Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark was hardly an obscure book, having won the Booker Prize in the year of its publication, but the movie is on a whole different level; subsequent reprints of the book have even changed the title to match the film.
Spielberg made several changes from the source material; in particular, he exaggerated Schindler's journey from money-grubbingJerkass to hero. In the book and in real life, Schindler was trying to save as many Jews as possible almost from the moment the Final Solution was implemented. As early as 1942, he began making periodic trips to Budapest, in order to pass information on to Jewish organizations about what was happening in Poland and to bring back money for resistance groups.
During the Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto, one man in a white coat (most likely a pharmacist) drags his almost dead wife with him (at the 1:03:15 mark). A German soldier tells him to leave his wife since she is as good as dead. The pharmacist begs to take her with him, after which the soldier kills her. This could be interpreted as a cruel act by the soldier. On the other hand, the soldier might have done that to at least save the man. By dragging his wife, the pharmacist risks his own life as well, since the trigger happy SS soldiers probably do not like to be slowed down. By killing the woman, who was almost dead anyway, the soldier at least gave the man a chance to live. It also speaks for the soldier that he is actually talking in a normal tone to the pharmacist, instead of shouting like all the others do.
The Poles who show the cut-throat gesture to the Jews on the trains to Auschwitz. Usually this gets interpreted as a sign of evil satisfaction; on the other hand, those who watched Claude Lanzman's Shoah can see it differently. In that film, the Poles say they were very surprised with the passivity and acceptance with which the Jews allowed themselves to be shoved into the cattle cars and later the chambers, and the gesture was meant to warn the Jews they are going to be murdered, in hope they would at least try to retaliate against their oppressors.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: Goeth is so evil that many viewers might assume that he's a fictional character, that he's a Composite Character of some sort, or that his deeds are exaggerated. Unfortunately, this isn't true; if anything, his monstrousness is actually toned down. In Real Life, there's evidence that he personally killed at least five hundred people and caused the deaths of thousands more. In fact, his treatment of prisoners at Kraków-Płaszów was so horrific that his superiors eventually removed him from his position as commandant of the camp, and later had him sent to an insane asylum when they came to suspect that he was mentally ill. Yes: his treatment of prisoners was considered horrific even by the standards of the SS.
Angst Aversion: The film ranks high up on several "movies to watch once and never again" lists, and for good reason. It's tragic enough to know that it happened, but watching a recreation of what happened is too much to bear for some, especially Jews.
Mike Newell, the director of Four Weddings and a Funeral, felt guilty when he won Best Foreign Film at the 1995 César Awards (France's equivalent of the Academy Awards) instead of this film. That's right, the director who won an award felt this happened. To say nothing of what everyone else at the ceremony said.
Some people also feel that Liam Neeson losing the Globe and Oscar for Best Actor to Tom Hanks from Philadelphia is also this, though emphasis on some, as the latter was also near-universally acclaimed.
While not as regularly cited as the above omissions, a few critics (notably Gene Siskel) thought Embeth Davidtz was worthy of a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work as Helen Hirsch. In most years people would've cried foul, but because Anna Paquin's win was so monumentally significant, this omission has largely been overlooked.
Some also thought Ben Kingsley could've additionally been given a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Ralph Fiennes was also conspicuously missing from the Best Villain ballot at the MTV Movie Awards that year. It's especially glaring considering the T-Rex was on the ballot that year instead. He was nominated for Breakthrough Performance though.
Essentially: while there were many potential (or even overt) snubs, it didn't help Schindler's that '93 was packed to the rafters with good, also-deserving films.
Do we expect anything less from John Williams? He initially refused to do the film because he didn't think he was good enough. Spielberg's reply? "Anyone who is better is dead."
The title theme; the violin almost sounds like it's sobbing, wailing out its grief and pain at so much loss. Itzhak Perlman, the Jewish violinist who provided the theme, considered it to be the most important decision he ever made in his career. At first, he said he wasn't going to be involved in such a movie... and then he saw how well Spielberg did it.
Catharsis Factor: Schindler, against all odds, saves over 1,000 workers from being executed until he goes broke. When he starts sobbing down on thinking he could have saved more, the survivors let him know what they think: with a giant Cooldown Hug and Group Hug, as thanks for risking his life and livelihood for theirs. It's cathartic for Schindler as well, who can leave with dignity and knowing while he didn't rescue everyone, he made a difference.
Complete Monster: SS officer Amon Goeth is in charge of liquidating the Krakow Jewish ghetto, and is later in charge of the Plaszow concentration camp. When a Jewish forewoman protests the structure they are building is unsound, Goeth has her killed for raising her opinion, only to follow her instruction to improve the structure. Tormenting his prisoners for his amusement, Goeth shoots them from his quarters with a sniper rifle for sport; kills 25 in anger for one escaping; and laughs at the crying parents of children he sends off to the gas chambers. Subverting any chance at humanity he is given, when Oskar Schindler tries to convince him to show mercy, Goeth briefly considers sparing a Jewish boy who failed to clean spots from his bathtub before killing him; and finding himself attracted to a Jewish woman, decides to blame her for his own lust and savagely beats her.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While the film did well all over the world, Germans (understandably) liked the sympathetic portrayal of a German in a Holocaust movie that nevertheless did not flinch from the overall monstrosity of the Nazi regime and condemned its actions in no uncertain terms. There was an uproar the first time the film was to be broadcast on German television when the network announced that it would take two commercial breaks; in the end, the network agreed to show only one break, with only a few ads and a short newscast. Today, the film is always broadcast uncut with no breaks.
Indeed its first screening on American network television (February 23, 1997 on NBC) was done this way.
At least ironic in Hindsight. Goeth lectures his men before an Aktion.
Today is history. Today will be remembered. Years from now, the young will ask with wonder... about this day. Today is history, and you are part of it.
Another ironic in hindsight would be Schindler's "people will remember my name"-speech. The first part of it came true. The second part... Not so much. Bonus points for the word "here", as anyone who has been in Krakow after the movie was released will tell you.
A behind-the-scenes example is more straightforward; at one point Mel Gibson expressed interest in playing Schindler.
Another actor who failed to get the role of Schindler was Bruno Ganz, now best known for his memetic portrayal of Adolf Hitler in Downfall.
In this film, Ben Kingsley plays Itzhak Stern, Schindler's Jewish accountant. 25 years later, he plays SS officer Adolf Eichmann - also known as "the Architect of the Holocaust" - in Operation Finale.
Hype Backlash: It is VERY popular on review websites such as IMDb to bash this film for being cloying, melodramatic and unrealistic, or simply just too well liked. Extra points if it's being criticized by a Neo-Nazi or a Holocaust denier. In some ways, this is probably the ultimate movie to criticize if someone wants to make themselves look cool, smart, and nonconformist. (Not that there aren't people who genuinely dislike it, but there are many people who do it just for attention.)
Love to Hate: Amon Goeth is pure evil, but the fact that he's such a monster makes him a fascinatingly nightmarish and engaging villain, backed up by an incredible performance from Ralph Fiennes.
Magnificent Bastard: Oskar Schindler is a war profiteer who initially seeks to use the German occupation of Poland to swindle and enrich himself. With his incredible charisma and black market contacts, Schindler makes himself a good friend to the SS officers running Poland before blackmailing the dispossed Jews to provide the skills and capital to set up his own factory and using them as slave labor. Despite being a Nazi Party member, Schindler finds himself appalled by the genocide being carried out against the Jews, doing what little he can to help people and nearly succesfully manipulates Plaszow camp Kommandant Amon Goeth to resist his murderous urges. Throughout the war, Schindler always plans on going home a wealthy man and leave his workers to their fate, before finally deciding to give up his fortune and save 1,200 Jews by moving these "essential workers" to a second factory because he accepts that would be the human thing to do.
Documentary of the Amazon Warehouses. Explanation The brutal conditions of the Jews who are worked to death, tortured, humiliated and summarily executed have been compared to the working conditions of Amazon employees with morbid humor.
"Enough. I will hear no more of this Hebrew nonsense." Explaination The quote is said by Rameses II in The Prince of Egypt who was voiced by Ralph Fiennes, so the connection did not go amiss.
Moral Event Horizon: Goeth crosses this line within the first hour of the movie. He's definitely crossed it when he shoots prisoners for sport with a sniper rifle from his balcony.
No Yay: The Helen Hirsch/Amon Goeth subtext. He is the camp commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, a complete sociopath, and a sadistic mass murderer. She is one of the Jewish inmates, who was forced to become his maid. He secretly desires her even though he wants to see her people exterminated. At one point he nearly (creepily) comes on to her, but he decides to beat her up instead, blaming her for trying to "seduce" him. Some of the viewers think that his love for her could have redeemed him. This ignores the fact that he sees her more as property than as a human being.
Goeth: I would like so much to reach out to you and touch you in your loneliness. What would it be like, I wonder? What would be wrong with that? I realize that you are not a person in the strictest sense of the word, but, um, maybe you're right about that too. Maybe what's wrong, it's not us, it's this... I mean, when they compare you to vermin, to rodents and to lice. I just, uh, you make a good point. You make a very good point. Is this the face of a rat? Are these the eyes of a rat? "Hath not a Jew eyes?" I feel for you Helen. [leans forward to kiss her] No, I don't think so. You Jewish bitch, you nearly talked me into it, didn't you?
One-Scene Wonder: The girl in the red coat doesn't say a word, but the mere sight of her walking down the street amidst the ghetto's liquidation is a striking visual that greatly impacts the main character and the viewer. Same goes for her second and final scene as a corpse.
Paranoia Fuel: Because of the Nazis' gradually escalating efforts to exterminate the Jews, it means that there's very little keeping the Jewish characters from being killed at any moment. The worst example has to be when the women and children get shipped to Auschwitz instead of to Schindler's factory because of a typo...
Signature Scene: Certainly has many options, but the liquidation of the ghetto, the girl in the red coat, Schindler's guilt ridden breakdown and especially the mass burning of corpses will always stand out.
Squick: The scene of the children hiding in the latrines of the work camp.
Values Dissonance: For some people unfamiliar with Jewish customs, the Grave-Marking Scene in which the Schindler's Jews put stones over Schindler's grave is this, as they question why use rocks instead of something else (like flowers) and thus complain of characterizing the Jews as cheapskates. In reality of course, for Jewish tradition this is meant to be a tremendous sign of respect and reverence to a deceased person: unlike flowers, stones last forever, and thus symbolize eternal memory of the deceased. Thankfully, most viewers unfamiliar with Judaism are able to recognize the importance regardless.
Every single one of the Jewish people, since the target of the Holocaust was Jewish people in an attempt to completely wipe out their entire people. Others died too (Romani, Polish intellectuals, disabled and mentally impaired, Soviet POWs, queer people) but the Nazis themselves saw the Jewish people as the main target of their murder machinery. The fact that the Jews were the main target of the Holocaust has sometimes been obscured although it should not be.
Schindler put himself at great personal peril by going well out of his way to save as many Jewish people as he could and for his efforts he loses his fortune and has to go into exile. Not only that, but he can't even take pride in his incredible heroism, instead sobbing madly thinking of all the people he didn't save.
