Schindler's List
Academy Award × 7·AFI #8·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
What critics thought
Almost universally hailed as a masterpiece by critics and audiences alike, the film draws its greatest praise for Spielberg's direction, the performances of its leads, and an unflinching moral clarity about the Holocaust. The serious dissent comes not from reviewers but from academics, who argue that the film's stark good-versus-evil framing lets ordinary perpetrators off the hook, that Jewish victims are reduced to a frightened backdrop, and that the final scenes tip into sentimentality that undermines what came before.
“brilliantly acted, written, directed, and seen”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“narrative boldness, visual audacity, and emotional directness”
Terrence Rafferty·The New Yorker
“staggering adaptation of Thomas Keneally's best-seller ... with such frenzied pacing that it looks and feels like nothing Hollywood has ever made before”
Leonard Maltin·Movie and Video Guide
“Spielberg shows a firm moral and emotional grasp of his material. The film is an outstanding achievement.”
John Gross·The New York Review of Books
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
DirectorSteven Spielberg
StarringLiam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
ComposerJohn Williams
Schindler's List
Academy Award × 7·AFI #8·National Film Registry
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
What critics thought
Almost universally hailed as a masterpiece by critics and audiences alike, the film draws its greatest praise for Spielberg's direction, the performances of its leads, and an unflinching moral clarity about the Holocaust. The serious dissent comes not from reviewers but from academics, who argue that the film's stark good-versus-evil framing lets ordinary perpetrators off the hook, that Jewish victims are reduced to a frightened backdrop, and that the final scenes tip into sentimentality that undermines what came before.
“brilliantly acted, written, directed, and seen”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“narrative boldness, visual audacity, and emotional directness”
Terrence Rafferty·The New Yorker
“staggering adaptation of Thomas Keneally's best-seller ... with such frenzied pacing that it looks and feels like nothing Hollywood has ever made before”
Leonard Maltin·Movie and Video Guide
“Spielberg shows a firm moral and emotional grasp of his material. The film is an outstanding achievement.”
John Gross·The New York Review of Books
Genres
Biography, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
DirectorSteven Spielberg
StarringLiam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
ComposerJohn Williams
Rent/Purchase