Worshipping False Gods: Schindler’s List
How many times have we been found in front of a stone god? How many times have we been to Mecca to pray? How many times have we attended church on Sunday?
Many times!
However, how many times, each in these situations, do we realize the necessity for proving the validity of our wishful thinking? I am not going to go into an eternal debate questioning the existence of God, or even speak of religion. All that I am asking is can we for sure ever know whether someone is listening to what we have to say? Or more importantly, what we always hope for, will someone listening to us actually do anything about the situation that we are in? Apparently not! There is a willing suspension of disbelief and we let ourselves go out of it just so that a challenge is changed into an opportunity — and that too through some miracle, not through self-accomplishment. But that is again drifting away from what my point completely is!
But this is challenging! Because what I am about to say, has both parts to it in equal density. Not only will I need to talk about a man who heard when he was called out to, but the people had to also pitch in to get what he delivered. That is where the crux of the whole argument lies. And before I go into my actual argument, let me first tell all my readers to realize and comprehend that what I am going to talk about is a true incident!
And then, came the movie. The man, Oskar Schindler was finally brought into the light by a Jew, Steven Spielberg. At times I do not know which is greater—the man or the movie. But then again, I rationalise and come to the conclusion that perhaps it is the man, who gave the director the impetus and the module to make something as grand as this. This is one of the best movies made by Spielberg and comprehensively then, comes into the category of one of the finest outputs of the cinematic medium ever composed globally.
The picture begins right in the eye of the storm. The Germans are still capturing and killing Jews by the millions—forcing them to concentrate in freshly developed Ghettos, and then after the mathematics and statistics are worked out, making them come face to face with a bullet. That is the crux of World War II and that is where Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) walks in.
He is just a businessman, a member of the Nazi Party, who intends producing material that can be used by the German Army. As he points out to his accountant (Ben Kingsley), he would only be concerned with the show of his factory, what we today mark as PR and Marketing. Therefore we see him at German parties, jostling with the bigwigs of the Army and getting them drunk enough to approve of his estimate and provide him with all the orders.
But he doesn’t stop there. The initial capital for his company is floated by the Jews. After all, they knew that they were going to die. So rather they invest their money and get something back for it, “which they could use in the black market for some use.” A sharp business move yet! But his affair with the Jews does not stop there. He needs workers and there is a sharp paucity of the same. There were hoards of Jews being dug out from all corners of the country and marred in idleness. So he gets most of them approved as essential workers and begins production. An even sharper business move!
Now however, the word is out that no one dies at Schindler’s factory. And there are also these Jews working for him, who are alive and have not faced the bullet primarily because they are “Essential Workers”. Therefore, they start thinking and believing that he is God. He comes to them as a Messiah and changes their destiny. Every time one of his Jews die due to German arrogance, he rakes up the whole German Army and SS think-tank and makes a issue out of it—therefore ‘Schindler’s List’ is dealt with somewhat precariously.
But as always there are always moments that change you completely. Gone riding in the hills, Schindler witnesses the infamous liquidation of the ghettos from a bird’s eye-view and is shaken forever. This is where the movie goes a step over the man, when in a black and white frame, Spielberg brings forth a little girl in scarlet, walking by the stricken people, running away from something that she cannot understand. It is innocence there on the road, a child who cannot find a reason or a cause for whatever was happening there. And yet she walks, jumbles and runs. And then she goes into an empty room, and hides under a bed—to save herself. And as she pulls her head in, she changes from red to black and white. Innocence murdered!
And it is just not the audience that is pulled in by that—Oskar Schindler too can’t see anymore. His eyes shake in horror as he sees his people being killed, a whole religion being wiped out from the surface of the earth, a genocide! And then, as he sits grappling with what he saw, a woman comes in, a Jew, and asks him to take her mother and father into his factory, as it is believed that “no one here ever dies. You are God, Mr. Schindler!”
It is rather difficult to carry this weight on your shoulders and even Schindler is rattled to his very core. He talks to his accountant about it and is furious as people consider him to be a divine form. He is just human! But then he comes to terms with the faith that these people have on him. He tells Stern that he has made a lot of money and now he wants to use it to save the Jews. He bribes officials and asks them to lend him the Jews, so that he can start an armament factory for the German Army. He spends every penny in running a non-productive factory and bribing officials—right till the point where Stern comes to him and asks, “Do you have some money stored somewhere which I do not know of?”
And then the German Army gives in to the Allies. Schindler gathers his workers and tells them that he shall have to flee because the Allies wouldn’t be too fond of a man producing guns for the Germans. As a token of farewell, the Jews make him a gold ring and hand it to him along with the letter that, would explain things in the event of his being captured. And then we see Spielberg and Neeson take over. Schindler breaks down before his people. He sees the gold ring and tells Stern that if he knew he has that much gold with him, gold enough to make a thin ring, he would have sold it to save more Jews. He tries to reason as to why he had maintained his car, when he could have sold it and again, saved more Jews. He collapses in Stern’s arms, who tries to reassure him that he did all he possibly could. But there is no consoling Oskar Schindler. And then the greatest spectacle in cinematic history grips the scene. All his workers, each and every one of them, cling on to him and crumble with him. There saviour now had to flee while they were free. The man who staked everything was the one who was now facing the axe. Personally, I don’t think I have ever cried that much for anything—celluloid or otherwise! That scene alone was worth the price of the ticket, if not much more!
And well after the movie was over, you sit and grapple with whatever you have just seen. And if you could just feel it the way I did, all you do is sit and ask yourself, “Did this really happen? Could a man do this? Could he stake everything that he ever possessed just to save people that he had no connection with? Why, this man is God!”
It is definitely a brush with the divine. Even though we were not of that age, of that period, just seeing the movie and learning about it from third difference is enough to shatter you. With stunning visuals and breathtaking musical support, it gives the impetus that we all need to understand. Worship your Gods by all means, but do pass a thought for someone who lived and acted in the way we want things to be! Spare a thought for a man who never liked to be called God, but yet did more than what we get through divine ordeals. Then perhaps you can realise that to be human is to be divine. That we all have the power in us to do something for others... And when man takes care of man, maybe we can all sail into the sunset, free and strong.
How many times have we been found in front of a stone god? How many times have we been to Mecca to pray? How many times have we attended church on Sunday?
Many times!
However, how many times, each in these situations, do we realize the necessity for proving the validity of our wishful thinking? I am not going to go into an eternal debate questioning the existence of God, or even speak of religion. All that I am asking is can we for sure ever know whether someone is listening to what we have to say? Or more importantly, what we always hope for, will someone listening to us actually do anything about the situation that we are in? Apparently not! There is a willing suspension of disbelief and we let ourselves go out of it just so that a challenge is changed into an opportunity — and that too through some miracle, not through self-accomplishment. But that is again drifting away from what my point completely is!
But this is challenging! Because what I am about to say, has both parts to it in equal density. Not only will I need to talk about a man who heard when he was called out to, but the people had to also pitch in to get what he delivered. That is where the crux of the whole argument lies. And before I go into my actual argument, let me first tell all my readers to realize and comprehend that what I am going to talk about is a true incident!
And then, came the movie. The man, Oskar Schindler was finally brought into the light by a Jew, Steven Spielberg. At times I do not know which is greater—the man or the movie. But then again, I rationalise and come to the conclusion that perhaps it is the man, who gave the director the impetus and the module to make something as grand as this. This is one of the best movies made by Spielberg and comprehensively then, comes into the category of one of the finest outputs of the cinematic medium ever composed globally.
The picture begins right in the eye of the storm. The Germans are still capturing and killing Jews by the millions—forcing them to concentrate in freshly developed Ghettos, and then after the mathematics and statistics are worked out, making them come face to face with a bullet. That is the crux of World War II and that is where Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) walks in.
He is just a businessman, a member of the Nazi Party, who intends producing material that can be used by the German Army. As he points out to his accountant (Ben Kingsley), he would only be concerned with the show of his factory, what we today mark as PR and Marketing. Therefore we see him at German parties, jostling with the bigwigs of the Army and getting them drunk enough to approve of his estimate and provide him with all the orders.
But he doesn’t stop there. The initial capital for his company is floated by the Jews. After all, they knew that they were going to die. So rather they invest their money and get something back for it, “which they could use in the black market for some use.” A sharp business move yet! But his affair with the Jews does not stop there. He needs workers and there is a sharp paucity of the same. There were hoards of Jews being dug out from all corners of the country and marred in idleness. So he gets most of them approved as essential workers and begins production. An even sharper business move!
Now however, the word is out that no one dies at Schindler’s factory. And there are also these Jews working for him, who are alive and have not faced the bullet primarily because they are “Essential Workers”. Therefore, they start thinking and believing that he is God. He comes to them as a Messiah and changes their destiny. Every time one of his Jews die due to German arrogance, he rakes up the whole German Army and SS think-tank and makes a issue out of it—therefore ‘Schindler’s List’ is dealt with somewhat precariously.
But as always there are always moments that change you completely. Gone riding in the hills, Schindler witnesses the infamous liquidation of the ghettos from a bird’s eye-view and is shaken forever. This is where the movie goes a step over the man, when in a black and white frame, Spielberg brings forth a little girl in scarlet, walking by the stricken people, running away from something that she cannot understand. It is innocence there on the road, a child who cannot find a reason or a cause for whatever was happening there. And yet she walks, jumbles and runs. And then she goes into an empty room, and hides under a bed—to save herself. And as she pulls her head in, she changes from red to black and white. Innocence murdered!
And it is just not the audience that is pulled in by that—Oskar Schindler too can’t see anymore. His eyes shake in horror as he sees his people being killed, a whole religion being wiped out from the surface of the earth, a genocide! And then, as he sits grappling with what he saw, a woman comes in, a Jew, and asks him to take her mother and father into his factory, as it is believed that “no one here ever dies. You are God, Mr. Schindler!”
It is rather difficult to carry this weight on your shoulders and even Schindler is rattled to his very core. He talks to his accountant about it and is furious as people consider him to be a divine form. He is just human! But then he comes to terms with the faith that these people have on him. He tells Stern that he has made a lot of money and now he wants to use it to save the Jews. He bribes officials and asks them to lend him the Jews, so that he can start an armament factory for the German Army. He spends every penny in running a non-productive factory and bribing officials—right till the point where Stern comes to him and asks, “Do you have some money stored somewhere which I do not know of?”
And then the German Army gives in to the Allies. Schindler gathers his workers and tells them that he shall have to flee because the Allies wouldn’t be too fond of a man producing guns for the Germans. As a token of farewell, the Jews make him a gold ring and hand it to him along with the letter that, would explain things in the event of his being captured. And then we see Spielberg and Neeson take over. Schindler breaks down before his people. He sees the gold ring and tells Stern that if he knew he has that much gold with him, gold enough to make a thin ring, he would have sold it to save more Jews. He tries to reason as to why he had maintained his car, when he could have sold it and again, saved more Jews. He collapses in Stern’s arms, who tries to reassure him that he did all he possibly could. But there is no consoling Oskar Schindler. And then the greatest spectacle in cinematic history grips the scene. All his workers, each and every one of them, cling on to him and crumble with him. There saviour now had to flee while they were free. The man who staked everything was the one who was now facing the axe. Personally, I don’t think I have ever cried that much for anything—celluloid or otherwise! That scene alone was worth the price of the ticket, if not much more!
And well after the movie was over, you sit and grapple with whatever you have just seen. And if you could just feel it the way I did, all you do is sit and ask yourself, “Did this really happen? Could a man do this? Could he stake everything that he ever possessed just to save people that he had no connection with? Why, this man is God!”
It is definitely a brush with the divine. Even though we were not of that age, of that period, just seeing the movie and learning about it from third difference is enough to shatter you. With stunning visuals and breathtaking musical support, it gives the impetus that we all need to understand. Worship your Gods by all means, but do pass a thought for someone who lived and acted in the way we want things to be! Spare a thought for a man who never liked to be called God, but yet did more than what we get through divine ordeals. Then perhaps you can realise that to be human is to be divine. That we all have the power in us to do something for others... And when man takes care of man, maybe we can all sail into the sunset, free and strong.
