Schindler’s List

Nearly ten years ago, my first trip to Europe included a visit to Dachau, a once functioning concentration camp, now a Holocaust memorial.  At that age, I had only read about the Holocaust in Eli Wiesel’s Night, The Diary of Anne Frank and our watered-down explanations in history books.  Walking into a place where you know some of the darkest hours of mankind have taken place is horribly indescribable.  Before exploring the grounds, I remember a large exhibit of photos of the camp during operation, many very graphic.  I tried not to show it, but there were moments where my stomach felt heavy, my head light and my legs were nothing but splintering toothpicks.  As I explored under a blue sky and healthy green trees in the distance, all I could see where those shades of gray photos.  The grounds were clear, incinerators clean of ash and memorials were inserted, but I could see what those places had once held.  I was standing where countless innocent people had been murdered and disposed of with no remorse.  Few experiences in my life have ever been so somber and left me with so many nightmares.  Schindler’s List is as close as I dare to get to reliving that visit to Dachau.

It’s amazing how Steven Spieldberg has the ability to finely tune into our emotions.  From the red-blooded excitement in Raiders of the Lost Ark to the wonder, magic and childhood fantasy of E.T.  And then there is the bleak sorrow and heavy burden of Schindler’s List, one of the few movies on this blog I will refuse to watch alone.  I put it off for two days, knowing the depressive state I would be in the day after.  It is upon me now, shoulders tense, brain fuzzy and eyes drooping over the mix of lack of sleep and nightmares.  I’m begging myself to drag these words out of me, put this film behind me and try not to dwell upon one of the most vile moments in humanity.

Ralph Fiennes plays Amon Goeth, one of the most shocking representations of a human being I’ve seen on film.  He’s an SS officer who lives in a mansion overlooking the work camp.  There he lives with his young Jewish maid, Helen (Embeth Davidtz), who rightly fears him.  It is disgusting how he enjoys killing.  In one scene, we see Amon shirtless, shooting any Jew still enough, like target practice, on his balcony.  Helen, who’s naked in the bed behind him is appalled, “Oh God, not again.”  When he’s had his fill of shooting, he strolls over to the toilet and takes a piss with the door wide open.  He has no descentcy in any sense.  In another scene, we’re shown how he will line men up and just start shooting every other man.

Personally, I would not be able to justify this film being in color.  In my visit to Dachau, I had never seen Schinder’s List and yet, I too was seeing a black and white world.  There are a few instances of color in the bulk of the film: the flame of a candle lit for the Sabath and a little girl wearing a red coat.  We see her when Oskar first witnesses Nazi’s ruthlessly murdering people in the ghetto.  This is happening all around the girl, yet she seems to stroll through innocently.  I’ve heard numerous ideas on the red girl’s symbolism and have read that she is based on a true story.  What I felt was that her fate was the shift in Oskar’s casually letting Jews work for him, to making sure to save as many as possible.

The thing I have to remember, is that while Schindler’s List holds nothing back when portraying the ruthless horrors of the holocaust, it is a story of hope and how one man gave and risked everything to save over a thousand lives.  Liam Neeson portrays Oskar Schindler, who in the film is has just as much intelligence as integrity.  He is a German businessman, a member of the Nazi party and a good man.  The end of the film, we are shown the surviving Schindlerjuden visiting Oskar’s grave and given statistics on how the people he saved have populated in comparison to Holocaust survivors in Poland.  The figures are astounding.

While I do not enjoy watching Schindler’s List, just as I didn’t enjoy visiting Dachau,  I feel that it is a good experience.  This is one of those films that every good human being should see.  The Holocaust cannot just be swept away and the least Spielberg could do to honor the memory of over six million victims is to make a movie about their story.  The least you can do is watch it.

“There will be generations because of what you did.”

The Remains of the Day

Think about the role of a good butler for a moment.  They are nearly silent, emotionless, promptly serving and constantly moving about but trying not to draw any attention.  You would hardly notice a good butler.  Mr. Stevens takes that a step further and focuses on his work so much, that he hardly notices what is going on around him.

In the early 1930’s Mr. James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is the head butler of an English mansion owned by Lord Darlington (James Fox).  At the beginning of the film, Stevens is looking for good servants to work with him, he writes to seeks out his old friend and colleague Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson).  He also hires his own father and makes sure Kenton distinguishes him as Mr. Steven’s Sr. (Peter Vaughan).  As the house prepares to hold an important international conference, Mr. Stevens must deal with his father’s deteriorating health by giving him less important duties.  When the conference has Lord Darlington sympathizing with the Nazi party, Kenton realizes the moral implications that her job could have and wishes for something more than a servant’s life.  Stevens, on the other hand, only blindly serves his employer, never really listening to the historical and political conversations around him, never cultivating his own ideas and never seeking anything further in life than to serve.

Would you believe that this is a love story?  Though I’m not much for romance, I was rather moved at how these emotions can come about in such a restrained manner.  The lazy viewer more used to flashy, overtly romantic films may not notice a bit of it.  It’s never spoken in plain words nor expressed in any embrace.  However, the mutual respect and tension between Miss Kenton and Mr. Stevens is impossible to dismiss.

The most intimate scene between Miss Kenton and Mr. Stevens is when she happens to walk in on him reading one  evening.  She asks what he is reading and he becomes defensive trying to hide the book, “This is my private time, you’re invading it.”  This peaks her curiosity, perhaps he’s reading something racy or romantic, she follows him until he is cornered by the window.  She’s pursued him in so many previous scenes only to have him flee in quiet terror of intimacy.  They are finally within inches of each other, the light is dim but perfectly shows their faces.  Stevens can’t keep his eyes off Keaton, his words politely say leave, but his eyes beg her to stay.  But in the end, Kenton’s dreams that he may be reading something interesting for pleasure are crushed when he simply says, “I read to further my education.”  This scene clearly represents why both Hopkins and Thompson were nominated for lead acting awards.

That is the main conflict in their relationship.  Kenton is able to dream, cultivate ideas and think for herself, while Stevens has only the ambition to serve.  She can never quite accept that about him and he doesn’t realize what his friendship with Kenton has meant until it is too late, but even then he doesn’t know how to change.  At that point in life, it may be too frightening.

Of all the quietly thoughtful films having to do with stuffy British etiquette, The Remains of the Day is the best I’ve seen yet.  Hopkins and Thompson put on amazing performances, the whole film has elegant beauty and the story is both historically and emotionally investing.  If you find yourself a little reluctant to this sort of restrained emotional film, I would suggest trying The Remains of the Day.  You may be surprised.

“Do you know what I am doing, Miss Kenton? I am placing my mind elsewhere while you chatter away.”

In the Name of the Father

In Belfast Ireland, Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day Lewis) is not a model citizen.  In the first few scenes of the film, we’re shown how he’s a petty thief, stealing scrap metal and then inciting a riot against the IRA.  With all the trouble he’s stirring up, Gerry’s father, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite) sends his son to London to let things cool down at home.  He gives Gerry a little advise, “Remember, honest money goes further.”  Gerry’s the kind of wayward son that just shrugs this off, “He had a cliche for every occasion.”

While in London, Gerry’s ways don’t change.  Instead of staying with family and looking for work, he finds a house full of hippies, where he can find free love and dope.  When bombings start happening in London, some of the hippies become suspicious of Gerry.  He did just come from Ireland.  After a pub is bombed, while Gerry was looking for a place to sleep and stealing money from a hooker, he becomes the main suspect.  He is arrested at his family’s home and they all become accomplices with the bombing.

Gerry is innocent, but after days of fierce interrogation and being told he did it, Gerry breaks and signs whatever the police want him to.  That breaking point comes after one officer whispers a threat into Gerry’s eat that he’s going to kill his father.  It’s an eerie scene, the way that man just plays with Gerry is horrible and rightly sends Gerry over the edge.  With Gerry signing the confession, he, his father and two others are sentenced to life in prison.

From here, it’s father and son, two innocent men in jail.  Given the name of the film, I was dreading a conventional father-son bonding time where Giuseppe brings Gerry into the right light using faith.  Thankfully, the film only lightly brushes against that idea, bringing the father and son closer but overall it becomes a struggle within prison.  And when Joe McAndrew (Don Baker), the man who confessed to and really did bomb the pub is brought into their prison, times get tougher but stakes are higher.

The real motive in this film, is to prove that Gerry and all accused with him are innocent.  That takes one determined lawyer, Gareth Peirce (Emma Thompson) and a long listen to Gerry’s tapes telling his story.

In the end, the film didn’t really get to me.  It was just another one of those movies making sure to tell the real story behind a huge injustice.  While morally, I applaud that (and the Academy often does too), I wasn’t feeling a good balance between the struggles of prison life and the injustice happening outside the prison.  The first part of the film was much more exciting than the time in prison.  I completely understand that the focus is on Gerry and Giuseppe during the imprisonment stage of the story, but about the other nine people wrongly accused?  Besides later hearing the time they served they are not important.

A father-son wrongly go to prison movie doesn’t sound like a good father-son movie night, does it?  Instead, I would suggest In the Name of the Father if you’re interested in films about real-life injustice.  If you’re not into such serious topics that ultimately can bum you out, skip it.  Daniel Day Lewis is always good, but he’s better now with an awesome mustache anyway.

“You haven’t the maturity to take care of yourself, let alone your mother.”

The Fugitive

Ah, what a relief it is to watch a fast paced, red-blooded, action-thriller.  Thank you, Academy.

In The Fugitive, Harrison Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, who has just been wrongly accused and sentenced to death row for the murder of his wife.  We are shown his innocence as he remembers the scene and fight with a one-armed man in flashbacks during his trial.  When the bus transporting him and others to prison crashes, he escapes and sets out to clear his name by finding his wife’s real killer.  When Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) arrives at the scene of the crash, he deduces that Kimble is at large and makes it his priority to find him.  But Kimble is smart, keeps a step ahead of Gerard and discovers a whole conspiracy behind his wife’s murder.

There are not many action films within the Academy’s Best Picture nominations.  The Fugitive is one of the select few that create a wonderful balance of big-budget action, with the a suspenseful a thriller and driven by heartbreaking drama.  So many films try this combination and just fall flat or weigh too heavily in one area, narrowing their audience.  It’s a well crafted formula that director Andrew Davis handles with care.

The action does not insult our intelligence, instead it heightens our senses.  I was hooked when the bus flipped over and we see people flying around like rag-dolls.  Then they cranked it up to eleven with the bus on train tracks and a whistle blowing.  Yes, when Kimble jumps into the raging waters of the damn, it’s a one and a million shot, but the way I see it, Kimble is smart, has a lot of will and on a mission.  He’s got what the one in a million needs.

If you’re a regular reader, you know nothing satisfies me like a good chase.  The Fugitive is a man on the run movie from the moment that bus flips and intensifies up until the very end.  There really isn’t much talk to muddle all the fun stuff down.  Most of the time, Kimble is alone, we watch him and figure out his plan with what we’re shown.

Tommy Lee Jones won the Oscar for best supporting actor.  He plays Gerard with an intense passion for his work.  He orders and makes tough calls with the decisiveness that borders on reckless.  At first it’s not about Kimble, he just wants to find a fugitive, but as time goes on, he gains respect for Kimble, his prey, his greatest challenge yet.

The Fugitive is a film that can appeal to a wide arrange of audiences.  For example, this is one of my mom’s favorite movies.  Her all time favorite is Somewhere in Time.  Big difference.  If you are a fan of Harrison Ford or Tommy Lee Jones, you need to see this.  If you enjoy a lot of suspense, some intense and intelligent action with just a dash of drama, The Fugitive is perfect for you.

“-I didn’t kill my wife.
–I don’t care.”

The Piano

Ada (Holly Hunter) is a mute from Scotland in the 1850’s.  Her father has arranged for her to marry Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neil), a wealthy man in New Zealand.  After the long journey, she, her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) and her piano wait on the rainy beach for Stewart.  It’s a long hike through muddy forest back to Stewart’s home, so the piano is left behind, against Flora voicing her mother’s protest.  Later, when Stewart sells the piano to a local laborer, George Baines (Harvey Keitel), Ada is heartbroken and rightfully angry, but can do nothing.  Baines makes a deal with Ada to earn the piano back by teaching him to play.  That’s what he wants people to think anyway.  He really wants Ada to play, for him, for herself.  It isn’t long before their “lessons” turn into a passionate affair.

I find it fascinating to think about the relationships a mute woman can have.  Her main portal to express herself to the world is by playing the piano.  Ada and her daughter Flora communicate through sign language and many times Flora is speaking for her mother.  With Baines, a connection stems from listening to Ada play the piano, from there it turns sexual and intimate.  Then there is Stewart, the man Ada is supposed to have a relationship with, but he does not know how to listen to anyone, much less Ada.  She attempts to be intimate with Stewart, she is opening herself, but Stewart and his proper ways shut himself down.

There are more barriers present than the simple subject of being mute.  Stewart and his acquaintances are supposed to be higher class and try to maintain their stuffy, proper upbringing in the mud and rain of the New Zealand forest.  Meanwhile, we see the native people more relaxed about everything, from children’s odd games of embracing trees to sexual jokes.  As I understand it, that’s how Baines is freely able to become intimate with Ada and Stewart literally clinches his butt at one touch.

Writer and director Jane Campion tells this story with a subtle tone that I don’t think any male director could articulate like she does.  The relationships between Ada, Baines and Stewart could have been interpreted completely different from a male perspective.  Except possibly Flora, no characters have any ill motives and any wrong-doing was in passion.  The character of Baines is especially well crafted, one false move and he could have easily fallen from the one man who can understand Ada to just that creepy guy who walks around the piano naked for far too long.

Hunter and Paquin both won Oscars for their roles as mother and daughter.  For Hunter, she didn’t say a word (except in a distant voice-over), but instead her face, her actions the passion she can bring to the screen won the award.  On the other hand, young Paquin pulled off an amazingly beautiful Scottish accent for Flora and depicted a confused girl whose foolish cunning unknowingly causes tragedy wonderfully.

The Piano is a quietly haunting film full of sexual nature and other thought provoking themes.  I don’t imagine many men really enjoying this film, I doubt my husband would have made it past Keitel strolling nude around the piano.  However, I found it stirring, thoughtful, beautiful and well worth the watch.

“The strange thing is, I don’t think myself silent. That is because of my piano.”