Picture 66: Schindler's List (1993)

1993 takes us to Poland in World War II. We meet Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a metal goods factory owner in Nazi-occupied Krakow. He is a charismatic yet complicated man. A Nazi party member, he benefits from the slave labour imposed upon Jewish prisoners. However, his story is anything but typical; it becomes a story of extraordinary courage amidst the horrors of the War.

Schindler’s desire for business productivity morphs into a genuine compassion as he sees the atrocities performed by Amon Goth (Ralph Fiennes) and his fellow Nazis unfold. Schindler has the extraordinary courage to try to save his 1200 labourers, but can his factory become a symbol of survival against an unrelenting, industrial genocide?

Stephen Spielberg’s magnum opus documents the Holocaust with traumatising detail. This is as dark as humanity gets. The black-and-white cinematography gives the film a documentary-like gravity. This is spectacular film making. It doesn’t get lost in dramatic narratives but can freeze and thaw the heart with truth alone. One needs only to observe. It is gripping from start to finish and you can’t take your eyes off it – even when you’d very much rather do so. Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes and Embeth Davidz are all outstanding supporting cast members.

Further trauma comes when you realise that the perpetrators were human beings too. The film shows how ordinary people became morally corrupted by ideology, hatred and obedience. Evil became their normal. It represents a network-level collapse in society’s morality. A brutal lesson for the world that needs to be seen by all invested in our survival as a species.  

This isn’t one for a lazy Sunday – be prepared to be traumatised and broken down, yet oddly healed and given hope again in the fragments of a munitions factory. What’s incredible is people’s ability to keep going. People face the gravest persecution, injustice and murder, yet still they walk on, retaining their dignity, kindness and humanity. Schindler’s List is a tribute to humanity’s evil but also its resilience. It is one of the greatest films ever made.

“Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”

Rating: 10/10

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. The Godfather (1972)

2. Schindler’s List (1993)

3. Casablanca (1943)

4. The Apartment (1960)

5. Rebecca (1940)

6. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

7. The Sound of Music (1965)

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

9. Ordinary People (1980)

10. A Man for All Seasons (1966)

11. Gandhi (1982)

12. The Deer Hunter (1978)

13. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

14. Ben-Hur (1959)

15. The Last Emperor (1987)

16. Unforgiven (1992)

17. Lost Weekend (1945)

18. Platoon (1986)

19. Gone With the Wind (1939)

20. Rocky (1976)

21. Annie Hall (1977)

22. Amadeus (1984)

23. All About Eve (1950)

24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

25. Hamlet (1948)

26. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

27. Out of Africa (1985)

28. West Side Story (1961)

29. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

30. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

31. Wings (1928)

32. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

33. You can’t take it with you (1938)

34. Patton (1970)

35. Terms of Endearment (1983)

36. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

37. On the Waterfront (1954)

38. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

39. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

40. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

41. Rain Man (1988)

42. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

43. Dances with Wolves (1990)

44. Marty (1955)

45. Oliver! (1968)

46. Cimarron (1931)

47. Grand Hotel (1932)

48. The French Connection (1971)

49. An American in Paris (1951)

50. From Here to Eternity (1953)

51. It Happened One Night (1934)

52. My Fair Lady (1964)

53. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

54. Cavalcade (1933)

55. The Sting (1973)

56. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

57. Going My Way (1944)

58. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

59. Chariots of Fire (1981)

60. All the King’s Men (1949)

61. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

62. Gigi (1958)

63. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

64. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

65. The Broadway Melody (1929)

66. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield – Fashion Correspondent

Dr Caspar Briault – Head of Cynicism

Dr Conrad Charlton

Dr Sophie Clarke

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Josh Fisher

Dr Joseph Gallaher – CEO and Founder

Dr Joseph Hamilton

Dr Adam Holland – Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Dr Sid Mohan - Divisional Lead for the 1980s

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia