~~ THIS LIST IS LIFE ~ OSCAR WINNER SCHINDLER'S LIST ~~

Brace yourself, this is not a feel good, popcorn & twizzler movie. This is a step back in time, to World War 2, to walk in the footsteps of the Nazis, the Jews, and those caught in the middle. Steven Spielberg of ET and Jurassic Park fame created a heartfelt masterpiece that will live forever in my heart.

With the haunting black & white choreography, it begins in taunting in the street of Orthodox Jews at the hands of SS officers, to the eviction of families out of the Jewish quarter of Krakow, and finally into the work camps and death camps that collectively portray a portion of the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust. You get angry when you see the harsh way they are treated, from being mocked to full out shooting sprees. This movie was filmed with only German and Jewish actors, with the exception of the main cast, as sort of a healing and authentic process at the request of Spielberg.

Filmed on location, and authentic in everything from the accents to the Nazi uniforms, Spielberg brings to life the past, showing both the monsterous and human side of German officers, and the fear and fight in the Jewish victims. The lengths people had to go through to survive the unimaginable will both anger you and pull the tears of redemption from your eyes.

The movie, filled with many actors, have three main characters that everyone else revolves around. Based on true account of Oskar Schindler, a Nazi supporter and profiteer of the war, the beautiful and talented Liam Neeson is brilliantly cast as the larger than life womanizing Oskar, who is somewhat of a savior in denial for at least 1,100 Jews who are forced into slave factories that Schindler himself talks the Nazis into opening for military profit. He has to schmooze the Nazis and not let his guard down as to what his real bottom line is...saving the Jews.

Izthak Stern is the humble accountant that serves both Schindler and his fellow Jews played by mild and GQ Sir Ben Kingsley in a unforgettable, humble, and inner strength performance that made me instantly fall in love with him. He is intelligent,soft spoken, and disassociated at times, who befriends Schindler in what eventually becomes a mutual unspoken brotherhood, a love that surpasses all of the war and heartache around them. There is one scene where Stern is accidentally placed on a deportation train, and Schindler furiously and passionately chases after the train, and threatens the Nazi soldiers to stop the train and get him off. Stern is his voice of reason, the angel on his shoulder, who opens his eyes to the beauty of life.

Amon Goeth is brought to life by the handsome and alluring Ralph Fiennes, and is the most complex character of the entire movie. He is arrogant, thinks that he is a Titan, if not a god in his own mind, and he has a "look" in his eyes, a "zone" he gets in, that makes the strongest impact in cinematic history. Perhaps I am biased as a severe Fiennes fan, but he is both chilling and amazing, which is not easy to do. Goeth uses Jews for target practice, and is impossible to please. He is at best mentally ill, and at worst a mass murderer. Yet, Fiennes brings out the humor, sensitivity, love, passion and conflict that Goeth deals with day in and day out. Fiennes was so powerful in his role, that he frightened a real life survivor of the Holocaust who met him on the set due to his resemblence of the real Amon Goeth. On location, he was mistaken for a real Nazi off the set.

This movie is long, but goes by fast because it is so well done. The cast is wonderful, the scenery authentic, and the story remarkable. The way Schindler bribes, and rebels undercover creates an intensity of resistance that allows him to play both hands of the same card. The acting is awesome, it earned well deserved oscars, and is a timeless classic. A must see for anyone who wants to pay tribute to the memory of those who lost their lives. There is language and nudity, and graphic violence. No child under 12 should watch this. Share this movie with someone you love.