Schindler: The Documentary

I would have loved to watch this documentary narrated by Ben Kingsley. However, the narration was drowned out by the music! I was shocked at this. I've always been interested in the story of Oskar Schindler. Speilberg's 'Schindler's List' captivated me and gave me insight on the Holocaust. Schindler, in the movie, was a hard fellow (for me) to understand his true motives, but I walked away from the movie applauding him in what I believed was his true motives in saving a substantial number of Jewish people from persecution and death. I would have enjoyed (I think) watching this documentary, but I had to turn it off within 5 minutes. I'm still at awe that the narration on this film was so low. So disappointing.

For those who saw Schindler's List, I recommend this movie. This gives a really quick look at where Spielberg cribbed most of his ideas. Most of the poignant moments which he presents are covered in vivid detail in this documentary released over ten years before his "magnum opus." Hmmm.

Aside from capitalising on an astonishing selection of (sometimes quite harrowing) archive, this documentary also presents us with an insightful array of interviews with many of the survivors of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during the 1940s. Abhorred by the activities of the National Socialists, local industrialist Oskar Schindler manages to convince the authorities that using the Jewish population as disposable manual labour was a better use of their numbers than just sending them to a concentration or labour camps. For a while, this served a dual function in supporting the war machine in a convincing fashion for their oppressors but it also enabled Schindler to systematically smuggle hundreds of people to safety. As the tide of the war started to turn, his abilities - and his own personal security - became compromised as desperation increasingly took over and their situations became even more precarious. The poignant contributions from those who survived adds huge richness to a story of unbelievable cruelty and horrors with some penetrating commentaries supporting the plentiful and potently brutal imagery. What's also quite interesting here is that it doesn't paint a picture of Schindler as some sort of saint. Questions are asked about his motivation at the beginning of the war and occasionally throughout as the end of the war exposed him to considerable risk and he had to rely on his erstwhile employees to ensure his escape from the approaching Soviets. His closing years are discussed, though not really illustrated, and they make for really rather sad watching as drink and depression took it's toll on a man largely reduced to poverty and generous hand-outs. This is an effective and affecting film that tells real stories of real people from their own mouths, with a minimum of speculative third party or narrative extrapolation, and it asks plenty of questions about fear, terror and complicity too.

On the occasion of the Smithsonian's inclusion of Stephen Spielberg's "Schindler's List" to its film registry, I must second Titus Levy, who has pointed out, that this documentary is obviously the inspiration for the lionized "List".

I saw "Schindler, The Documentary" back in the early 80s, when it was made. I was so impressed that I recorded it. After watching it again, recently, I can still say, that this is a remarkable documentary, which has been shamefully neglected.

Beginning with a lovely string trio played by survivors, The Documentary relies on archival footage and commentaries by the actual people who owe their lives to Schindler. Since The Documentary lets the story tell itself, the ambiguity of Schindler's motives has not been lost; however, just as Spielberg's "List" would do later, it concludes that what Schindler accomplished makes cavils about his motives seem churlish indeed.

"Schindler, the Documentary" deserves a far greater audience and acclaim than it has received.