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Analysis

Analysis

Symbols and Tropes

Hero's Journey

Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...

Setting

PolandThe movie takes place in and around the city of Krakow, Poland and the nearby territory: mostly in the Jewish ghetto set up after the Nazis conquered the country, and the Plaszow labor camp s...

Point of View

Third-Person OmniscientSpielberg chose to shoot this movie the way he might if he were really there filming what took place in Krakow. That means a lot of the narrative bells and whistles go out th...

Genre

Historical DramaSchindler's List is a historical drama, presenting a slightly fictionalized account of events that actually took place, in an effort to illuminate our understanding of them…or may...

What's Up With the Title?

The title comes from the original source novel by Thomas Keneally, first published in 1982. It was actually only titled Schindler's List in the U.S. In Europe, it was Schindler's Ark. The title was...

What's Up With the Ending?

Fortunately, Shmoop went to Costco before watching Schindler's List and purchased a 12-pack of Kleenex Ultra. If you're not reduced to tears during the film's final scene, then either you're all cr...

Shock Rating

RThis is a film about the Holocaust. To sugarcoat what happens is the same thing as saying "what happened to the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe really wasn't so bad." That ain't gonna happen, not wit...