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Schindler's List Essay

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Schindler's List The film Schindler's list directed by Steven Spielberg based on Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Arks tells the story of an entrepreneur and womaniser Oscar Schindler. Schindler uses the war to his gain by exploiting cheap Jewish labour to run his factory with dreams of earning "steamer trunks" full of money who with the twist of fate ends up saving the lives of 1100 Jews by bribing the Nazi with all his assets during one of the darkest period of history, the Holocaust. Although the film is based on a true story, it does get pampered with some Hollywood treatment to highlight Schindler's hero …show more content…

The captions also imply that the set locations are real and not created in a Hollywood studio. The use of black and whites also adds to Spielberg's objective of realism, as black and white is more reminiscent of the time of the Holocaust. He makes effective use of handheld cameras in a few of his scenes; this creates a sense of urgency and fear. This also conveys that the film is not a Hollywood studio made film and mesmerises the viewer into believing that the events are nothing but the sober reality. The documentary styling contributes to the intensity of the film and creates stronger emotions within the viewers by adding to their disbelief and horror.

Spielberg adds another dash of realism to the film by throwing in real historic footage to the mix. The most effective contribution to the realism and documentary styling is the genuine historic footage of the real Schindler Jews visiting Schindler's grave alongside the actors who played them in the film shown during the end. This suggests that the characters featured are not fictional and that the events in the film really took place. It stresses that these people really had families who cared for them and are of some significance to history.

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