COMMUNICATION:
Media, Arts, & Society | February 27, 1994
SCHINDLER'S
ENIGMA
An
Unpublished Letter to
Calendar
Letters, in Los Angeles Times
In your article on documentary-maker Jon Blair,
he says that "I always felt it was a weakness in my film that
I couldn't explain Schindler's motivation [as a Nazi saving
Jews], and Spielberg told me the same about his -- it seems
impossible to crack that enigma." Perhaps not.
After experiencing Mr. Spielberg's Schindler's
List (merely "watching" seems a wholly inadequate term),
what I came away with was this: Whether he was developing
industry; enjoying wine, women, and song; or saving helpless
souls from the death camps, Herr Schindler was utterly submerged
in a "lust for life" (I believe the Jewish expression is l'chaim)
-- he thus stood in stark contrast to those who wore the
skull-and-cross-bones on their uniforms.
It was, thus, not out of character for the real
Schindler to have said in that 1973 documentary, as you
mentioned, that he saved all the Jews he could simply because he
couldn't stand all the killing: A lesson as vital -- and
timeless -- as Schindler's List is deserving of Oscars®.
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