‘Schindler’s List’, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993, is a hard-hitting and gripping film that deals with the key issue of persecution and war. It is a shocking account of the Nazi’s and the Jews during the oppressive era of WWII and by using various, effective cinematic techniques such as camera angles, lighting/colour and sound/music, Spielberg grips the viewer with numerous shocks and twists throughout.
The film follows the main character Oskar Schindler as he encounters the realities of being a war profiteer during WWII. But during the key sequence the ‘Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto’ he undergoes a pivotal change as he watches the events unfold with a birds-eye-view.
The sequence opens with close-up shots of Amon Goeth and Oskar …show more content…
This scene is crosscut with a view of Schindler on horseback on top of a hill which allows him to get a birds-eye-view of what is about to happen. Meanwhile, the viewer is shown images of Jews hiding in secret places (under floorboards and beneath mattresses) and Jewish family members swallowing valuable jewellery wrapped in pieces of bread, hinting at the desperate measures they are having to go to in order to withhold any last piece of control or dignity that they have. All the while, the diegetic sounds of soldiers in the background begin to cause chaos as well as make the Jews aware of their presence. In contrast with the harsh shouts of the soldiers, the Jews are hidden away in an eerie silence while they hope that the inevitable will pass. This silence is short-lived as screams fill the air along with random gun-shots now that the soldiers are rounding the Jews up in the central courtyard. During this scene we hear the diegetic sounds of soldiers screaming in German, which adds to the confusion that the viewer may be feeling, along with dogs barking frantically and the startling engines of large trucks. These all work together to heighten the tension and create a frenzied
The film follows the main character Oskar Schindler as he encounters the realities of being a war profiteer during WWII. But during the key sequence the ‘Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto’ he undergoes a pivotal change as he watches the events unfold with a birds-eye-view.
The sequence opens with close-up shots of Amon Goeth and Oskar …show more content…
This scene is crosscut with a view of Schindler on horseback on top of a hill which allows him to get a birds-eye-view of what is about to happen. Meanwhile, the viewer is shown images of Jews hiding in secret places (under floorboards and beneath mattresses) and Jewish family members swallowing valuable jewellery wrapped in pieces of bread, hinting at the desperate measures they are having to go to in order to withhold any last piece of control or dignity that they have. All the while, the diegetic sounds of soldiers in the background begin to cause chaos as well as make the Jews aware of their presence. In contrast with the harsh shouts of the soldiers, the Jews are hidden away in an eerie silence while they hope that the inevitable will pass. This silence is short-lived as screams fill the air along with random gun-shots now that the soldiers are rounding the Jews up in the central courtyard. During this scene we hear the diegetic sounds of soldiers screaming in German, which adds to the confusion that the viewer may be feeling, along with dogs barking frantically and the startling engines of large trucks. These all work together to heighten the tension and create a frenzied