History YMMV / SchindlersList

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: During the Liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto, one man in a white coat (most likely a pharmacist) drags his almost dead wife with him (at the 1:03:15 mark). A German soldier tells him to leave his wife since she is as good as dead. The pharmacist begs to take her with him, after which the soldier kills her. This could be interpreted as a cruel act by the soldier. On the other hand, [[CruelToBeKind the soldier might have done that to at least save the man]]. By dragging his wife, the pharmacist risks his own life as well, since the trigger happy SS soldiers probably do not like to be slowed down. By killing the woman, who was almost dead anyway, the soldier at least gave the man a chance to live. It also speaks for the soldier that he is actually talking in a normal tone to the pharmacist, instead of shouting like all the others do.

** For all of the quibbles, the trope was averted overall by the Academy, as voters showered the film with 7 Awards, including Spielberg's first ever competitive Oscars for Directing and Producing (coming years after getting passed over for his more commercial pictures). It also remains the only Spielberg film to win a Best Picture Prize.

* CatharsisFactor:
** Schindler, against all odds, saves over 1,000 workers from being executed until he goes broke. When he starts sobbing down on thinking he could have saved more, the survivors let him know what they think: with a giant CooldownHug and GroupHug, as thanks for risking his life and livelihood for theirs. It's cathartic for Schindler as well, who can leave with dignity and knowing while he didn't rescue everyone, he made a difference.
** [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. Amon Goeth's execution scene is relatively brief, lasting less than a minute, and after all the suffering he caused, he [[DefiantToTheEnd lacks the decency]] [[VillainousBreakdown to plead for undeserved mercy]]. Only true comforting thing is that he's dead and that's that.

** Schindler put himself at great personal peril by going well out of his way to save as many Jewish people as he could and for his efforts he loses his fortune and has to go into exile. Not only that, but he can't even take pride in his incredible heroism, instead sobbing madly thinking of all the people he didn't save.

* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct He Really Can Direct]]: Before this film, critics treated Creator/StevenSpielberg with only a grudging respect at best, seeing him as a maker of crowd-pleasing but ultimately frivolous {{summer blockbuster}}s and (together with Creator/GeorgeLucas) blaming him for ending the experimental UsefulNotes/NewHollywood period and ushering in the more commercial [[UsefulNotes/TheBlockbusterAgeOfHollywood Blockbuster Age of Hollywood]]. This was the movie that forced critics to recognize him not just as an audience favorite, but as a legitimate talent and auteur.

* EvilIsSexy: Amon Goeth is a thoroughly evil individual, but he still has Creator/RalphFiennes's [[WhatBeautifulEyes beautiful eyes]], smooth voice and dashing good looks, even with the addition of a notable beer belly.

** Itzhak Perlman, the Jewish violinist who provided the theme, considered it to be the most important decision he ever made in his career. At first, he said he wasn't going to be involved in such a movie... and then he saw how well Spielberg did it.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Goeth is so evil that many viewers might assume that he's a fictional character, that he's a CompositeCharacter of some sort, or that his deeds are exaggerated. Unfortunately, this isn't true; if anything, his monstrousness is actually [[HistoricalVillainDowngrade toned down]]. In RealLife, there's evidence that he personally killed at least five hundred people and caused the deaths of thousands more. In fact, his treatment of prisoners at Kraków-Płaszów was so horrific that his superiors eventually removed him from his position as commandant of the camp, and later had him sent to an insane asylum when they came to suspect that he was mentally ill. Yes: his treatment of prisoners was considered horrific even by the standards of the SS.

* EvilIsSexy: Amon Goeth is a thoroughly evil individual, but he still has Creator/RalphFiennes's [[WhatBeautifulEyes beautiful eyes]].

** Every single one of the Jewish people, since the target of the Holocaust was Jewish people in an attempt to completely wipe out their entire people. Others died too (Romani, Polish intellectuals, disabled and mentally impaired, Soviet [=POWs=]) but the Nazis themselves saw the Jewish people as the main target of their murder machinery. The fact that the Jews were the main target of the Holocaust has sometimes been obscured although it should not be.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Goeth is so evil that many viewers might assume that he's a fictional character, that he's a CompositeCharacter of some sort, or that his deeds are exaggerated. Unfortunately, this isn't true; if anything, his monstrousness is actually [[HistoricalVillainDowngrade toned down]]. In RealLife, there's evidence that he personally killed at least five hundred people and caused the deaths of thousands more. In fact, his treatment of prisoners at Kraków-Płaszów was so horrific that his superiors eventually removed him from his position as commandant of the camp, and later had him sent to an insane asylum when they came to suspect that he was mentally ill. Yes: his treatment of prisoners was considered horrific [[UpToEleven even by the standards of the SS]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Goeth is so evil that many viewers might assume that he's a fictional character, that he's a CompositeCharacter of some sort, or that his deeds are exaggerated. Unfortunately, this isn't true; if anything, his monstrousness is actually [[HistoricalVillainDowngrade toned down]]. In RealLife, there's evidence that he personally killed at least five hundred people and caused the deaths of thousands more. In fact, his treatment of prisoners at Kraków-Płaszów was so horrific that his superiors eventually removed him from his position as commandant of the camp, and later had him sent to an insane asylum when they came to suspect that he was mentally ill. Yes: his treatment of prisoners was considered horrific [[EvenEvilHasStandards even by the standards of the SS]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Goeth is so evil that many viewers might assume that he's a fictional character, that he's a CompositeCharacter of some sort, or that his deeds are exaggerated. Unfortunately, this isn't true; if anything, his monstrousness is actually [[HistoricalVillainDowngrade toned down]]. In RealLife, there's evidence that he personally killed at least five hundred people and caused the deaths of thousands more. In fact, his treatment of prisoners at Kraków-Płaszów was so horrific that his superiors eventually removed him from his position as commandant of the camp, and later had him sent to an insane asylum when they came to suspect that he was mentally ill. Yes: his treatment of prisoners was considered horrific even by the standards of the SS.

** Spielberg made several changes from the source material; in particular, he exaggerated Schindler's journey from [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money-grubbing]] {{Jerkass}} to hero. In the book and in real life, Schindler was trying to save as many Jews as possible almost from the moment the Final Solution was implemented. He even traveled to Budapest, Hungary and met with representatives of Jewish organizations there to tell them what was happening in Poland as early as 1942.

* CriticalResearchFailure: The Israeli song ''Yerushalayim Shel Zahav'' ("Jerusalem of Gold") is prominently featured near the end of the film, playing as the Schindler Jews leave the factory for the final time. When the film was first shown in Israel, local audiences were amused by this scene because this song was written in 1967, and is closely identified with the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Six-Day War]].[[note]]The song was originally performed less than a month before the war, and the original songwriter added a third verse immediately after the war.[[/note]] The song was immediately replaced for all Israeli showings (and for all Israeli home video releases) by ''Halika [=LeKaysarya=]'' ("A Walk to Caesarea"), also known as "Eli, Eli"—a song that ''is'' Israel's unofficial Holocaust anthem. However, it should be noted that even this song is a minor example of this trope, as its lyrics are a poem written in 1942 and not set to music until 1945.

* OffendingTheCreatorsOwn: Some viewers who are ignorant of certain Jewish customs believe the GraveMarkingScene where the ''Schindlerjuden'' put rocks on Schindler's grave stereotypes them as [[AllJewsAreCheapskates miserly]]. The movie's director, Creator/StevenSpielberg, is Jewish himself.

** Creator/RalphFiennes was also conspicuously missing from the Best Villain ballot at the MTV Movie Awards that year. It's especially glaring considering the [[Film/JurassicPark T-Rex]] was on the ballot that year instead. He ''was'' nominated for Breakthrough Performance though.

** [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. Amon Goeth's execution scene is relatively brief, lasting less than a minute, and after all the suffering he caused, he [[DefiantToTheEnd lacks the decency]] [[VillainousBreakdown to plead for undeserved mercy]].