Biography: Oskar Schindler

 

1908      28 April: Oskar Schindler was born in Zwittau (Svitavy, Czech Republic).

1928      Schindler married Emilie Pelzl, the daughter of a wealthy farmer.

1930-

1935      After closure of the paternal factory during the Great Depression

Schindler will director of a part in the Moravian Electrotechnical AG in

Brünn (Brno, Czech Republic).

1935-

1939      Schindler worked in the Office International / defence in the German counter-espionage in Moravian-Ostrau (Ostrava, Czech Republic) and Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland).

1939      Admission to the Nazi party.

            Schindler’s agent activity was betrayed and the Czech police arrested him. He was to sentence to death. The "dismantling of the residual Czech Republic" prevented the judgement.

               October: After the German invasion of Poland Schindler went to Krakow and bought the factory "record", a press and enamel factory, for           which he used Poland as a source for cheap labour recruits. "Email German factory" (DEF), the company produces tableware and cooking utensils for the army.

1940               More and more Jewish people worked for Schindler and he had good relations to important SS- people.

1942      Schindler fights for a better supply for his forced labourer and he was briefly

      arrested by the Gestapo

1943      Schindler opened his own concentration camp on his premises. He had to pay all and he had to bribe the SS.

1944      Because of the red army Schindler had to go to Brünnlitz (Brnìnec, Czech Republic) and he made a list with all names of those who worked in his factory. With these list all labourer came to Brünnlitz.

1945-

1949      Schindler and his wife lived in Konstanz and he wanted to begin a new enterprise but it collapsed.

1949      Emilie and Oskar Schindler immigrate to Argentina.

1957      Schindler came back without his wife and he tried a new begin again. But he couldn’t make money.

1965      Confirmation of the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit).

1967      Schindler was honoured by the Holocaust-memorial Yad Vashem/Jerusalem.

1968      Pope Paul IV. honoured Schindler for the rescue of about 1100 Jews.

1972      Apoplexy with lameness.

1974      Schindler died in Hildesheim. After a Catholic funeral service he was buried in Jerusalem.

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Spielberg

 

 

• Filmmaker, director and producer
• Born on December 18th, 1947, in Cincinnati,Ohio
• Grew up in a Jewish family
• In Arizona, where mostly everybody was Christian, he started to hide his Jewish identity
•  In the late 1960s he became one of the youngest television directors for Universal Pictures
• In 1972 a highly praised television film, Duel , brought him the opportunity to direct for the cinema
• Ten years later (in 1982) Spielberg founded his first film company „Amblin Entertainment“
• In 1986 he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• In 1994 Spielberg formed a new studio, Dreamworks SKG with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
• In 2004 Spielberg received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award and the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his work
• He also was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005
• Famous films he produced are: Jaws (1975), ET (1982), The Color Purple (1985),  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Peter Pan, Hook (1991),  Jurassic Park (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Schindler`s List (1993)

 

 

General facts about the film Schindlers list

 

l      When Steven Spielberg first visited Krakow, he finally decided to produce Schindler’s List

l      In 1992 he started his shooting of the film 

l      The script was written by Steven Zaillian in consideration of the novel „Schindler´s List“ (1982) by Thomas Keneally and the Interviews with contemporary witnesses, who where on the list of Schindler.

l      Spielberg disclaimed the cast of Hollywood-actors consciously, and staffed for the main roles Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as Amon Göth an Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern

l      The team of the cast consisted of people from Austria, Germany, Poland, Canada, Croatia, Great-Britain, Ireland, Israel and America

l      Spielberg filmed the movie in authentic locations

l      The movie was filmed in black and white except for 3 scenes.

l      The duration of the film is approximately 187 minutes (3 hours)

l      In December 1993 the US premiere took place at the Holocaust- Museum in Washington

l      Four month later was the Germany premiere at „Frankfurter Schauspielhaus“

l      Two month after the premiere, Schindler’s List had already 3.400.000 visitors at the cinemas in Germany and 7.500.000 in the US

l      In spring 1994 the film got 7 Awards in the categories of „Best Picture“, „Best Director“ (Steven Spielberg), „Best Screenplay“ (Steven Zaillian)), „Best Cinematography“ (Janusz Kaminsky)), „Best Editor“ (Michael Kahn), „Best Music“ and „Best Art Direction“

l      Particularly the press distinguished the political function of the film, which did not only reach a selected audience, but the populous and made history as a demonstrative process as well.

l      Furthermore the large attendance numbers of the film in Germany show the commercial success, both the emotional dismay and the sympathy of the audience for the ideal worth.

 

The effects of Schindler´s List for Spielberg

 

 

l      Huge reversal for Spielberg

l      After his previous defamation of his Jewish roots he returned to his religion

l      The Holocaust was always a very important theme for Spielberg, but he hesitated to produce the movie for a long time.

l      Just with the age of 46 he decided to altercate with the Jewish religion

l      In the interview with the German magazine „Spiegel“, Spielberg says that Schindler´s List is an excuse for his past and today he feels a shame about his shame in his childhood

l      After the movie various contemporary witnesses wanted to talk about their past with him.

l      In 1994 Spielberg founded the „Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation“

 

 

 Public response to the film in Germany

 

l      Before the premiere of Schindler´s List was shown in Germany, many statements and opinions were made by German critics, politicians, authors and filmmakers

l      On march the 3^rd there were no magazines or weekly papers, that did not talk about or evaluate the movie

l      But the main topic was not the movie, but the question how Germany deals with its past.

l      Also the upbraiding of anti-Semitism became more apparent.

l      In the end of April the phase of personal arguments stopped and the academic refurbishment of the media event began

 

 

 

  

 

 

Response in Germany

Film premiere:

-       A lot of famous German people (actors/actresses, Jewish intellectuals, politicians) were at the film premiere of Schindler’s List and gave a positive feedback. → Therefore, the film created the impression that you had to watch it.

 

 

Sales figures:

-       Two months later 3.400.000 people watched Schindler’s List in Germany.

-       The book was sold 90.000 copies as hardcover and 1.000.000 copies as a paperback (1982-1994: just 5.000 books sold).

-       In the end 6 million people came to see the film in German cinemas.

 

 

Positive and negative public response:

-       A positive response was the vast majority.

-       Schindler’s List was praised as a masterpiece and milestone of film history.

-       Newspapers reported about other survivors and reactions to the movie from German pupils.

-       “Schindler´s Jews” were searched and questioned. 

-       Articles were published that dealt with Steven Spielberg or Liam Neeson.  

 

-       But there were also some critics who spoke about the film in a negative way. (for example Sigrid Löffler or Willi Temper) 

 

 

First German Broadcasting:

-       The movie was shown on Pro7 (a private and commercial TV-Station). It was on Good Friday.

-       The movie was divided in two parts. Between the two parts you could watch the news, commercials and the name of the sponsor.

 

 

 

 

 

Film criticism in Germany

 

Critics in newspapers before Schindler´s List was shown in German cinemas:

-       When the film premiere started in the USA, many articles were published by journalists in Germany.

-       One of them was Jörg von Uthmann from Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung. He liked that the movie and especially that survivors moved close to Schindler´s grave. But he recognized disadvantages as well. He thought that the film would take too long, the score is too lovely and there are some Hollywood clichés in it.  

 

-       German critics quoted the euphoric statements made by American critics and their opinion that these (critics) hadn’t thought that Spielberg was able to make a film like this.  

-       German critics didn’t believe that Spielberg is capable of making a movie about Holocaust. → “Genocides are not a good film material; it doesn’t offer any movie stars and has no Happy End.” (Konrad Eges)

-       The reporting that described the reactions from American citizens towards this movie, aroused interest in German public.    

 

 

 

Positive film critics (after Schindler´s List was shown in German cinemas):

-       Georg Seeßlen felt a relief coming out of showing this movie; which meant to talk about fascism now and then.

 

-       “Schindler´s List” in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 1.3.1994 by Frank Schirmacher:

·      Spielberg’s movie gives an unexpected and new impression on all the documents.

·      “an appropriate presentation of the Third Reich and its crimes”

·      Spielberg made history visual.

·      Spielberg shows that art solves.   

 

American Critical Theory regarding Schindler’s List

 

From the American critical perspective there are four basic schools of thought when critiquing films like Schindler’s List:

 

Culture industry

The film turns the Shoah into something “‘for the sake of the audience recreation”

This school of thought deals with the issues of representing the Holocaust through a Hollywood production, and whether or not it is deplorable to commercialize the Holocaust in the manner. Additionally, Schindler’s List not only turns the Holocaust into a Hollywood blockbuster, but it runs the risk of  “Americanizing” the Holocaust, and taking precedence in the act of remembrance.

 

Narrative problems

Schindler is an extremely unlikely hero, although this is not particularly recognized in the film. The film attempts to represent the experience Holocaust completely, by showing all archetypal images of the Holocaust. However, it does not acknowledge how rare men like Schindler actually were. Placed within a classical Hollywood structure, Schindler emerges as a supreme patriarchal figure; capable of restoring order and a traditional family structure to those he saved. This is not necessarily the case.

 

Cinematic Subjectivity

Because the film is shown through the eyes of Germans, the viewer tends to identify with the Germans and not the Jews, even if this phenomenon occurs subconsciously. This results in one-sided Jewish figures and the identification of Jews as eternal victims. Additionally, the viewer is forced to identify with victimizers, even if it is a visual identification. Through this lens, we also see that the Jewish female becomes eroticized in the eyes of the German, and thus, in the viewer, and sexuality and violence become tied together. This is exemplified in the relationship between Goeth and Helen Hirsch, who is only depicted through either his eyes or Schindler’s. She becomes eroticized and connected with eroticized violence (Horowitz, 127).

 

Representation

The issue of representation centers on the limitations of filmic representation and the need to humble depictions of the Holocaust when “imagining the unimaginable”. Schindler’s List fails to do so, and depicts the Holocaust as though it were being shown in its entirety. It falls into the epic genre, which lends itself to false understandings of completeness. Uninformed viewers might think they have gained an adequate understanding of the Holocaust from this film and this film alone.

 

Understanding the Limitations:

Schindler’s List presents the viewer with a challenge, a challenge to separate image from reality, and to take the initiative to understand that Schindler’s List is not the Holocaust. Since the film itself does not recognize this fact, the viewer must resist the tendency to see Schindler’s List alone as an adequate tool for remembrance, but to use the film to spark discourse regarding the Holocaust. Film scholar, Naomi Mandel writes, “To speak Schindler’s List is to confront the complexity of our position as active participants in a comprehensible representation of the Holocaust (77).” The viewer must be aware of the limitations of representation, and continue to remind oneself of these limitations. Herein lies the challenge of active discourse, creating an interaction between the viewer and the image that does not presume total understanding.

 

Schindler’s List and Popular Culture

“I’m a better person as a result of seeing Schindler’s List”

-Oprah Winfrey

 

Wide Released/ Hollywood Blockbuster

• The film grossed $96.1 million in the United States, and over $321.2 million worldwide.
• The Vatican named Schindler’s List among the top 45 films ever made.
• Library of Congress (2004) labeled the film “culturally significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

 

Re-awakening the awareness of the Holocaust through Popular Culture/ Media

• Schindler’s List was the “jewel in the crown” in “the year of the Holocaust” aka 1993. The film confirmed the power that popular cinema holds in shaping collective memory and generating topics for public discussion.
• Sara Horowitz, author of  “But Is It Good for the Jews? Spielberg’s Schindler and the Aesthetics of Atrocity,” states, “By virtue of its popularity, Spielberg’s film may well be the one vehicle by which many Americans come to learn of the Holocaust.”
• “Schindler’s List has transcended its status as a movie and has become a monument. Just at a time when remembrance of the Holocaust was becoming institutionally established (the Washington museum had opened its doors eight months before the film’s premier), reviewers express a widespread anxiety about the fading of the event within the collective memory of present and future generations. National polls showing increasing ignorance of the Holocaust among Americans are pointed to, as is the passing of the survivors, whose testimony is the last living link to the tragedy. As a contribution to popular culture, it can only do good. Holocaust denial may or may not be a major problem in the future, but Holocaust ignorance, Holocaust forgetfulness, and Holocaust indifference are bound to be, and Schindler’s List is likely to do as much as any single work can to dispel them.” - claims John Gross in the New York Review of Books.

 

Schindler’s List as a Docudrama: a Visual Statement

• As a visual statement, Schindler’s List fits the potential of the docudrama: a narrative that presents historical events through its imaginative re-creation. With the docudrama, the audience is allowed to enter imaginatively into historical events in a way that is more revealing and intimate than may have been possible at the time they happened.
• Schindler’s List satisfies two docudrama standards

-Historical truthfulness

-The ability to do what other media cannot

• On the first point, as John Gross states in The New York Review of Books,  “Schindler’s List offers as truthful a picture as we are ever likely to get of regions where no documentary complication could hope to penetrate.”
• Robert Gataley also states, “The docudrama in the hands of a skilled director is able to evoke dimensions of the Holocaust that could not be communicated through history books, novels, plays, documentary films, or even eyewitness accounts. It is only in Spielberg’s hands that the potential of this new art form has so far been realized.”

 

 

 

 

Works Cited in Presentation:

 Beweis, Werner, Zur Realität des Imaginären. Steven Spielbergs Film Schindlers Liste, Wien, 1995

 

Hansen, Miriam Bratu. “Schindler’s List Is Not Shoah: Second Commandment, Popular  Modernism and Public Memory”, Spielberg’s Holocaust. Ed. Yosefa Loshitzky Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. 77-103.

 

 

Horowitz, Sarah R. “But Is It Good for the Jews?: Spielberg’s Schindler and the Aesthetics of the Atrocity”. Spielberg’s Holocaust. Ed. Yosefa Loshitzky Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. 119-137

 

Mandel, Naomi. “Speaking Schindler’s List”. Against the Unspeakable: Complicity, The Holocaust and Slavery in America. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006.  71-98

 

Mintz, Alan. Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America. University of Washington Press. London: 2001

 

 

 Thiele, Maria, Publizistische Kontroversen über den Holocaust im Film, Münster, 2001

 

http://www.anna-vision.de/dl/Filmanalyse%20Schindler.pdf