SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
“The list is life!” Schindler’s List is the most remarkable and harrowing film in modern cinema history. That such a potent film about the Holocaust should have been made by a Hollywood director is startling: that it was directed by Steven Spielberg, the master of escapism, is nothing short of miraculous.
Based on the Booker prizewinning novel by Thomas Kenneally, this is the story of German industrialist Oskar Schindler who, at the beginning of the war, made untold profits exploiting the new-found availability of cheap Jewish labour, yet by the end was ultimately responsible for rescuing 1,100 Jews from the jaws of the gas chamber.
For three hours and fifteen minutes, Spielberg recounts the tale of this complex and extraordinary man. In so doing, he presents a mainstream audience with an unprecedented glimpse at the unspeakable horrors that accompanied what the Nazis euphemistically termed The Final Solution. 10pm, Friday, RTE2.