These movie posters, I believe everyone will not be unfamiliar, they are all commercial films with fairly good box office results, and they are all from the same famous American director Spielberg.
Despite directing a large number of high-grossing films, starting with Jaws, accusations of vulgarity, gore, and no artistic value have been made. Spielberg deeply appreciates the truth that "if you want to take its crown, you must bear its weight", in order to prove himself, he has always taken winning the Oscar as his wish.
After more than a decade in the making, in 1993 Spielberg unveiled a black-and-white film: Schindler's List. It was the most expensive black-and-white film to make to date. It was this film that gave him his wish, winning the Academy Award for Best Director.
The oppressive atmosphere, the dignified breathing, the flash of red between the black and white tones, the audience sitting in the movie theater could not believe that this documentary-like black and white movie on the screen was actually from Spielberg, who loved technology and fairy tales. Schindler's List won seven awards at the 66th Academy Awards in 1993 and seven at the 51st Golden Globe Awards.
The film that made Spielberg a ten-star success was not optimistic about the box office when it was first released, but it also created a box office miracle, and it was the highest-grossing black-and-white film in history.
Ordinary people go to the cinema to see movies, to a large extent, to pursue sensory stimulation, to relax, to entertain, dull and depressed black-and-white movies have long been abandoned by the mainstream. In this environment, why did Spielberg spend so much money to make a black-and-white movie? And why do the audience buy it so much? What exactly is this movie about?
The film "Schindler's List", set against the backdrop of the German occupation of Poland in World War II and the persecution of Jews, tells the story of The German speculative businessman Oscar Schindler who hired Jews as cheap workers in Poland and made a fortune from the war. But after witnessing the tragedy of the massacre of Jews, it underwent a drastic psychological change. Schindler then skillfully maneuvered among German officers to save more than 1,200 Jews from fascist murder.
The story in the movie is ups and downs and deeply moving, but the reason why this movie will become a classic and impressive is because the protagonist Schindler, who wears the aura of "savior", is not the "national hero" imagined by the screenwriter sitting at home, but there is indeed someone.
The real Oscar Schindler
One day in 1982, Steven Spielberg saw a New York Times book review in his office about a novel called Schindler's List, and Spielberg was moved by the story of Schindler's family's bankruptcy to save more than 1,200 Jews.
When he saw the book review say that it was a true story, he couldn't believe it, and he couldn't think of "what drives a man to give everything he can to save those innocent lives."
Spielberg became interested in the novel, and at his instigation, Universal Pictures bought the rights to adapt the novel. More than half a year later, Spielberg met with Feifferberg, the novel's assistant. Only then did he fully believe what the novel's protagonist, Oscar Schindler, had done.
When Spielberg met with Feifferberg, Feifferberg asked, "When are you going to start shooting?" At this time, Spielberg's big name has long been known around the world with films such as "Jaws", "E.T.", and "Raiders of the Lost Ark". But in the face of the story of Schindler in front of him, he was a little hesitant. He replied, "10 years later." ”
So, in the face of such a good subject, why did Spielberg push the time so long? Why would a "child prodigy" director who has already entered the ranks of hollywood's famous directors at the age of 26 be discouraged from such a film?
In fact, in the face of such a historical mission, Spielberg was not sure whether he could control this film about the Holocaust, so he hired a French master director who had directed classic films such as "Water Knife" and "Chinatown" and hoped that he could direct this film.
But what people did not expect was that Polanski actually refused directly. Why?
It turned out that Polanski was a Jew whose mother had died tragically in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, and he himself was a survivor of the Krakow Ghetto. The shadow of childhood became his "lingering pain", making it difficult to face such a film subject.
Subsequently, Spielberg contacted several well-known directors at the time, but they were rejected for one reason or another. Going around, "Schindler's List" was back in Spielberg's hands, and he repeatedly read and speculated on the novel, and finally decided to direct it himself, and shoot it again in 10 years.
In the blink of an eye, 10 years have passed. In the spring of 1993, with the script finalized, the shooting task was put on the agenda. How to choose a male protagonist? In fact, long ago, many "big names" in Hollywood have found Spielberg to express their desire to play Schindler. Kevin Costner, an all-rounder who later directed, produced, and acted in "Dances with Wolves," and Mel Gibson, who later directed Braveheart and starred in "The Patriot," approached Spielberg, but were all rejected.
Kevin Costner
Mel gibson
Spielberg's refusal of the big name is because it does not fit the Schindler in his mind? Or do you not want the fame of the actors to affect the expression of this documentary-style film, lest the audience pay too much attention to the actors rather than the film and the film characters themselves? So, where can you find actors who are not well-known but have good acting skills? Spielberg remembered that the Broadway musical was all the rage at the time, and the repertoire was famous, but the actors were little known.
With that in mind, Spielberg wandered around Broadway, hoping to meet oscar Schindler in his mind. In December 1992, the Broadway stage play "Anna Christie" was staged in the theater, and the actors on the stage performed with enthusiasm as usual, but this time, there was a pair of eyes on the stage that stared at the male protagonist on the stage.
Yes, after watching the stage play, Spielberg's impression of Liam Neeson overlapped with the characters in the script in his mind, and decided that Liam Neeson was the final candidate to play Schindler.
Liam Neeson, with his tall stature of 1.93 meters, strong figure and personable demeanor, with playboy cynicism, but his eyebrows reveal elegant, melancholy, and compassionate compassion, made Spielberg believe that he was Oscar Schindler.
The protagonist is determined, and all that remains is some other lines that don't have much, but is another group of "protagonists" of the film, that is, the Jews rescued by Schindler.
During filming, the crew hired 30,000 extras, all of whom were descendants of "Schindler Jews" and the survivors were Catholic Poles.
On March 1, 1993, filming of Schindler's List began in Krakow, Poland. Except for Auschwitz, the rest of the scenes were filmed in real locations.
Auschwitz is a small town in southern Poland where Nazi Germany established its largest concentration camp during World War II, making the town world-famous. The camp's internal barriers, dense power grids, outpost stands, gallows, gas-killing baths and crematoria, where up to 3 million people were killed, can be described as a frightening cave. It is now a museum, and in order not to disturb the dead who died here, the crew was forbidden to enter, and they built a replica not far from the concentration camp for filming.
Auschwitz
In order to make the film look more like a documentary, and to symbolize that dark and frightening era, Spielberg decided to shoot on black and white film. But he used a small symbolic effect foil, that is, a little girl in red.
The girl in red is the only color in the film and the finishing touch of Spielberg, which becomes the key to Schindler's change of mind in the film. She symbolizes innocent and fragile life, as well as courage and strength to defeat evil.
Although the shooting went very smoothly, Spielberg was not happy when filming the film "Schindler's List", and even fell on the verge of collapse several times. Why?
In fact, Spielberg is also Jewish, and he was discriminated against and bullied by anti-Semites in his childhood. The filming of "Schindler's List" reminds Spielberg of unhappy experiences in his childhood. When filming a scene of Nazi doctors running the Jewish elderly naked, Spielberg deliberately refused to watch it. Several actresses nearly collapsed while filming shower scenes, some of whom were born in concentration camps.
The movie "Schindler's List" has a "ring made of gold teeth", which is real, and the Hebrew scripture inscribed on the ring given to Schindler by the rescued Jewish workers becomes the end of the whole process: "Whoever saves one life saves the whole world." The film ends here, yet the story between the real Oscar Schindler and the Jews he rescues continues.
Oskar Schindlers
As a member of the Nazi Party in Germany, Schindler was in danger of being arrested and executed as a war criminal. To escape capture by the Soviets, Schindler fled west in a two-seater sedan. In the autumn of 1945, the Schindlers moved to Bavaria to live.
Oscar Schindler died on October 9, 1974, at the age of 67. His body is buried on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the only former Nazi Party member to be buried here.
Schindler and family
After Schindler's death, it was found that this "savior" hero was so destitute that he left only a dusty leather suitcase. The suitcase was filled with hundreds of letters sent by Schindler in the 1940s and 1960s, piles of newspaper clippings, photographs, insurance documents, mortgage certificates, sketches of the location of Schindler's factories, and so on, the most precious of which was this "Schindler's List." Schindler's List is not just a relic, it is a symbol, part of the spiritual heritage of mankind.
Schindler's List was released in the United States in the first week of December 1993 and is 195 minutes long. The slaughter of nazi genocide in Germany in World War II has always been a nightmare in the hearts of the Jews and one of the most tragic tragedies in modern human history. Schindler's story has been controversial for years, like a "mystery" in the long river of history.
Under the restoration of director Spielberg, this real history shocked the hearts of every audience. It is "a film made by a director full of humanitarian spirit". Director Spielberg, with a sincere and humble heart, successfully used color and sound to dedicate an almost perfect film to the world.
After the disaster, it is like a new life. The world should remember the ring that the Jews gave to the righteous Schindler in gratitude, and the old Hebrew verse above: Whoever saves a life saves the whole world.
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