1/5 Now let us take the time to look at some films that Spielberg fans should be watching
  by Purgatorio Infinito
instead of this trash:

25. Le Pont du Nord (1981, Jacques Rivette)
24. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959, Alain Resnais)
23. Stroszek (1977, Werner Herzog)
22. the Double Life of Veronique (1991, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
21. Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
20. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Edward Yang)
19. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini)
18. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
17. My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Hayao Miyazaki)
16. Fireworks (1997, Takeshi Kitano)
15. Johnny Guitar (1954, Nicholas Ray)
14. Monkey Business (1952, Howard Hawks)
13. The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover (1989, Peter Greenaway)
12. Andrei Rublev (1966, Andrei Tarkovsky)
11. City Lights (1931, Charles Chaplin)
10. Nazarin (1959, Luis Buñuel)
9. A City of Sadness (1989, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
8. Mouchette (1967, Robert Bresson)
7. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, Mikio Naruse)
6. Shoot the Piano Player (1960, Francois Truffaut)
5. the Grapes of Wrath (1940, John Ford)
4. Week End (1967, Jean-Luc Godard)
3. Napoleon (1927, Abel Gance)
2. Out 1, noli me tangere (1971, Jacques Rivette)
1. Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch)

5/5 Schindler's List
  by Terrie L. Yow (NC)
Schindler's List effectively captures on film, the depiction of one of the most horrific and unconscionable events of all time - the Holocaust. Even through one of the darkest eras in human history, there are those who lifted their hands in quiet, skillful defiance and offered a glimmer of hope and pockets of goodness that continue to reverberate from generation to generation. Oskar Schindler was one of those people.

Based on a true story and shot entirely in black and white, Stephen Spielberg shows his brilliance in directing this dark and moving classic starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, and Caroline Goodall.

The story begins with Oskar Schindler, a penniless Nazi, and his dream of making a fortune from cheap labor found in the Ghetto - a place where Polish Jews were exiled by Nazi Germany. There they were placed into poverty after being ripped from their homes and stripped of their possessions.

As time goes by, Oskar Schindler begins to see a different side of things and finds himself deeply affected by the unjust torment and murderous acts carried out against these innocent people. Incrementally and progressively, he steps out onto a path to save as many people as he can, but must find a way to avoid the cruel and unforgiving transgressions of the German army, else death will come to him as well.

Judaism is the central religion of the Jewish people. It is derived from Hebrew beliefs and practices set forth in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), also known to many Christians as the Old Testament. Their ancestry stems from the tribes of the Children of Israel. Being one of the oldest surviving monotheistic (one God) religions, Judaism considers divine covenants as their foundation. With a covenant being a contract between the Jewish people and God, many felt betrayed and abandoned during the Holocaust.

This film is equally inspiring and disturbing. Spielberg has accomplished another masterpiece and forever etched the tragic images into our minds, lest we shall never forget, and nor should we. This movie is highly recommended and should be viewed by all mature audiences everywhere. With great confidence, I can easily say Schindler's List is the best movie I hope to never see again.


5/5 A must see. Fabulous Movie
  by bamaroots
This is a film that will move you. It draws you in to the action on the screen so that you feel the emotions and the terror of the events unfolding before you. The opening music is hauntinglty beautiful. The story is heartbreaking and joyful. It shows you that one person can make a difference. And shows you the monstrosity of one man (Hitler) as well. The Voices From the List on the collector's edition is worth the cost of the DVD. These are survivors who worked in Schindler's factory. A first person account of what they witnessed.

5/5 A heartwrenching tale
  by Jocelyn A. Moon (Asheboro)
SPOILER ALERT - Don't read this if you don't want any spoilers!

This movie starts with a member of the SS party named Oskar Shindler. He has one purpose in life and that is to live richly. He takes advantage of the Jews lot in life under German rule to open a manufacturing facility.

This movie leaves nothing to the imagination and I suspect that is the way director Steven Spielberg wanted it. You see the coldness of it all. A man, and worker for Shindler, is shot in the head for having one arm. Shindler thinks of this more as a business man one worker lost and therefore one more to hire and train. It isn't until his workers are all driven to concentration camps that the reality of what is happening to the Jews really strikes Oskar.

The SS in this movie appear to have no heart. They don't view Jews as humans but rather as rodents. They think nothing of killing them, even the children. In the camps the Jews are humiliated by beatings and forced public nudity. They are shot "arbitrarily" as Oskar puts it. Such awful scenes led "some Jews to complain to God in anguish" (Fisher 275). Many Jews continued to hope for better times just as occured for the biblical Job. God allowed Satan to take everything from him, but he was rewarded for his suffering when God replaced everything. Their enduring hope was shown in the Jewish prayer recited in the beginning and end of the movie.

Throughout the movie Shindler moves to protect "his" Jews by listing them as "necessary workers". He tries through reasoning and cunning to save as many lives as possible even putting himself in harms way to do so. In the end Shindler saves 1000 Jews by enlisting them as workers. He allows and encourages them to engage in thier religious celebrations including allowing them to leave their jobs early on Friday to prepare for Passover. Passover is the Jewish Sabbath taking place "from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night, because the Jewish "day" begins with nightfall" (Fisher 277). Oskar's actions toward the end of this film show that some SS members did have a heart and that not all hopeful Jews would be let down.

Works Cited:
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions (7th Edition). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2007.


5/5 Schinlder's List. A Collaborative Effort.
  by Star Bux
Sometimes, what is sinful is not called a crime, and what is called
a crime is not a sin.

The rule of law implies the rule of force. Anti-semitism was lawful
in Nazi Germany. What is referred to as "the law" by the world, is
of men and not of God. And what the Bible says is The Law, the
world calls religion.

Religion is a word which appears in the Bible (KJV), and given
the context in which that word appears, we see that religion is
"how you choose to live": See, James 1:27, KJV.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the first Catholic President of the
United States, won a Pulitzer prize for his book, Profiles in
Courage, about politicians who refused to govern according to
a barometer called 'public opinion' but by the values they held
to be true. He also wrote another book titled, Why England Slept.

JFK is quoted to have said, Some see things the way they are
and ask, Why?, but I like to dream of the way things might have
been and ask, Why not?

Why did Catholic Germany sleep in the midst of Nazi Germany?
Were they told to just follow orders, and obey the ordinances?
Do not confuse legality with morality.

Sometimes, you have to break the law in order to do the right thing.
See, 1 Peter 2:20, KJV.

Oscar Schindler committed accounting fraud in order to save life.

All things are possible with God, so maybe the numbers a person
writes in a spreadsheet are true? What is a USEFUL falsehood?
Call not a USEFUL falsehood a lie, for Truth is in Love, and Love is
in Truth. Also, do you see a spreadsheet, or an example of abstract
art? Can a barcode be a tattoo, or vice-versa? Do not look upon
another as a resource to consume upon your carnal lusts, like a
cheeseburger.

You decide for yourself what is right, and what is wrong, but will
you decide correctly? Some seem to think that HONESTY means
getting the accounts to balance. No, honesty means saying what
you believe to be true. A person can be honest, but say that which
is false. Do not science teachers claim, honestly, that the earth is
a planet? It is relatively flat, with hills and valleys. Heaven is above,
hell is below, and the news stories concerning the lunar landing
and telecommunication satellites in a geosynchronous orbit, amount
to creative fiction. But what is called, anti-semitism, is a sad reality.

A lie is when you believe one thing, but say another. Who has been
made perfect in love? The Word of God is Truth. Be honest, but tell
the truth. Or don't speak at all. Will you trust in arithmetic? Jesus
fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Those were the numbers, 5, 2, and 5,000. But will you trust in
physics? For all things are possible with God. God is Love. You
need BOTH Truth AND Love.

I think every household in North America, and the rest of the English
speaking world ought to have a copy of this dvd, 'Schindler's List',
lest we forget. Of course, "willingness to pay" and "ability to pay" are
not the same thing. Which is what somebody tries to explain to Oscar
Schindler who is grief-stricken by the thought of maybe he did not
do enough, was not able to do more, because of a lack of funds.
Trust not in earthly riches. Or as others have said, It's the thought
(read, feeling) that counts. For that feeling is like a prayer. God can
do the rest. Imagine, what might a tree with beautiful thoughts and
feelings look like? For it is written in the Law of Moses that a tree that
bares fruit is not to be chopped down.

You need both Faith and Love. Trust not in earthly riches. Trust not
in coins, or bullets. For money might be refused, and bullets might not
hit their target. Coins, like bullets, are useful, but not needful. Like silver
bullets used to keep werewolves away, If you spend wisely, you might
be given more. Five loaves and two fish. Faith requires work, it seems.
Otherwise, everybody would be a tree, and not have to do anything but
pray. For example, why bother eating, for by faith hunger would no longer
exist? For God does not need man in order to get things done upon the
earth, but man is asked to participate, in order that he might learn how to
love. God is Love. And so people age, get sick, are weak, need help, or
are made strong, beautiful, or talented, so that they might lead. It is very
much like a dance. Choose wisely, your partner. To fall in love, per
chance, to stay. If everybody was the same, how would any know what
this means?: Thou shalt not covet. Do not confuse envy with jealousy.
For jealousy is about relationships, and envy is about earthly things,
such as a promotion to a higher rank.

One of the saddest things about this movie was seeing relationships
put on hold. Instead of "falling in love" and "raising children", many
are just trying to stay alive. Yet, even in that tribulation, they were
still being asked to do the same thing: To discern between good and
bad, and do the right thing. You will decide what is right and wrong
based on what you believe is good and bad. Consider then, what
might have been, and ask, why not.