Ratings: IMDB ― 8.9/10 , Rotten Tomatoes ― 96% , ME ― 93%
Amon Goeth: Oskar, there's a clerical error here at the bottom of the last page.
Oskar Schindler: No, there's one more name I want to put there. I'll never find a maid as well trained as her at Brinnlitz. They are all country girls.
Amon Goeth: [referring to Helen] No. No.
Oskar Schindler: One hand of 21. If you win, I pay you 7400 Reichmarks. Hit a natural and I make it 14800. If I win, the girl goes on my list.
Amon Goeth: I can't wager Helen in a card game.
Oskar Schindler: Why not?
Amon Goeth: Wouldn't be right.
Oskar Schindler: She's going to Auschwitz on Number Two anyway. What difference does it make?
Amon Goeth: She's not going to Auschwitz. I'd never do that to her. No, I want her to come back to Vienna with me. I want her to come to work for me there. I want to grow old with her.
Oskar Schindler: Are you mad? Amon, you can't take her to Vienna with you.
Amon Goeth: No, of course I can't. That's what I'd like to do. What I can do, if I'm any sort of a man is the next most merciful thing. I should take her into the woods and shoot her painlessly in the back of the head.
Amon Goeth: What was it you said for a natural 21? Was it 14800?
Ralph Finnes as Amon Goeth and Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler
Trivia (From IMDB):
When survivor Mila Pfefferberg was introduced to Ralph Fiennes on the set, she began shaking uncontrollably, as he reminded her too much of the real Amon Goeth.
To gather costumes for 20,000 extras, the costume designer took out advertisements seeking clothes. As economic conditions were poor in Poland, many people were eager to sell clothing they still owned from the 1930s and '40s.
The original missing list of Schindler's Jews was found in a suitcase together with his written legacy hidden in the attic of Schindler's flat in Hildesheim in 1999. Oskar Schindler stayed there during the last few months before his death in 1974.
Ralph Fiennes put on 13kg by drinking Guinness for his role of Amon Goeth. Steven Spielberg cast him because of his "evil sexuality".
Director Steven Spielberg was able to get permission to film inside Auschwitz, but chose not to out of respect for the victims, so the scenes of the death camp were actually filmed outside the gates on a set constructed in a mirror image of the real location on the other side.
Steven Spielberg offered the job of director to Roman Polanski. Polanski turned it down because the subject was too personal. He had lived in the Krakow ghetto until the age of 8, when he escaped on the day of the liquidation. His mother later died at the Auschwitz concentration camp. After learning this, Spielberg immediately and repeatedly apologized for bringing up such a traumatic memory. Polanski would later direct his own film about the Holocaust, The Pianist (2002).
Steven Spielberg's resolve to make the film became complete when studio executives asked him why he didn't simply make a donation of some sort rather than wasting everyone's time and money on a depressing film.
When Steven Spielberg first showed John Williams a cut of the film, Williams was so moved he had to take a walk outside for several minutes to collect himself. Upon his return, Williams told Spielberg he deserved a better composer. Spielberg replied, "I know, but they're all dead."
At his insistence (citing that it would be "blood money"), all royalties and residuals from this film that would normally have gone to director Steven Spielberg instead are given to the Shoah Foundation, which records and preserves written and videotaped testimonies from survivors of genocide worldwide, including the Holocaust.
When the film was to be shown in the Philippines, the censors decided to cut out certain scenes of nudity and violence. When Steven Spielberg learned of this he wanted to pull the film out unless it was shown as it is. So Philippine President Fidel Ramos intervened and overruled the censors and the film was shown without any cuts.
Steven Spielberg refuses to autograph any materials related to this film.
It is said that, during the filming, the atmosphere was so grim and depressing thatSteven Spielberg asked his friend Robin Williams if he could film some comedy sketches and he would watch episodes of Seinfeld.
Months before he landed the title role, Liam Neeson had auditioned for Schindler but, assuming that he'd never get the part, accepted instead an offer to play opposite wife-to-be Natasha Richardson in a Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie" at New York's Criterion Center in 1993. After a performance one evening, Neeson was in his dressing when a knock on the the door announced the arrival of Steven Spielberg, wife Kate Capshaw and her mother. After Spielberg had introduced his wife and mother-in-law, Neeson hugged the older woman in a manner that stuck with Capshaw, who later commented to husband Steven, "That's just what Oskar Schindler would have done". Neeson received a call a week later from Spielberg with the offer of the lead role.
Both Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson offered their services, but Steven Spielberg decided to go with less familiar names, as the presence of a major star would be too distracting and neither were European actors.
When Steven Spielberg returned to Cal State Long Beach to earn his BA 34 years after dropping out, his film professor accepted this movie in place of the short student film normally required to pass the class. This movie had already won Spielberg Golden Globes and Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.
The most expensive black & white film to date. The previous record was held for over 30 years by another film set during World War II, The Longest Day (1962).
Production designer Allan Starski's replica of the forced labor camp at Plaszow was one of the largest sets ever built in Poland. The movie set was constructed from the plans of the original camp. The production built 34 barracks and seven watchtowers and also recreated the road into the camp that was paved with Jewish tombstones.
Steven Spielberg initially intended to make the film in Polish and German with English subtitles, but rethought the idea because he felt he wouldn't be able to accurately assess performances in unfamiliar languages.
Steven Spielberg watched episodes of Seinfeld (1989) every night after work to lighten his mood.
Violinist Itzhak Perlman performs John Williams' haunting score on the soundtrack. Perlman is on record as saying that his contribution to the film is one of his proudest moments in an illustrious career.
Though Oskar Schindler did in fact have a Jewish accountant named Itzhak Stern, his role is expanded in the movie, where he serves as a composite of several accountants Schindler had working for him.
The first published account of Oskar Schindler's story was an article by Kurt R. Grossman, "The Humanitarian Who Cheated Adolf Hitler," which appeared in the September 1959 issue of Coronet magazine.
During filming, Ben Kingsley, who played Itzhak Stern, kept a picture of Anne Frank, the young girl who died in a concentration camp and whose personal diary was published after the Holocaust, in his coat pocket. Some years later, Kingsley playedOtto Frank, Anne's father, in Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001).
Harrison Ford was offered the title role but declined, saying that some people would not be able to look past his Indiana Jones persona to see the importance of the film.
According to the art directors, no green paint or clothing were used on the set because the color would not show up well on black and white film. Special attention was paid to how much lighting or paint was used in order to appear correctly on film regardless of how unrealistic it seemed in real life.
The story features a character called Poldek Pfefferberg. Later, a Leopold Pfefferbergplaces a stone on Schindler's grave. Finally, a Leopold Page is credited as a consultant on the film. Despite the different names, these all refer to the same person. Poldek Pfefferberg changed his name to Leopold Page after the war when he moved to the United States.
As a producer, Steven Spielberg shopped directing duties on this film to numerous colleagues, because he was afraid he couldn't do the story justice. He was turned down by Martin Scorsese (who was interested but ultimately felt it was a subject that should be done by a Jewish director. He agreed to hand the project to Steven Spielberg, who was working on Cape Fear (1991), which Scorsese took over), Roman Polanski (who didn't feel he was yet ready to tackle the Holocaust after surviving it in childhood), andBilly Wilder (who wanted to make this as his last film). Apparently, it was Wilder who convinced Spielberg to direct it himself.
As Schindler is given a tour of the camp, he passes a boy in prisoner's clothing with his hands raised over his head and a sign hanging over him. It reads "jestem zlodziejem ziemniaków", "I am a potato thief."
"Schindler's List" and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) are the two films Steven Spielberg would best like to be remembered for.
After filming this movie, Liam Neeson (Schindler) and Ralph Fiennes (Göth) became very good friends.
About 40% of the film was shot using a handheld camera.
Spielberg had to make Jurassic Park (1993) before "Schindler's List" in terms of his projects for 1993. It was even written into his contract because had he made "Schindler's List" first, he would have been too drained to make "Jurassic Park".
Steven Spielberg waited 10 years to make the film because he felt he wasn't ready to tackle the Holocaust in 1983 at the age of 37.
The film's tagline "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire" is a quotation from the Talmud.
During the scene in which the last of the Krakow Jews are taken from their homes to be relocated to the ghetto, one man stops to remove something from the door post of his residence. What he removes is a Mezuzah, a case containing a passage from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), which Jews traditionally affix to the door frames of their houses as a constant reminder of God's presence.
During the night time raid on the Krakow ghetto by the SS, two officers see a man playing a piano and wonder if the music is Johann Sebastian Bach or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The piece is actually Bach's "English Suite No.2 in A Minor" despite the one officer's conclusion that it was Mozart.
Embeth Davidtz deliberately chose not to meet Helen Hirsch, the character she was playing in the film, until after shooting had been completed.
In real life, Oskar Schindler was not arrested for kissing the Jewish girl at his birthday party. He was arrested three times for dealings in the black market.
When Schindler berates Itzhak Stern for sending too many force-labor camp workers to his factory, Stern reminds him about Amon Goeth shooting 25 men from Bejski's camp. The Bejski that Stern refers to is none other than Moshe Bejski - who eventually became Oskar Schindler's document forger and later the Israeli Supreme Court Judge from 1979 to 1991. He is mentioned in the book. In the list, he is #531 on the men's list and occupation was a draftsman.
Without adjusting for inflation, this is the highest-grossing black-and-white film of all time (taking in $96 million domestically and $321 million worldwide).
Dustin Hoffman stated in a 1994 interview with Larry King that he had spoken to Steven Spielberg about playing Itzhak Stern but their communications became confused, and Spielberg mistakenly believed that Hoffman turned down the role.
The Amblin logo, showing the bike flying past the moon from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), a regular sight at the end of every Steven Spielberg film, isn't present here, perhaps because of the somber subject matter.
Contrary to popular belief, this was not the first film Steven Spielberg directed that received an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. That credit goes to his short film Amblin' (1968).
The only film released in the last quarter century to make it onto the American Film Institute's top ten list of best American movies of all time.
At Steven Spielberg's request, Aaron Sorkin did a "dialogue wash" on the verbose script.
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz was sought to play the role of Oskar Schindler, but turned it down. Ganz later appeared in another critically-acclaimed WWII movie: Downfall (2004), in which he played Adolf Hitler.
The film finally netted Steven Spielberg the Oscar for Best Director, something that had eluded him in the past.
Ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006).
The extras were not all of Jewish decedent, but Germans also. Most extras volunteered without being paid to be part of the movie.
Sid Sheinberg brought "Schindler's List" to Steven Spielberg's attention when the novel was published in 1982 and purchased the rights, hoping that Spielberg would someday direct it. The movie's enormous success finally came at around the same time that Sheinberg was leaving MCA/Universal.
Steven Spielberg cast Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth after he'd been moved by Fiennes' performance as T.E. Lawrence in Great Performances: A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992). Spielberg has been a lifelong fan of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
The Thomas Keneally novel on which the film is based was titled "Schindler's Ark".
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #8 Greatest Movie of All Time, & Steven Spielberg's greatest film.
In 1994, John Williams conducted the scores for Schindler's List and Jurassic Park(1993) in concert; he took a break from film score assignments while doing so.
In 1962, on his birthday, Oskar Schindler planted a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, in Jerusalem, Israel.
The line "God forbid you ever get a taste for Jewish skirt. There is no future in it," was spoken by Scherner, but in the original script was supposed to be spoken by Goeth. This is why in the next scene where Goeth says "When I said they didn't have a future I didn't mean tomorrow" doesn't really make any sense since he didn't say the line.
Steven Spielberg gave Liam Neeson home movies of his mentor Steve Ross - the late chairman of Time Warner - to help him develop his portrayal of Schindler.
The film, as shown in most countries, had the song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" - Jerusalem of Gold - at the end. When the film was shown in Israel, audiences laughed at this, as this song was written after the 1967 war as a pop song. They then re-dubbed the song "Eli Eli," which was written by Hannah Sennesh during World War Two over the end. However, some criticized this decision as a misinterpretation of the scene, since the song serves as a lead-in to a scene that takes place in modern-day Israel (long after the release of "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav") not during the Holocaust.
Steven Spielberg, as director, has made ten films either about or relating to World War II. (in chronological order): Fighter Squad (1961); Escape to Nowhere (1961); 1941 (1979); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Empire of the Sun (1987); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989); a remake of the WWII movie A Guy Named Joe (1943) entitled, Always (1989); Schindler's List; and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
According to Liam Neeson's account on Inside the Actors Studio: Liam Neeson (2012), Schindler was the first Steven Spielberg feature film not to be storyboarded.
The cuff links Schindler is seen putting on in the opening scene have the logo of the 'Seabourn' cruise line on them. Spielberg was given them as a gift by his cousin who had taken a Seabourn cruise.
Helen Hirsch is based on Helen Jonas (nee Sternlicht), whose story in shown in the documentary Inheritance (2006).
After the book's author Thomas Keneally wrote a miniseries-length script, Kurt Luedtkewas hired by Steven Spielberg to write the screenplay, but he gave up after four years' work.
Saul Bass was asked to design the poster for this film. Eventually, his version consisting of an image of barb wire spiking paper containing the names of the people Schindler saved, was refused.
When Steven Spielberg was dividing time between Schindler's List and Jurassic Park (1993), he was in contact with ILM four times a week via satellite. He described the extra workload as "a bipolar experience, with every ounce of intuition on Schindler's List and every ounce of craft on Jurassic Park (1993). He rented two satellite channels through a Polish television station (for $1.5 million a week), keeping them open at all times. He downloaded from Hollywood each day the visuals on one and the sound through the other. He then spent his evenings and weekends working on them with video equipment.
After finishing Hook (1991), Steven Spielberg opted to make Schindler's List next. Sid Sheinberg greenlit the film on the condition that Spielberg make Jurassic Park (1993) first.
When we see the Jews marching across the bridge into the ghetto, this is not the direction they would have walked in real life. There was a large modern radio tower in direct view when walking in the correct historical direction across the bridge into the Krakow ghetto.
The real Oskar Schindler was said to resemble George Sanders and Curd Jürgens.
While the Nazis are moving confiscated luggage, one of the bags is labeled "Sonnenschein". Ralph Fiennes who plays Amon Goeth, appears in the Holocaust movie Sunshine (1999) as Ignatz Sonnenschein.
Tim Roth was considered for the role of Amon Goeth.
Steven Spielberg watched Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990) six times before the shooting.
Juliette Binoche was offered a role, which she has described in interviews as a woman who was to be raped and then murdered, but she turned it down. She had already turned Steven Spielberg down once that same year, passing on the role of Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (1993) to make Three Colors: Blue (1993).
Claire Danes was originally considered by Steven Spielberg for a role, but she turned it down because he couldn't provide her with tutoring on the set. The part she was considered for is unknown.
Steven Spielberg left the editing on Jurassic Park (1993) for two weeks so he could start shooting Schindler's List in Poland.
The song being played when Schindler enters the night club and meets all of the Nazi officials is called "Por Una Cabeza". The same song is played as the tango in the films True Lies (1994) and Scent of a Woman (1992).
This film's epilogue states: "There are fewer than four thousand Jews left alive in Poland today. There are more than six thousand descendants of the Schindler Jews." This film's closing memorial / dedication states: "In memory of the more than six million Jews murdered."
Sidney Lumet was originally attached to direct but felt that he had already covered off the subject of the Holocaust with his film The Pawnbroker (1964).
Details about Thomas Keneally's book "Schindler's List" (on which this film is based on) is mentioned in the documentary Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told (2013).
Billy Wilder contributed to the first draft of the screenplay. Wilder had many relatives who died in the Holocaust, and tried to convince Steven Spielberg to let him direct the film. Spielberg was already prepared to shoot the film in Poland, and turned it down.
Filming completed in 72 days, 4 days ahead of schedule. The same time was used forSteven Spielberg's other movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and War of the Worlds (2005).
[June 2008] Ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Epic".
During the list scene, there was an exchange between Itzhak Stern and Oskar Schindler that goes as: Stern - "How many cigarettes do you smoke?" Schindler - "Too many". This exchange was taken directly from a real-life exchange between Edward the Duke of Windsor and his physician (Edward was asked the exact question) weeks before his death in 1972.
Stellan Skarsgård was considered for the role of Oskar Schindler. The role went to Liam Neeson. Neeson was originally set to play Father Frank Merrin in Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), but dropped out and was replaced with Skarsgård.
The film was banned in several Muslim-majority nations, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon and Egypt. The general excuse for the bans was that the film was unfair towards Germans (meaning Nazis) and overly sympathetic to Jews. Neo-Nazis in Western countries, including the U.S. and Canada, campaigned for the film to be banned there but were entirely ignored.
Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) quotes William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to Helen Hirsch, saying "Hath not a Jew eyes?" Fiennes' brother, Joseph Fiennes, appears in the film The Merchant of Venice (2004).
After one of Schindler's workers is killed by the SS, mention is made of the "SS Office of Budget and Construction" which was an agency set up in the late 1930s to coordinate construction (and later slave labor) projects in occupied territories. This office was merged with several others in 1941 to become the extremely powerful "SS Main Office of Economics and Administration", known as the WVHA, which ran all slave labor and concentration camps throughout Nazi Germany. Department W of the WVHA (which Schindler mentions at the end of the film) was in charge of labor projects and frequently came into conflict with Department D (Concentration Camps) whose SS personnel were often the ones who arbitrarily killed workers.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
One of two Best Picture Oscar winners to show a child jumping into the waste pond under a toilet. The other is Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
On Roger Ebert's list of great movies.
One of two films where Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson's characters pretend to be allies of each other while making separate schemes for themselves. In here, Neeson's character wants to save people from death while in Clash of the Titans (2010) Fiennes character wants to destroy people.
The first collaboration between Steven Spielberg and his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.
The first war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Platoon (1986), a gap of seven years. The first predominantly black-and-white war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since The Longest Day (1962), a gap of thirty-one years. The first predominantly black-and-white World War II war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since From Here to Eternity (1953), a gap of forty years. Other black-and-white World War II war films which have won the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar include Mrs. Miniver (1942); Casablanca (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). As such, "Schindler's List" is the fifth black-and-white World War II war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar. The first World War II film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Patton (1970), a gap of twenty-three years. The first World War II film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987), a gap of six years. The first predominantly black-and-white film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since The Apartment (1960), a gap of thirty-three years. The first war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Born on the Fourth of July (1989), a gap of four years. The first predominantly black-and-white film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since both The Elephant Man (1980) and Raging Bull (1980), a gap of thirteen years. The first Steven Spielberg war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture since Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), a gap of twelve years. The first Spielberg war film since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), a gap of four years.
At 66th Academy Awards, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's list and Jurassic Park competed for Best Sound category. Ultimately, Jurassic Park won the Academy Award for Best Sound.
Only Hollywood feature to date (2013) to be filmed by Polish cinematographer Janusz Kaminski on location in his homeland (Poland).
The Set Decorator on this film, who shared the Best Art Direction Academy Award with Allan Starski, is named Ewa Braun. Eva Braun was also the name of Adolf Hitler's mistress. Billy Crystal later said that he regretted not being the host of the Oscars that year because he heard the name on television and wanted to call host Whoopi Goldbergright away and point out the odd coincidence.
In a memorable scene when Poldek Pfefferberg (Sagall) runs into a German patrol during the Ghetto clearing he is forced to improvise and snaps to attention and salutes the Germans with two fingers to his forehead. (He exclaims he was ordered to clear the road of rubble so the troops could run without hindrance.) This two-finger salute is actually the correct way of saluting in the Polish military though the Germans were obviously not impressed by it.
In 1964, MGM announced that they were making an Oskar Schindler biopic to be written by Howard Koch. It was intended for Delbert Mann to direct.
Cameo ―
Branko Lustig: nightclub maître d' in Oskar Schindler's first scene. Lustig is one of the film's producers and a Holocaust survivor (upon receiving his Oscar, he recited his serial number, A3317).
Director Cameo― ―
Steven Spielberg: a liberated Schindler Jew among the hundreds crossing a field near the end of the film.
Director Trademark ―
Steven Spielberg: [mirror] An important image in the rear-view mirror of a car (see Duel (1971), Jurassic Park (1993)).
Steven Spielberg: [music] John Williams score.
Steven Spielberg: [father] Oskar tells his wife he can't commit to a family.
From IMDB, Wikipedia and Google.
Trivia (From IMDB):
When survivor Mila Pfefferberg was introduced to Ralph Fiennes on the set, she began shaking uncontrollably, as he reminded her too much of the real Amon Goeth.
To gather costumes for 20,000 extras, the costume designer took out advertisements seeking clothes. As economic conditions were poor in Poland, many people were eager to sell clothing they still owned from the 1930s and '40s.
The original missing list of Schindler's Jews was found in a suitcase together with his written legacy hidden in the attic of Schindler's flat in Hildesheim in 1999. Oskar Schindler stayed there during the last few months before his death in 1974.
Ralph Fiennes put on 13kg by drinking Guinness for his role of Amon Goeth. Steven Spielberg cast him because of his "evil sexuality".
Director Steven Spielberg was able to get permission to film inside Auschwitz, but chose not to out of respect for the victims, so the scenes of the death camp were actually filmed outside the gates on a set constructed in a mirror image of the real location on the other side.
Steven Spielberg offered the job of director to Roman Polanski. Polanski turned it down because the subject was too personal. He had lived in the Krakow ghetto until the age of 8, when he escaped on the day of the liquidation. His mother later died at the Auschwitz concentration camp. After learning this, Spielberg immediately and repeatedly apologized for bringing up such a traumatic memory. Polanski would later direct his own film about the Holocaust, The Pianist (2002).
Steven Spielberg's resolve to make the film became complete when studio executives asked him why he didn't simply make a donation of some sort rather than wasting everyone's time and money on a depressing film.
When Steven Spielberg first showed John Williams a cut of the film, Williams was so moved he had to take a walk outside for several minutes to collect himself. Upon his return, Williams told Spielberg he deserved a better composer. Spielberg replied, "I know, but they're all dead."
At his insistence (citing that it would be "blood money"), all royalties and residuals from this film that would normally have gone to director Steven Spielberg instead are given to the Shoah Foundation, which records and preserves written and videotaped testimonies from survivors of genocide worldwide, including the Holocaust.
When the film was to be shown in the Philippines, the censors decided to cut out certain scenes of nudity and violence. When Steven Spielberg learned of this he wanted to pull the film out unless it was shown as it is. So Philippine President Fidel Ramos intervened and overruled the censors and the film was shown without any cuts.
Steven Spielberg refuses to autograph any materials related to this film.
It is said that, during the filming, the atmosphere was so grim and depressing thatSteven Spielberg asked his friend Robin Williams if he could film some comedy sketches and he would watch episodes of Seinfeld.
Months before he landed the title role, Liam Neeson had auditioned for Schindler but, assuming that he'd never get the part, accepted instead an offer to play opposite wife-to-be Natasha Richardson in a Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie" at New York's Criterion Center in 1993. After a performance one evening, Neeson was in his dressing when a knock on the the door announced the arrival of Steven Spielberg, wife Kate Capshaw and her mother. After Spielberg had introduced his wife and mother-in-law, Neeson hugged the older woman in a manner that stuck with Capshaw, who later commented to husband Steven, "That's just what Oskar Schindler would have done". Neeson received a call a week later from Spielberg with the offer of the lead role.
Both Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson offered their services, but Steven Spielberg decided to go with less familiar names, as the presence of a major star would be too distracting and neither were European actors.
When Steven Spielberg returned to Cal State Long Beach to earn his BA 34 years after dropping out, his film professor accepted this movie in place of the short student film normally required to pass the class. This movie had already won Spielberg Golden Globes and Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.
The most expensive black & white film to date. The previous record was held for over 30 years by another film set during World War II, The Longest Day (1962).
Production designer Allan Starski's replica of the forced labor camp at Plaszow was one of the largest sets ever built in Poland. The movie set was constructed from the plans of the original camp. The production built 34 barracks and seven watchtowers and also recreated the road into the camp that was paved with Jewish tombstones.
Steven Spielberg initially intended to make the film in Polish and German with English subtitles, but rethought the idea because he felt he wouldn't be able to accurately assess performances in unfamiliar languages.
Steven Spielberg watched episodes of Seinfeld (1989) every night after work to lighten his mood.
Violinist Itzhak Perlman performs John Williams' haunting score on the soundtrack. Perlman is on record as saying that his contribution to the film is one of his proudest moments in an illustrious career.
Though Oskar Schindler did in fact have a Jewish accountant named Itzhak Stern, his role is expanded in the movie, where he serves as a composite of several accountants Schindler had working for him.
The first published account of Oskar Schindler's story was an article by Kurt R. Grossman, "The Humanitarian Who Cheated Adolf Hitler," which appeared in the September 1959 issue of Coronet magazine.
During filming, Ben Kingsley, who played Itzhak Stern, kept a picture of Anne Frank, the young girl who died in a concentration camp and whose personal diary was published after the Holocaust, in his coat pocket. Some years later, Kingsley playedOtto Frank, Anne's father, in Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001).
Harrison Ford was offered the title role but declined, saying that some people would not be able to look past his Indiana Jones persona to see the importance of the film.
According to the art directors, no green paint or clothing were used on the set because the color would not show up well on black and white film. Special attention was paid to how much lighting or paint was used in order to appear correctly on film regardless of how unrealistic it seemed in real life.
The story features a character called Poldek Pfefferberg. Later, a Leopold Pfefferbergplaces a stone on Schindler's grave. Finally, a Leopold Page is credited as a consultant on the film. Despite the different names, these all refer to the same person. Poldek Pfefferberg changed his name to Leopold Page after the war when he moved to the United States.
As a producer, Steven Spielberg shopped directing duties on this film to numerous colleagues, because he was afraid he couldn't do the story justice. He was turned down by Martin Scorsese (who was interested but ultimately felt it was a subject that should be done by a Jewish director. He agreed to hand the project to Steven Spielberg, who was working on Cape Fear (1991), which Scorsese took over), Roman Polanski (who didn't feel he was yet ready to tackle the Holocaust after surviving it in childhood), andBilly Wilder (who wanted to make this as his last film). Apparently, it was Wilder who convinced Spielberg to direct it himself.
As Schindler is given a tour of the camp, he passes a boy in prisoner's clothing with his hands raised over his head and a sign hanging over him. It reads "jestem zlodziejem ziemniaków", "I am a potato thief."
"Schindler's List" and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) are the two films Steven Spielberg would best like to be remembered for.
After filming this movie, Liam Neeson (Schindler) and Ralph Fiennes (Göth) became very good friends.
About 40% of the film was shot using a handheld camera.
Spielberg had to make Jurassic Park (1993) before "Schindler's List" in terms of his projects for 1993. It was even written into his contract because had he made "Schindler's List" first, he would have been too drained to make "Jurassic Park".
Steven Spielberg waited 10 years to make the film because he felt he wasn't ready to tackle the Holocaust in 1983 at the age of 37.
The film's tagline "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire" is a quotation from the Talmud.
During the scene in which the last of the Krakow Jews are taken from their homes to be relocated to the ghetto, one man stops to remove something from the door post of his residence. What he removes is a Mezuzah, a case containing a passage from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), which Jews traditionally affix to the door frames of their houses as a constant reminder of God's presence.
During the night time raid on the Krakow ghetto by the SS, two officers see a man playing a piano and wonder if the music is Johann Sebastian Bach or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The piece is actually Bach's "English Suite No.2 in A Minor" despite the one officer's conclusion that it was Mozart.
Embeth Davidtz deliberately chose not to meet Helen Hirsch, the character she was playing in the film, until after shooting had been completed.
In real life, Oskar Schindler was not arrested for kissing the Jewish girl at his birthday party. He was arrested three times for dealings in the black market.
When Schindler berates Itzhak Stern for sending too many force-labor camp workers to his factory, Stern reminds him about Amon Goeth shooting 25 men from Bejski's camp. The Bejski that Stern refers to is none other than Moshe Bejski - who eventually became Oskar Schindler's document forger and later the Israeli Supreme Court Judge from 1979 to 1991. He is mentioned in the book. In the list, he is #531 on the men's list and occupation was a draftsman.
Without adjusting for inflation, this is the highest-grossing black-and-white film of all time (taking in $96 million domestically and $321 million worldwide).
Dustin Hoffman stated in a 1994 interview with Larry King that he had spoken to Steven Spielberg about playing Itzhak Stern but their communications became confused, and Spielberg mistakenly believed that Hoffman turned down the role.
The Amblin logo, showing the bike flying past the moon from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), a regular sight at the end of every Steven Spielberg film, isn't present here, perhaps because of the somber subject matter.
Contrary to popular belief, this was not the first film Steven Spielberg directed that received an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. That credit goes to his short film Amblin' (1968).
The only film released in the last quarter century to make it onto the American Film Institute's top ten list of best American movies of all time.
At Steven Spielberg's request, Aaron Sorkin did a "dialogue wash" on the verbose script.
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz was sought to play the role of Oskar Schindler, but turned it down. Ganz later appeared in another critically-acclaimed WWII movie: Downfall (2004), in which he played Adolf Hitler.
The film finally netted Steven Spielberg the Oscar for Best Director, something that had eluded him in the past.
Ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006).
The extras were not all of Jewish decedent, but Germans also. Most extras volunteered without being paid to be part of the movie.
Sid Sheinberg brought "Schindler's List" to Steven Spielberg's attention when the novel was published in 1982 and purchased the rights, hoping that Spielberg would someday direct it. The movie's enormous success finally came at around the same time that Sheinberg was leaving MCA/Universal.
Steven Spielberg cast Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth after he'd been moved by Fiennes' performance as T.E. Lawrence in Great Performances: A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992). Spielberg has been a lifelong fan of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
The Thomas Keneally novel on which the film is based was titled "Schindler's Ark".
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #8 Greatest Movie of All Time, & Steven Spielberg's greatest film.
In 1994, John Williams conducted the scores for Schindler's List and Jurassic Park(1993) in concert; he took a break from film score assignments while doing so.
In 1962, on his birthday, Oskar Schindler planted a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, in Jerusalem, Israel.
The line "God forbid you ever get a taste for Jewish skirt. There is no future in it," was spoken by Scherner, but in the original script was supposed to be spoken by Goeth. This is why in the next scene where Goeth says "When I said they didn't have a future I didn't mean tomorrow" doesn't really make any sense since he didn't say the line.
Steven Spielberg gave Liam Neeson home movies of his mentor Steve Ross - the late chairman of Time Warner - to help him develop his portrayal of Schindler.
The film, as shown in most countries, had the song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" - Jerusalem of Gold - at the end. When the film was shown in Israel, audiences laughed at this, as this song was written after the 1967 war as a pop song. They then re-dubbed the song "Eli Eli," which was written by Hannah Sennesh during World War Two over the end. However, some criticized this decision as a misinterpretation of the scene, since the song serves as a lead-in to a scene that takes place in modern-day Israel (long after the release of "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav") not during the Holocaust.
Steven Spielberg, as director, has made ten films either about or relating to World War II. (in chronological order): Fighter Squad (1961); Escape to Nowhere (1961); 1941 (1979); Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Empire of the Sun (1987); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989); a remake of the WWII movie A Guy Named Joe (1943) entitled, Always (1989); Schindler's List; and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
According to Liam Neeson's account on Inside the Actors Studio: Liam Neeson (2012), Schindler was the first Steven Spielberg feature film not to be storyboarded.
The cuff links Schindler is seen putting on in the opening scene have the logo of the 'Seabourn' cruise line on them. Spielberg was given them as a gift by his cousin who had taken a Seabourn cruise.
Helen Hirsch is based on Helen Jonas (nee Sternlicht), whose story in shown in the documentary Inheritance (2006).
After the book's author Thomas Keneally wrote a miniseries-length script, Kurt Luedtkewas hired by Steven Spielberg to write the screenplay, but he gave up after four years' work.
Saul Bass was asked to design the poster for this film. Eventually, his version consisting of an image of barb wire spiking paper containing the names of the people Schindler saved, was refused.
When Steven Spielberg was dividing time between Schindler's List and Jurassic Park (1993), he was in contact with ILM four times a week via satellite. He described the extra workload as "a bipolar experience, with every ounce of intuition on Schindler's List and every ounce of craft on Jurassic Park (1993). He rented two satellite channels through a Polish television station (for $1.5 million a week), keeping them open at all times. He downloaded from Hollywood each day the visuals on one and the sound through the other. He then spent his evenings and weekends working on them with video equipment.
After finishing Hook (1991), Steven Spielberg opted to make Schindler's List next. Sid Sheinberg greenlit the film on the condition that Spielberg make Jurassic Park (1993) first.
When we see the Jews marching across the bridge into the ghetto, this is not the direction they would have walked in real life. There was a large modern radio tower in direct view when walking in the correct historical direction across the bridge into the Krakow ghetto.
The real Oskar Schindler was said to resemble George Sanders and Curd Jürgens.
While the Nazis are moving confiscated luggage, one of the bags is labeled "Sonnenschein". Ralph Fiennes who plays Amon Goeth, appears in the Holocaust movie Sunshine (1999) as Ignatz Sonnenschein.
Tim Roth was considered for the role of Amon Goeth.
Steven Spielberg watched Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990) six times before the shooting.
Juliette Binoche was offered a role, which she has described in interviews as a woman who was to be raped and then murdered, but she turned it down. She had already turned Steven Spielberg down once that same year, passing on the role of Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (1993) to make Three Colors: Blue (1993).
Claire Danes was originally considered by Steven Spielberg for a role, but she turned it down because he couldn't provide her with tutoring on the set. The part she was considered for is unknown.
Steven Spielberg left the editing on Jurassic Park (1993) for two weeks so he could start shooting Schindler's List in Poland.
The song being played when Schindler enters the night club and meets all of the Nazi officials is called "Por Una Cabeza". The same song is played as the tango in the films True Lies (1994) and Scent of a Woman (1992).
This film's epilogue states: "There are fewer than four thousand Jews left alive in Poland today. There are more than six thousand descendants of the Schindler Jews." This film's closing memorial / dedication states: "In memory of the more than six million Jews murdered."
Sidney Lumet was originally attached to direct but felt that he had already covered off the subject of the Holocaust with his film The Pawnbroker (1964).
Details about Thomas Keneally's book "Schindler's List" (on which this film is based on) is mentioned in the documentary Adolf Hitler: The Greatest Story Never Told (2013).
Billy Wilder contributed to the first draft of the screenplay. Wilder had many relatives who died in the Holocaust, and tried to convince Steven Spielberg to let him direct the film. Spielberg was already prepared to shoot the film in Poland, and turned it down.
Filming completed in 72 days, 4 days ahead of schedule. The same time was used forSteven Spielberg's other movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and War of the Worlds (2005).
[June 2008] Ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Epic".
During the list scene, there was an exchange between Itzhak Stern and Oskar Schindler that goes as: Stern - "How many cigarettes do you smoke?" Schindler - "Too many". This exchange was taken directly from a real-life exchange between Edward the Duke of Windsor and his physician (Edward was asked the exact question) weeks before his death in 1972.
Stellan Skarsgård was considered for the role of Oskar Schindler. The role went to Liam Neeson. Neeson was originally set to play Father Frank Merrin in Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), but dropped out and was replaced with Skarsgård.
The film was banned in several Muslim-majority nations, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon and Egypt. The general excuse for the bans was that the film was unfair towards Germans (meaning Nazis) and overly sympathetic to Jews. Neo-Nazis in Western countries, including the U.S. and Canada, campaigned for the film to be banned there but were entirely ignored.
Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) quotes William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to Helen Hirsch, saying "Hath not a Jew eyes?" Fiennes' brother, Joseph Fiennes, appears in the film The Merchant of Venice (2004).
After one of Schindler's workers is killed by the SS, mention is made of the "SS Office of Budget and Construction" which was an agency set up in the late 1930s to coordinate construction (and later slave labor) projects in occupied territories. This office was merged with several others in 1941 to become the extremely powerful "SS Main Office of Economics and Administration", known as the WVHA, which ran all slave labor and concentration camps throughout Nazi Germany. Department W of the WVHA (which Schindler mentions at the end of the film) was in charge of labor projects and frequently came into conflict with Department D (Concentration Camps) whose SS personnel were often the ones who arbitrarily killed workers.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
One of two Best Picture Oscar winners to show a child jumping into the waste pond under a toilet. The other is Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
On Roger Ebert's list of great movies.
One of two films where Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson's characters pretend to be allies of each other while making separate schemes for themselves. In here, Neeson's character wants to save people from death while in Clash of the Titans (2010) Fiennes character wants to destroy people.
The first collaboration between Steven Spielberg and his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.
The first war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Platoon (1986), a gap of seven years. The first predominantly black-and-white war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since The Longest Day (1962), a gap of thirty-one years. The first predominantly black-and-white World War II war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since From Here to Eternity (1953), a gap of forty years. Other black-and-white World War II war films which have won the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar include Mrs. Miniver (1942); Casablanca (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). As such, "Schindler's List" is the fifth black-and-white World War II war film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar. The first World War II film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Patton (1970), a gap of twenty-three years. The first World War II film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987), a gap of six years. The first predominantly black-and-white film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since The Apartment (1960), a gap of thirty-three years. The first war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since Born on the Fourth of July (1989), a gap of four years. The first predominantly black-and-white film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Oscar since both The Elephant Man (1980) and Raging Bull (1980), a gap of thirteen years. The first Steven Spielberg war film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture since Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), a gap of twelve years. The first Spielberg war film since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), a gap of four years.
At 66th Academy Awards, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's list and Jurassic Park competed for Best Sound category. Ultimately, Jurassic Park won the Academy Award for Best Sound.
Only Hollywood feature to date (2013) to be filmed by Polish cinematographer Janusz Kaminski on location in his homeland (Poland).
The Set Decorator on this film, who shared the Best Art Direction Academy Award with Allan Starski, is named Ewa Braun. Eva Braun was also the name of Adolf Hitler's mistress. Billy Crystal later said that he regretted not being the host of the Oscars that year because he heard the name on television and wanted to call host Whoopi Goldbergright away and point out the odd coincidence.
In a memorable scene when Poldek Pfefferberg (Sagall) runs into a German patrol during the Ghetto clearing he is forced to improvise and snaps to attention and salutes the Germans with two fingers to his forehead. (He exclaims he was ordered to clear the road of rubble so the troops could run without hindrance.) This two-finger salute is actually the correct way of saluting in the Polish military though the Germans were obviously not impressed by it.
In 1964, MGM announced that they were making an Oskar Schindler biopic to be written by Howard Koch. It was intended for Delbert Mann to direct.
Cameo ―
Branko Lustig: nightclub maître d' in Oskar Schindler's first scene. Lustig is one of the film's producers and a Holocaust survivor (upon receiving his Oscar, he recited his serial number, A3317).
Director Cameo― ―
Steven Spielberg: a liberated Schindler Jew among the hundreds crossing a field near the end of the film.
Director Trademark ―
Steven Spielberg: [mirror] An important image in the rear-view mirror of a car (see Duel (1971), Jurassic Park (1993)).
Steven Spielberg: [music] John Williams score.
Steven Spielberg: [father] Oskar tells his wife he can't commit to a family.
From IMDB, Wikipedia and Google.
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