speaking and understanding audience, we can’t understand what the Nazis are saying and only through their body language and the actions we reach the conclusion that they are evil and malevolent. The Nazis only speak in English when we need to know what it is been said or when they are swearing. They are frequently shown shouting, barking order and smoking to reinforce the idea that they are ill mannered and have no respect whereas the Jews and Schindler hardly ever shout or do something evil in the film.
Contrast between good and bad is also stressed through the use of colour and black and white. The film starts off with a colour scene in which candles are burning at a Jewish ceremony, this symbolises the good time and as the candles burn out suddenly everything turns into black and white. This shows the lack of hope and the descent into the dark and gloomy times of the holocaust. Although there are a few splashes of colours in the film, it only returns back when the holocaust is over and the rabbi lights the candles for Sabbath, this symbolises the return to the good times. The use of colour during the period of the Holocaust in the film would have distracted the viewers and directed their attention to the environments of the sets or to other things such as the many intimate scenes. We next see colour when Schindler is on top of the hill and spots a little adorable girl running through the ghetto which is been evacuated. The only bit of colour in the scene is her read coat. This symbolises the change in the attitude of Schindler. From this point in the film he is depicted as a noble man who tries to save the Jews, creates hope and does something optimistic instead of exploiting them.
The optimism and hope in the Jews is shown through scenes juxtaposed together. In one of the scene during the beginning a Jewish family is shown been stripped of their belongings and been moved into a horrible cramped Ghetto. One of the Jews says “it could be worse” on entering the horrid ghetto and it does get worse, this shows the hopefulness in them. On the other hand Schindler is shown in the same house he has acquainted saying “it couldn’t be better”. This highlights how the Jews were been taken advantage of and been stripped of their rights. Juxtaposing is also used to draw comparisons between the hardships of the Jews and the life of the Nazis on the easy lane. It is made use of to highlight the difference between Goeth and Schindler.
Spielberg makes us feel strongly about the Nazis and the historical events by raising the question, does one have to be cultured to be civilised. There is the scene of Goeth quoting Henry V’s “Today is history” speech. But there is a sense of irony in this; Henry V talked about defending his country and saving its people whereas Goeth is quoting the same speech to talk about a negative cause and killing the Jews. In doing so Schindler highlights the fact that even though the Nazis considered that they were making their society upper class, cultured and civilised by getting rid of the Jews and other groups (homosexuals and disabled for example) but in doing so they were been vicious and uncivilised. Other example of the uses of quotes from Shakespeare’s books that highlight that to be civilised you don’t necessarily need to cultured is the scene with Goeth and Helena Hirsh where Goeth quotes “Hath not Jew eyes” from the Merchant of Venice. This again is used in negative way, in Merchant of Venice it is said that Jews are no different from other people whereas Goeth argues that Helena Hirsh is not a person in the “strictest sense of the word”.
The music in the film, sometimes the part of the film further highlights the fact that to be civilised one doesn’t need to know Mozart or Beethoven and be cultured. This is pretty significant during the liquidation of the Ghetto when one of the Nazis is playing Mozart on the piano as the rest are killing the Jews and displaying inhumane behaviour. During any of the emotional and striking scenes the violin is played in the low notes in a sad tone. This builds up murky and depressing atmosphere and heightens our emotion. There is music sung by a children’s choir during the liquidation of the Ghetto. This depicts the Jews as child like, been vulnerable to the Germans and defenceless. We hear the children’s choir when the girl in the red coat is running through the crowd; this links the little girl to the music as well and highlights her innocence.
Spielberg highlights dramatic irony through Schindler’s character. Early on in the film Schindler says that he will be remembered for been a successful businessman and earning “steamer trunks” full of money. But he ends up been remembered for sacrificing his money to save the lives of 1100 Jews through whom he was planning to earn the money.
The use of the list and names is another one of Spielberg’s strategies implemented into the film that makes us the audience feel strongly about the historical events. The list in the film symbolise life and death. This is highlighted through phrases such as “The list is life” and “All around it lays the gulf”. The lists display the sheer scale of the Holocaust. We see thousands of people lining up at the Ghettos to register and having their names typed, gaze at thousands of faces and hear many names. The lists are signs of the apocalypse and re-birth. Get your name on one of them and you survive, have it on another and you die. This is significant when Stern is put on a train to be sent off to the death camp before Schindler saves him. This displays to us the little importance for Jewish life and the power of beliefs. This shows us how casual and random the killings were. The result of this is that the audience feels strongly for the Jews that die and is overwhelmed by the number of people that died.
The film influences the audience strongly by displaying the authenticity and tragedy of the Holocaust to them through the use of numerous strategies implemented into the film by Spielberg. These strategies heighten the emotions we experience and make us feel sympathetic towards the Jews. The documentary styling shown through captions and use of handheld cameras is one of many examples of the efforts made to make the film seem a true story and authentic. Spielberg’s story of the Holocaust has strong impact on us and steers our opinion in favour of the Jews that died in the Holocaust through the use of many technical and non-technical film making techniques and strategies. It is clearly displayed that one person can make a difference. By saving 1100 Jews Schindler ensured generation and displayed the sheer power of a sympathetic mind.
