Discuss the Central Themes of the Film Text Schindlers List

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In the viewed text Schindlers List, directed by Steven Spielberg, different techniques are used to explore the central themes. Schindlers list is a movie about a true story revolving around a German man, Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of more than a thousand refugees during the Holocaust by employing them into his factory to make enamelware for the war and depression. The central themes in the text illustrate the events that occurred and the significance of what Oskar Schindler did for the Polish Jews and the generations that came after World War II. The precious stories of the surviving Polish Jews that worked with Oskar Schindler help shape the movie adding realism to the film. The use of sound, lighting and colour were very powerful techniques that were used to express characters, emotions and different concepts. Schindlers List begins with a Jewish family sitting down for Sabbath, lighting candles and singing Jewish hymns. The very first symbol is the idea of the candle and the light being extinguished, just like the lives that were extinguished during the Holocaust. The colour starts to fade from the scene and only the fire from the Shabbat candlesticks is in colour. The burning fire blows out and the movie fades to black and white symbolising what was then and the dark times that the Jewish people will be facing. Also the black and white symbolises the documentary feel to the movie. The realism of the events that happened on the movie and what actually happened during Hitler’s reign. Candles represent mortality, the flame burning down the wax is like saying you can't run from the inevitable, which is death. However at the end scene when we once again see the burning candle, but this time the inevitability has been overcome through Oscars actions, as there are 1100 Jews saved. Even though it may seem like a small amount compared to the millions killed,

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