Schindler's List (1993)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Thomas Keneally (book)
Steven Zaillian (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

Plot:

Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them.

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Businessman | Death | Jewish | Holocaust

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 63 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Oskar Schindler
Ben Kingsley	...	Itzhak Stern
Ralph Fiennes	...	Amon Goeth
Caroline Goodall	...	Emilie Schindler
Jonathan Sagall	...	Poldek Pfefferberg (as Jonathan Sagalle)
Embeth Davidtz	...	Helen Hirsch
Malgoscha Gebel	...	Wiktoria Klonowska
Shmuel Levy	...	Wilek Chilowicz (as Shmulik Levy)
Mark Ivanir	...	Marcel Goldberg
Béatrice Macola	...	Ingrid
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Julian Scherner
Friedrich von Thun	...	Rolf Czurda
Krzysztof Luft	...	Herman Toffel
Harry Nehring	...	Leo John
Norbert Weisser	...	Albert Hujar

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and actuality violence.

Runtime:

195 min | Turkey:185 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | German | Polish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-13 (re-rating) | Finland:K-14 (original rating) | Malaysia:18PL (re-rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | New Zealand:M | India:A | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Israel:PG | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Poland

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

In October 1980, author Thomas Keneally was on his way back to Australia after a book signing when he stopped en route to the airport to buy a new briefcase in a Beverly Hills luggage shop owned by Leopold Pfefferberg - who had been one of the 1200 saved by Schindler. In the 50 minutes Keneally spent waiting for his credit card payment to clear, Pfefferberg persuaded him to go to the back room where the shopkeeper kept two cabinets filled with documents he had collected. Pfefferberg - who had told his story to every writer and producer who ever came into his store - eventually wore down Keneally's reluctance, and the writer chose to make the story into his next book.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the doctor goes into his secret stash of fine liquors, there seems to be a ray of light inside. How is that possible since it must be inside a wall?

Quotes:

[first lines]
[a Hebrew prayer is chanted, followed by a flashback to 1940s Poland]
Krakow registrar: Name?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Action: Dead Man Floating (#1.9)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

GUTE NACHT MUTTER

Audience Reaction

The first (and last) time I viewed this masterpiece in a theater, I could not help but notice the reaction of the audience upon their leaving. Some were crying or trying to hold back tears, some were stunned, some had completely blank faces, some showed signs of anger; but the overall atmosphere was one of utter silence. Never in the history of motion pictures has a film had such an emotional impact upon its constituents.