With any crisis, there are those who look in from without and those who look out from within. Observing both of these perspectives allows an individual to completely understand the big picture and appreciate the magnitude or full sentiment of the event. Two phenomenal films, directed by two phenomenal individuals, shed light on history’s greatest atrocity, known as the Holocaust, in just this fashion – Schindler’s List and The Pianist.

War is a favorite theme of many film directors owing to the sheer drama associated with it. There is an endless list of human emotions and stories associated with war, including all the possible favorites of movie goers—romance, tragedy, brutality, comradeship, and much more. Yet even among wars and their associated moments, one stands out as a predominantly featured theme— World War II and the Holocaust. The Holocaust is widely acknowledged as one of the most brutal and tragic events of recorded history, and has been repeatedly covered by film directors attempting to depict its horror and evil. The two enthralling films, Schindler's List and The Pianist, offer divergent viewpoints of this condemned period as part of this attempt to unveil the darkness and gloom of the Holocaust.

A Basic Difference


While the two films cover the same event, they are drastically different in various aspects. Based on a real life story, Schindler’s List deals with the protagonist Oskar Schindler’s quests to rescue and protect the Jews from fascist Nazi-run concentration camps. Starting off as a money-oriented businessman, Schindler grows increasingly compassionate as he witnesses the atrocities committed against the Jewish people and devotes his efforts to saving as many of them as possible. Meanwhile, The Pianist follows the journey of Polish-Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman who suffers under the vile treatment of his race by Nazi followers. While Schindler is an outsider seeking a way to salvage those within, Szpilman is a direct victim desperately trying to find a way out from all the chaos and bloodshed. In that sense, Szpilman is a character who Schindler would have attempted to rescue, and thus the films differ from each other even in their basic premise and setting.

   
▲ A girl wearing a red coat during evacuation. This colored scene stands out from the predominantly black and white film. Provided by www.highdefdiscnews.com

Acting it Out


In both movies, the main actors stand out as one of the key factors that contribute to the success and quality of the films. Liam Neeson, acting out the role of Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List, accurately portrays the internal changes the character experiences as he undergoes the covert operation to rescue persecuted Jews. His acting out of the final outburst, wailing for the failure of saving an additional Jewish individual, is simply heart touching. Apart from such, Neeson naturally brings out Schindler’s trait of subtlety, which plays an essential role in the panning out of the plot. While in some of his later movies Neeson has received more critical acclaim for his role as action heroes including Qui Gon Jinn from Star Wars: the Phantom Menace and Brian Mills from Taken, Neeson reveals through this film his capacity for acting out the main character in one of the most dramatic and emotional films in film history.


Meanwhile, Adrien Brody's rendition of Szpilman in The Pianist is nothing short of amazing. He realistically portrays the psychological state of a respectable man who has to suffer through a major fall from his previously well-endowed life to an abyssal one. As a film placing central focus on the effects of the Holocaust, The Pianist needs an actor who can refrain from being the saved-the-day man and be droll as a realistic victim of the incident. Brody carries out this role to near perfection. He highlights the essential traits of his character and acts them out in front of the camera as if he were really living the character’s life

Colors and Moods

Both films incorporate the use of colors to amplify the visual pleasure provided by the screen. Yet even in this aspect, the two films differ in significant points. Schindler’s List begins in color then gradually pales into black and gray, signifying the protagonist's melancholy and deepened psychological development. The Pianist starts off in black and gray and changes into color, matching the increasing pace and excitement of the film.

   
▲ Wladyslaw Szpilman, the Jewish pianist, plays the piano. Provided by whatculture.com

This is a clear indication of the diverging methods that each film uses to portray the Holocaust. Schindler’s List presents the event in a grand and theatrical manner, introducing a hero that rescued many of the tragedy’s victims and contrasting him with a major villain. On the other hand, The Pianist presents it in a much more bleak, dire, and cold manner, in which a man desperately attempts to simply stay alive.

Masterminds


Schindler’s List is directed by renowned blockbuster master Steven Spielberg. While Spielberg is more acknowledged for such sci-fi films as Star Wars and Jurassic Park, his successful rendition of a real-life story as a tear-inducing human drama film reveals that he is capable of making much more than mere eye and ear fascinators.


On the other hand, director of The Pianist Roman Polanski is an individual much more familiar with the Holocaust. As a real life survivor and victim of the Holocaust, Polanski realistically depicts the situation during the Holocaust and agonizing emotions that cannot be expressed by anyone else who has not experienced such horrors.


Yet even with that in mind, Schindler’s List is definitely the stronger and more dramatic film of the two. It allows the viewers to delve deeper into their emotions and truly experience both the suffering and the warmth the film has to offer. In that respect, it seems that Spielberg’s style of and specialty in mind-blowing, flashy films is demonstrated in this two hour ride of emotional waves.


On the other hand, Polanski creates a much more down-to-earth and grim film to relay his view of the Holocaust to his viewers. While Spielberg may have been a better director in terms of his finesse and skills with producing a motion picture, Polanski touches the audience with a more realistic, first-hand experience on enduring the Holocaust.

Listening to See Better


The Pianist is a film that, as its name obviously implies, places special emphasis on music. While the soundtracks from most motion pictures are devoted to supporting and accompanying the mood of the visual images, most of the tracks in The Pianist are classical compositions by the great Chopin, which in itself holds significant musical value. With that being said, however, the musical pieces do still suffer from the limitations of following the general theme and mood of the film. Accordingly the pieces entail a very heavy temperament, expressing the serious despair, sorrow, and depression of the events transpiring in the film.


Similarly, the musical score in Schindler’s List also has enough substance to be an aspect of the film to be reckoned with. The tracks are composed by John Williams, one of the greatest film composers in film history, who had collaborated with Spielberg prior to this film during the producing of Jurassic Park. As such, it is perhaps a given that the tracks in the film are all masterpieces. Yet even by John Williams’ usual standards, the musical score in Schindler’s List stands out. In fact, it is regarded by many musical critics as Williams’ best creation. A special aspect of these tracks is their simplicity. As with the pieces from The Pianist, the tracks focus on bringing out the romance and heartbreak of the film through major harmonic turns and melodies.


While the two films are on the same topic, each views the Holocaust from a different perspective. Schindler’s List shows the heroic conquest of an individual looking in, and The Pianist reveals the desperate survival attempt of an individual looking out. Yet despite the differences, both films hold enough value for both the audience and film industry. The film leaves film viewers contemplating the nature of war and how it renders people to change in ways they could never have imagined in their wildest dreams. The films are must-sees for any film maniac and also highly recommendable for any individual looking for heart-wrenching drama films.

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