Schindler's List

ERP season is once again right around the corner, which of course adds to more already overflowing list of worries... no, its not electronic road pricing (i dont drive >.<) but the wonder assignment which our loving english teachers have set for us.

Guess what! This year the teachers probably got lazy compiling the list, and decided that its so much easier just throwing in the names of a few awards, and let us find the books for ourselves, and so I settled on a not so mundane book - Schindler's list, or Schindler's ark, whichever you prefer.

As thrilling and emotionally charged as it is, one thing that could be said about the book is that it's long. Yes, over 400 pages, which around 30 lines a page. Wait, that's not long at all, you chide. I have read books over a thousand pages long, you boast. And my reply to you lit (or even lit ra) people shall be that my mind is simply mundane, capable only of synthesizing hard facts, or in other words sciences, not the glorious and mind-boggling literature with all its rhetoric, literary, linguistic devices, made specially to bamboozle the reader and make him aware of his own shortcomings.

So after reading the first 10 chapters, which were certainly rather entertaining yet slightly confusing with its many plots, subplots and details, I decided that my progress was rather slow, and at times like this, youtube comes to the rescue! So there I went to catch the movie, which was certainly much more suited for people of my literature ability.

One thing to say about the movie would be that it is really great and it really brings across the scary reality of the holocaust, at the same time fully showing what a big difference schindler made. There just wasnt any sense of: oh, this is just one of those politically correct videos informing us about what went on about the holocaust and how there were nice people. It was just so real, and the message trully sank in, which is probably the first time I have been deeply and grealy affected by a film.

I guess it was partly oskar schindler's imperfect (some may even call it flawed) character and personality, what with his many affairs and bribes, but at the end of the day, the images of the brutal massarces and uncontrollable terror on the part of the victims, that of oskar being moved to the verge of tears by the sadism and inhumane acts he witnessed, and that of him working with a vengeance to save 'his jews', were just so powerful. Coupled with the non-fiction nature of the film and the music, its no wonder why the film is rated as one of the best ever.

To those who will surely point out that the movie is R-rated, i shall first emphaize that the version i watched was censored so there wasnt the affair (you know what i mean) between schindler and his mistress. I mean sure, the movie is still violent, with the SS really acting with no mercy and shooting people at will, and often sadistically, but that was really what happened and teenagers should be allowed to view recreated scenes in my opinion, in order to understand and comprehend the full magnitude of what truly happened; the language used by the nazis is often very crude and vulgar too, but for it is for the same reason of remaining true to the atrocities committed during the holocaust; at some points the people do appear naked (the jews being marched into the 'decontamination chamber'/ gas chamber upon arrival at auschwitz) but really, those scenes again add to the grim mood of the movie.

So unless you are really someone who can be emotionally detached from such a moving film, you won't be roaring with sadistic laughter and indulging in your violent or sexual cravings during the movie. If so, you should really go and see a psychiatrist... >.<

Yeah so now after addressing concerns of those select few(you know who you are :P), i can finally conclude without controversy (i hope) that the movie was trully fantastic and one of the best i have and i will probably watch in my life. I mean, which other movie is so action packed and thrilling (like star wars, lotr, or harry potter for example), and yet so harrowing and moving.

Now its time to turn my attention proper to reading the book and completing the daunting task of ERP over this long break.