Schindler’s List
RELEASE DATE 1993
Steven Spielberg received a bit of a critical
mauling for ignoring the entire six million
who lost their lives in the Holocaust, but
this movie still remains heart-wrenching,
tear-jerking stuff. His effort to zero in on
1000 or so fortunate survivors, as a way to
highlight the larger tragedy, nevertheless
works. He brings his unique touch to a story
that’s about the dichotomy of man: within
us all is the power to commit unspeakable
acts of evil alongside the power to do
untold acts of kindness. The story is based
on the efforts of one Oskar Schindler –
played here by Liam Neeson – a man who
chose to help as many Jews as possible
through his business endeavours, proving
that in our darkest hours, there is light.war films
Come and See
RELEASE DATE 1985
Some of the most horrific images shot by wartime correspondents include children. They’re innocents, in the wrong
place at the wrong time. It’s that child’s eye view of war which drives home the horrors of the Nazi-occupied Soviet
Republic in Come and See. Inspired by the experiences of a survivor, the movie follows young lad Florya (Aleksey
Kravchenko) as he’s lured away from his family to help fight the Resistance. It’s only when he attempts to return
home that he witnesses the hallucinatory terrors implied by the title (e.g. villagers herded into a church, into which
grenades are then thrown). Hard-hitting in its unflinching approach to the material, there’s no stone unturned when
it comes the atrocities the Nazis committed in Belarus.