Schindler, Goeth, and Stern: Individual vs. Community in Schindler’s List

•May 22, 2004 • 9 Comments

So, I watched Schindler’s List again yesterday, and now I’ve got to talk about it. Wonderful. The first real question is, where do you even think about starting? It is, in my opinion, a very powerful movie. I’m glad I was able to see it twice, because I think I needed that second viewing before I could really start processing anything.

In spite of this, a comprehensive review is out. Now, when you read this, you’ll think that that is just exactly what I tried to do . . . Trust me, it isn’t. The movie is over three hours long . . . there’s a ton that I left out.

What I tried to pay particular attention to the second time through was the development of Oskar Schindler himself. Who is he made out to be from the beginning? How are we shown this, over and over, in the opening hour or so? What key events lead him to a change of heart, and how do we see that manifesting itself? What is the real difference in his personality, if any, by the end of the movie?

In trying to catalogue this while I watched, a few other things intrigued me. First, there were the many parallels between Schindler and Amon Goeth . . . I wondered what it was that made them so different. Second, I was struck particularly by the character of Itzhak Stern. What is the key contrast between him and the other two?

This is going to be long . . . just so you know.
Continue reading ‘Schindler, Goeth, and Stern: Individual vs. Community in Schindler’s List‘

Posted in Scholarship

Summer Movielogue, 2004

•May 12, 2004 • Comments Off on Summer Movielogue, 2004

May 12 – August 30

# Title (Production Year) Rating% Date Watched — Review links, if any (*Title* denotes top ten movie of period)

1 *Schindler’s List* (1993) 100% 5/12/2004 — Post
2 The Birth of a Nation (1915) 89% 5/13/2004 — Post
3 The Taming of the Shrew (1967) 61% 5/13/2004 — Post
4 The Butterfly Effect (2004) 85% 5/13/2004 — Post
5 Citizen Kane (1941) 97% 5/14/2004 — Post
6 AntiTrust (2001) 72% 5/14/2004 — Post
7 The Hunt for Red October (1990) 84% 5/15/2004 — Post
8 Patriot Games (1992) 84% 5/16/2004 — Post
9 Casablanca 1942 98 5/17/2004
10 High Noon (1952) 93% 5/18/2004 — Post
11 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 96% 5/19/2004 — Post, 2
12 *The Seventh Seal* (1957) 100% 5/19/2004 — Post
13 Vertigo (1958) 100% 5/20/2004 — Post
14 The Majestic (2001) 91% 5/21/2004 — Post
15 Shrek 2 (2004) 74% 5/21/2004 — Post
16 Clear and Present Danger (1994) 87% 5/22/2004 — Post
17 The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) 82% 5/23/2004 — Post
18 The Truman Show (1998) 94% 5/24/2004 — Post
19 Troy 2004 84 5/25/2004
20 *Rear Window* (1954) 100% 5/26/2004 — Post
21 The Replacements 2000 14 5/27/2004
22 Gosford Park 2001 94 5/28/2004
23 The Italian Job 2003 79 5/29/2004
24 Gothika 2003 80 5/30/2004
25 A Man Apart 2003 20 5/31/2004
26 M 1931 88 6/1/2004
27 Chicago (2002) 94% 6/2/2004 — Post
28 Swordfish 2001 73 6/3/2004
29 The Man Who Wasn’t There 2001 94 6/4/2004
30 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 92 6/5/2004
31 American Graffiti 1973 88 6/6/2004
32 The Princess Bride 1987 94 6/7/2004
33 Hearts and Minds 1974 85 6/8/2004
34 Around the World in Eighty Days 1956 90 6/9/2004
35 Dead Ringer 1964 89 6/10/2004
36 The Importance of Being Earnest 2002 98 6/10/2004
37 Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie 2003 28 6/11/2004
38 The Ladykillers 2004 90 6/13/2004
39 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 2001 85 6/14/2004
40 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002 87 6/15/2004
41 Night and Fog (1955) 95% 6/17/2004 — Post
42 Harvey (1950) 94% 6/18/2004 — Post
43 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986 81 6/19/2004
44 Finding Forrester 2000 95 6/20/2004
45 Kung Fu 1972 57 6/20/2004
46 *Traffic* (2000) 99% 6/22/2004 — Post
47 Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 83 6/23/2004 — Post
48 The Sum of All Fears 2002 61 6/24/2004
49 Apocalypse Now 1979 98 6/25/2004
50 His Girl Friday 1940 89 6/26/2004 — Post
51 Grease 1978 65 6/29/2004
52 *Amadeus* (1984) 100% 6/29/2004 — Post
53 *A Passage to India* (1984) 99% 6/29/2004
54 Spider-Man 2002 89 6/30/2004
55 Secondhand Lions 2003 87 7/1/2004
56 The Shadow 1994 66 7/3/2004
57 The Phantom 1996 25 7/3/2004
58 The Quick and the Dead 1995 59 7/3/2004
59 A Walk in the Clouds 1995 50 7/3/2004
60 Big Fish 2003 97 7/3/2004
61 1776 1972 88 7/4/2004
62 Spider-Man 2 2004 90 7/5/2004
63 The Importance of Being Earnest 1952 41 7/5/2004
64 The Italian Job 1969 41 7/6/2004
65 The Alamo 2004 66 7/7/2004
66 Identity 2003 91 7/8/2004
67 Gangs of New York 2002 93 7/9/2004
68 The Manchurian Candidate 1962 94 7/10/2004
69 Muppets From Space 1999 65 7/11/2004
70 Wilde 1997 66 7/12/2004
71 Camelot 1967 73 7/13/2004
72 Cold Mountain 2003 96 7/14/2004
73 Back to the Future 1985 95 7/17/2004
74 Back to the Future Part II 1989 79 7/17/2004
75 Back to the Future Part III 1990 94 7/17/2004
76 Bandits 2001 82 7/17/2004
77 Gladiator 2000 97 7/18/2004
78 Atlantis: The Lost Empire 2001 74 7/18/2004
79 Donnie Darko 2001 95 7/19/2004
80 Psycho 1960 98 7/20/2004
81 Driving Miss Daisy 1989 92 7/20/2004
82 Wild Strawberries 1957 94 7/21/2004
83 Fight Club 1999 82 7/22/2004
84 The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit 2001 90 7/24/2004
85 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 96 7/25/2004 — Post
86 Battle Royale 2000 62 7/25/2004
87 The Bourne Identity 2002 92 7/26/2004
88 The Firm 1993 92 7/27/2004
89 Doctor Zhivago 1965 84 7/27/2004
90 Insomnia 2002 92 7/28/2004
91 The Bourne Supremacy 2004 80 7/29/2004
92 The Magdalene Sisters 2002 84 7/30/2004
93 The Chronicles of Riddick 2004 50 8/1/2004
94 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 90 8/2/2004
95 Pi 1998 85 8/2/2004
96 *The Last Emperor* (1987) 99% 8/3/2004 — Post, 2
97 Moulin Rouge 2001 91 8/3/2004
98 Don’t Say a Word 2001 71 8/4/2004
99 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003 98 8/7/2004
100 *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962) 100% 8/7/2004
101 The Matrix 1999 92 8/8/2004
102 The Matrix Reloaded 2003 84 8/8/2004
103 The Matrix Revolutions 2003 70 8/8/2004
104 Bend It Like Beckham 2002 94 8/9/2004
105 The Sandlot 1993 86 8/9/2004
106 Excalibur 1981 61 8/9/2004
107 The Big Clock 1948 86 8/10/2004
108 Roman Holiday 1953 81 8/10/2004
109 Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid 1982 90 8/10/2004
110 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 93 8/11/2004
111 Bernice Bobs Her Hair 1976 72 8/12/2004
112 Timeline 2003 86 8/13/2004
113 The Village 2004 86 8/15/2004
114 Hart’s War 2002 92 8/18/2004
115 Almost Heroes 1998 64 8/19/2004
116 My Fair Lady 1964 94 8/19/2004
117 Swimming Pool 2003 91 8/20/2004
118 Gigi (1958) 58% 8/20/2004 — Post
119 Dreamcatcher 2003 61 8/20/2004
120 Club Dread 2004 35 8/20/2004
121 Hannibal 2001 83 8/20/2004
122 Young Sherlock Holmes 1985 90 8/21/2004
123 The Phantom Menace (1999) 71% 8/21/2004 — Post, 2
124 Attack of the Clones (2002) 77% 8/21/2004 — Post, 2
125 Anatomy of a Murder 1959 96 8/21/2004
126 Star Wars (1977) 95% 8/22/2004 — Post, 2
127 The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 97% 8/22/2004 — Post
128 Return of the Jedi (1983) 91% 8/22/2004 — Post
129 A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1999 97 8/24/2004
130 Collateral 2004 93 8/25/2004
131 Ella Enchanted 2004 65 8/25/2004
132 Snatch 2000 88 8/27/2004
133 Equilibrium 2002 81 8/27/2004
134 The Horror of Party Beach 1964 4 8/28/2004
135 Spies Like Us 1985 83 8/29/2004
136 *The Graduate* (1967) 100% 8/30/2004
137 *Road to Perdition* (2002) 100% 8/30/2004

Posted in Movielogues

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