“One death is a tragedy, while a thousand deaths are a statistic.”Spielberg wanted us to think of the six million not as a statistic, but as individual human beings.
It should be remembered that that quote came from the mouth of Joseph Stalin; a demonic monstrosity and mass murderer. Of course there is some truth in what he said, in that the individual tragedy gets diluted in the mass tragedy but thankfully most people can see the horror of both. To Stalin, either were fair game as 30M of his own people found out.
At the Ann Frank House all there's a placard that says this: "One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did but whose faces have remained in the shadows. Perhaps it is better that way; if we were capable of taking in all the suffering of all those people, we would not be able to live." - Primo Levi
I think it's worth noting that a toddler girl is the literal picture of innocence. The girl in red stands out because she is innocent. She is perfect, a newborn child, old enough to see the world but not old enough to be corrupted by it. And yet, she too falls prey to the atrocities of the holocaust. To tie this in to your theme of humanity, the girl in red serves to demonstrate the emotional magnitude of the monstrosity that was the holocaust. No one was spared from suffering, not even an innocent little girl.
Also it serves as the symbolization on how Schindler viewed the massacre. Schindler's face looks genuinely horrified when he sees a child in the red coat also is not spared from the brutality of that act. Remember before this scene.. Schindler was a womanizer and a profiteer. The girl with a red coat scene (the only color in the film) is the turning point of Schindler's attitude later in the film. Oh. And especially after the scene of "Chujowa Gorka" where Schindler finally seen the aftermath of the liquidation & he noticed the remain of the girl in the red coat..
I think your explanation is better than that of the video creator. When I watched the movie and saw the girl in the red coat, I thought that she was going to be a token of human survival; of life continuing and surviving in the face of horror. I can remember vividly the moment when her body was shown on the cart, having been slaughtered like all of the others. It was gut wrenching. I think that was the message; that there were few moments of redemption amid the squalor and bestiality of the Holocaust.
Totally agree. I wrote an essay on the film back in Jr. High for one of my classes and my focus was her. I still remember that I titled it “Marked Innocence”. She is there in the film, and, outsold of the part at the end where they visit Schindler’s grave, her coat is the on,y part of the film that is in colour for a reason.
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, said in his autobiographical book about his experience in the Holocaust, Night, that the last sight he ever saw of his little seven year old sister, Tzipora, was her walking away in her little red coat. He was taken straight to the gas chambers when he and his family arrived at Auschwitz along with his mother. He didn’t know it then, but that was the last he’d ever see them. He says that her little red coat was burned into his memory. I always thought, in part, this was a tribute to his experience. Same age approximately of the girl, same innocence, same little red coat, same needless violence and tragedy.
You say that he was taken straight to the gas chambers when he arrived but he obviously survived to write his autobiography . How did he manage to escape the chambers. Have you any idea.
@@chocolatechipkookie3439 in the book Elie and his father are separated from his mother and Tzipora once they enter Auschwitz. If I remember correctly they are immediately lined up at fire pits and pushed in, but before the line reaches Elie and his father, they are redirected to the barracks. The men were more useful in the labor agendas of the concentration camps than the women, so the women (Elie's mother and Tzipora) were executed almost immediately. It's a heart-shattering book from beginning to end; I'd really recommend reading it.
She's not the only thing in color. There are also the candle flames, at the start which go from color to grey (as to show the loss of hope and the start of the war), and the candles at the end of the movie which go from grey to color, to show the return of hope after the war.
Geez, you missed the whole point to prove your right, well almost right. Strain at a knat and swallow a camel is addressed in the Bible. The younger generations today are led away by such nonsensical reasoning.
Me too. And I'm a so-called 'Alpha' male ! One of the most heart-breaking scenes I've ever watched in a film. That - and the ending of Stanley Kubrick's 'Spartacus' when the slave Kirk Douglas is crucified at the end of the film - and his 'free' child is presented to him by Jean Simmons as she flees from the Romans with Peter Ustinov.
I’ve only seen the movie a couple of times because it is so horrific and so well made the brutality is relentless. I was completely focused on the little girl in the red coat and when her body is seen in the cart I was crying too….
I watched Schindler’s list recently after having watched it many, many years ago and I think I blocked that part out of my memory 😭 I was shocked when I saw her remains. I genuinely did not remember that happened.
Don’t be sad. The child lived. The actual woman who was in that scene as a child saw it at the cinema and got in touch with Spielberg to say she had survived.
The girl in the red coat represents both an enigma and an epiphany. The observer starts by wondering, "Why does this one girl matter so much," then comes to realize that not only she, but all who suffered with her, truly matter.
I find it truely sad re their suffering but i find some Americans pitiful with their understanding of the genocide of other semetic peoples and children being blown to bits by usa bombs in gaza west bank and lebanon Smh. Hope you all repent of your gross sin to our Lord Jesus. Yourkilling christians . 60 per cent of lebanon are Christs. 2 per cent gaza christians. And west bank and arabian christians are the oldest Christian group in existence. Yet usa backs the theft and murder in occupied territories. No theres no hamas in west bank , only isresli t errorists and wicked murderous settlers. Love a christian jew
All good thoughts, but fyi the “red toddler” was real. Her name was Genia. Red was her favourite colour and she liked to wear it head to toe. She was particularly fond of her uncle. She was hidden with gentiles outside the ghetto but the gentiles returned her to her family in the ghetto for fear of nazi reprisals when she was 3. She showed some remarkable survival instincts for one so young. Schindler was shocked by the way the nazis treated her and that they didn’t try to hide their atrocities from her. From this, he understood that the nazis expected to leave no witnesses. They would try to kill everyone, down to the smallest child. Genia is the reason Schindler understood the true “final solution” and choose then to save who he could. She inspired the rescue, but she was a person, not just a cinematic technique.
I read Keneally's book years ago. In thr book, it's implied that she survives that particular roumd-up by hiding, but we never find out what happens to her afterwards.
I had this on vhs in the 90s. The end. Credits told that Schindler spent millions bribing the right Nazi leaders. Before the surrender!?!? The way I understood it. Then he failed in some 2 or more legitimate business which failed!!!!! He was a decent man at heart!!!!!
Why is the girl in color? It reminds us that she's a Person, and not just a character in the film. It sort-of drags us back to the reality, the 'life' of the film. It takes you out of the moment, but no more than it takes Oskar out of his horse ride, and stuns him .
Audrey Hepburn had a conversation with Speilberg years ago where she talked about her time in Holland during the Nazi occupation in WW2. She told him about seeing Jews being taken to a train station and how one little girl stood out as she was wearing a bright red coat, I believe this is where he got the inspiration for that scene.
I'm finding it hard to believe that no one seems to have read Thomas Keneally's novel 'Schindler's Ark' where the little girl in a red coat features prominently. Yes, Keneally did his research and read the other accounts. But it's there prior to Spielberg.
The girl in red is just a "highlighted beacon" for the audience to care about *Everyone* else in that situation. The girl is just "one more", but once you really stop to care about her, you unavoidably are "forced" to care about all others.
I studied this a lot when I was younger. It's been years since I've dived into that part of history because it's so dark and bleak. I may be wrong, it has been a long while, like I said - But I believe this little girl was the daughter of a prominent and wealthy Jewish judge. She was the youngest child of many. The mother put the bright red coat on the little girl, in case she wandered off they would be able to find her easier in the crowd. I was always under the assumption that she was purposefully made red in the movie because so many survivors accounts of what happened on that day also included this little girl in the bright red coat. She stood out to so many people. It was more than just a few who remembered her in their testimonials. Unfortunately, there was also a survivor of the camp who was forced to dig up bodies for burning who also included the little girl in the red coat in his testimonial.
That movie…I only watched it once…I can’t watch it again. I was seriously depressed for a couple weeks after seeing it. It’s an incredible movie, it should be shown in schools.
I only watched it as far as the little girl in the red coat was in the wagon. I couldn’t stop crying. It’s the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen. I have no desire to see it again. It affected me. It still does…
I agree. I’ve only seen it once. I knew about the atrocities, but seeing this movie really opened my eyes. Even just the way they went into peoples homes and wrecked everything for no reason except to terrorize them, and would rip the gold fillings out of your mouth!! I mean, I know there’s much worse, but I did learn from that movie
What the hell are you talking about, 2023 was an amazing year for movies. Killers of The Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, May December, The Holdovers, etc.
Moses: You know it is death to strike an Egyptian? Joshua: I know it. Moses: Yet you struck him. Why? Joshua: To save the old woman. Moses: What is she to you? Joshua: An old woman. Yup, people matter.
This is Spielberg's magnum opus but man it's a hard watch, that said it is a necessary one to educate us on what human beings are willing to do to other human beings
I've never forgotten the little girl in the red coat. My daughter was about the same age and had a red coat when the movie was released. As I watched her, I saw my daughter. My heart was stricken when she was deceased in that cart, still with her red coat.
In an interview with Steven Spielberg, he stated that the little girl in red represented the Allies who knew what was happening there and chose to do nothing. The red coat was death, the girl was innocence, and the world continued to ignore. So powerful! 😢
Spielberg’s labored explanation of the red coat was, I’m sure, news to every person who watched the movie. “The little girl in red represented the Allies . . .” Good luck with that!
It's a terrible rebuke of the Allies that their indifference compounded the Holocaust, but what was possible to stop it from occuring? The USA and the UK bombed Germany into rubble and the killing continued and when the end was near, the killing accelerated.
The girl in the red coat is a shout to the little sister of a holocaust survivor who became an author. Can't remember his name but i remember reading the book he wrote in school where he describes his little sister and a red coat she used to wear.
This scene was much deeper for me. I saw a little girl alone and afraid, too innocent to even understand what's happening. Someone's daughter ripped from her parents, nobody to protect her, left to die alone.. i cried when I saw her running down the street, only scene that truly brought me to tears. What an amazing and well directed movie showcasing the true horrors that took place during the holocaust.
I remember watching this movie, while in high school. My class (the only sophomores, who had been studying WWII, when it came out), was going to be allowed to go see this on Spielberg's dime. He paid for students who were studying WWII, to go see it. But this one administrator was being a douche canoe, and we weren't allowed to go, with the seniors and juniors, who were also studying. I was so pissed off. This same douche canoe, prevented us, from going to the Holocaust Museum on the day we asked for, instead giving it to someone else (even though we had put in for it, before anyone else). We were so mad at him, because the day that we wanted, was the same day Spielberg was there. We could have talked to him about all of this, but because of one jerk, we never got the chance to. I would have loved to hear him talk about this, but I don't think I will ever get the chance.
Speaking of which, since I was attending college when I learned a mind-blowing history lesson on how the MPAA ratings system started, I was hoping that the wave of teens I supposedly expected to be ushered over to the theaters for the 25th anniversary reissue in 2018 (especially those that’ve not yet reached the magic number of 17 at that point, which should serve as an obvious hint) were informed that it was at the point of that reissue when it was exactly twice as long since a certain milestone in the film industry entered the scene that was supposedly deemed essential in order to make that type of experience a reality. It was thanks to that particular experience during my college education that I managed to easily analyze this trailer bumper when it entered the scene that same year: ua-cam.com/video/Zdha3_xMMeU/v-deo.htmlsi=imyc5vRk3m81ib-y
The girl in red WAS highly important to the film because it was seeing this innocent little child die that truly changed his heart . She showed him thus us that no one was spared the horrors of the holocaust, not even the innocent little children. Seeing her be killed showed him the true evil of the Nazi's persecution of the Jews in a way he just couldn't forget or turn away from. It left him changed forever and he couldn't help but act on it from that point forward or he too would be a horrible part of the thing that killed that innocent child. It serves to show why he changed so drastically and exactly the point he went from being a selfish war profiting Nazi supporter and became a selfless protector and hero of the Jewish people who became one of the Righteous Among the Nations. This was the point he went from zero to hero.
This is the most influential movie in my life, this movie has really changed my perspective towards life.... And world itself.... I wanna thank the director for awakening my long lost humanity with your movie ....
It is possible to desensitize people if they see too much of something terrible. Putting the lil girl in there to "shock" the senses is brilliant to show that its not over yet. To wake up and keep the emotions raw. You root for the lil girl. Seeing her wheeled away was gutwrenching. Spielberg didnt want us to tune out . He wanted us locked and invested.
I recently watched a film called Remember Me which starred Robert Pattinson. The story uses a similar device in its telling of the 9/11 attacks on the WTC. It poignantly reminds us of the humanity of the individual which is usually lost in the statistics of the event.
That's Roma Ligocka. She's a jewish girl in Poland and wrote a book The Girl In The Red Coat about her life. She's well and alive and even watched the screening of Schindler's List and shook hand with Spielberg who ignored her.
I broke down in tears when I saw the little girl in red dead and being wheeled in the cart. I doubt if anyone who watched the movie didn't weep at the scene.
When I see her first time in the movie, I thought thank god. he Just saved this little innocent girl. She was so innocent and immature. But after seeing her dead body I was broke down with tears.. I cried entire night after this little girl being carried away by the cart with all other dead bodies.
It's a way as tracking her in the movie because otherwise you wouldn't notice her movement through different scenes to her end... that's all. It draws attention.
Way to be intentionally obtuse and literal. Good work. Yes, we understand the practical reason she was the only thing in color. That’s not the point or the question that was asked. The point is to ask why she was so special that Spielberg felt that he needed to color her coat and follow her? With all that human suffering and cruelty happening on screen (to many children), why should the audience focus on one little girl milling around during a massacre? There’s the sentimental reasons, which illustrates Schindler being overly sickened by what he’s seeing. Another reason is the fact that there really was a little girl in a red coat that many Jewish survivors testified to having seen, including a Jewish gravedigger who had to exhume her body to burn it. She was the daughter of a Jewish judge, and her parents dressed her in the bright red coat so she’d be easier to see if she wandered off into a crowd.
I had to see this movie for a college class, I saw it back in high school, promised myself 20 years ago not to ever watch it again. Really hard movie to watch😢
At the moment I am reading a book called "The Girl in the Red Coat". Her name is Roma Ligoka. She tells her story in the ghetto of Krakow and how she survived the war. She says that she is the girl in the red coat in the movie
@@stephaniegoddard6935She lived. I know that she did go back to the apartment that her uncle was living and was overlooked. It was used because Schindler did see the little girl and started to actively shelter Jews. He saved 1100 people from the Nazis.
When i watched this movie, the one and only time i did watch the full movie, this lil girl in the red coat haunted me for years ! Many parts in the movie made me cry, but this scene haunted me and broke my heart !
There is currently a 6 years old girl named Hind trapped in a car. Her parents were killed along with her siblings when the car went under fire by the IDF. I hope the rescue team can get to her but they also lost all contact with them. How tragic it is when the tormented become the tormentors.
I believe there is another symbolism, in the existence of the girl with the red coat. The girl, in all the scenes, is alone. She walks with a steady step, as if she knows where she is going or as if she is trying to escape. All alone, and instead of being invisible, as a small child alone in the crowd, a crowd living in absolute terror and despair, she stands out because of the red coat.
I remember vividly the first time I watch this movie. It was over the course of a week or so in modern world history class my freshman year after finishing our world wars unit. The initial plan was to see a Holocaust survivor speak, but that plan crumbled. Instead, we watched this movie. I remember seeing the little girl and noticing all the chaos going on around her and seeing her carry on. A couple days later when we continued the movie, I wanted to cry out when I saw her on that cart. So that’s how fifteen-year-old me’s life changed when it came to truly understanding the Holocaust.
The spread of disease, breakdown of law and order, proliferation of crime, rise of food insecurity and malnutrition, collapse of the health-care system, and continued cycles of displacement from one area to another have completely and utterly broken Gaza’s population.
In Austria all classes in high schools had to watch this movie in the cinemas for free when it came out. I was 16 years old at that time and it was really heartbreaking to watch. 😢
Red is often seen as symbolic of death, bloodshed and impending doom; witness its use in Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' in which Curley's wife is dressed in red - she is also doomed like the little girl in Spielberg's film. We can also probably state that on a simplistic level, Spielberg shot this film in black and white to achieve a 'newsreel' effect as a drama-documentary in addition to its effect as a film; it is, of course, a depiction of the novel 'Schindler's Ark' which is supposedly based on true events during World War Two. The idea of using a colour motif - the little girl in red - in a black and white film reminded me of the film 'Rumblefish' with Matt Dillon and Mickey Spillane who are two dysfunctional, warring siblings. This film was also shot in black and white - and the two symbolic, fighting 'rumblefish' are the only items to appear in colour in the film.
It’s SO hard to make me cry to a movie, Schindler’s List is one of the very very few to do so. The movie is so powerful, I couldn’t believe it! It’s just mind-blowing that all of the stuff in the movie actually happened, and this ending with all of the actors and their real life counterparts putting stones on Oskar’s grave totally broke me 😭
We watched this in high school history class and one girl asked if the little girl died and he said no and then when we found out she did die my classmate yelled you lied. He said her forgot
She is also representative of the orphans of the Warsaw ghetto orphanage who were ferried to Treblinka. They were told to take picnic bags and wear their best clothes because they were going on a trip to the countryside where there would be streams and butterflies The horror
It’s so rare someone makes a case for making “the greatest movie of all time” Schindlers List and The Godfather are the two closest films to ever come to that Spielberg is a directing genius
I just finished watching the movie few minutes ago. not gonna lie, the ending scene where Schindler starts to realize he could've saved a few more people if he had flipped the car and the badge made me shed tears.
I completely agree with this analysis. That was my opinion about the girl in red ever since I first saw the movie about ten years ago. We have a saying in hebrew which roughly translates to: “each and every individual life is a fully fleshed world”. And that saying is what comes to my mind every time I see the movie, and specifically the girl in red.
I think the greater question is why pollute an important, landmark film with needless sex / nudity? Like Spielberg did with Munich and Band of Brothers. Nude is lewd, Steve. It cheapens. Now cue the hate spate.
I disagree because , actually, in the book a girl with a red raincoat was described ( don´t remember if her name was Nina or Gina). Her parents had instructed her to lie about her ancestry ; so the nazis wouldn´t kill her. Actually, Thomas Keneally, the book´s author changed certain details. Issac Stern, the accountant , for example, in the real case there were 2 Schindler´s helpers. Roma Ligocka is a polish woman who wrote the book ``The Girl in the Red Raincoat´´. She claims to be the real character.When Spielberg went to the Actor´s Studio show, he said he wanted the color to be a symbol of the blood that was shed and nobody did anything about.DH Lawrence had an expression: Never trust the artist. Trust the tale
I hear you. The color red definitely has some symbolism. If you watch the 25th anniversary NBC special between Lester Holt and Spielberg (on UA-cam, it’s 22 mins long), the question is asked why the girl was in red at the 10 minute mark. Spielberg does mention the symbolism of the color first, but then goes on to say how it showed that it grabbed Schindler’s attention. That mention of attention stuck with me. And on this channel, I try not to just discuss the theme on a surface level… but if I am going to talk about it, talk about why and how director’s decisions impact the viewer. And I know I felt something when I saw that girl in red, just as Schindler did. Therefore, I wanted to focus on the reasoning behind the red. And if you’re not convinced, I’ll leave you with this question: why does the girl lose her color as she hides under the bed… and does it have anything to do with Schindler just happening to stop giving her his full attention?
Yes. But you forget that most film directors will alter certain parts of a novel or playscript to make it visually and dramatically more appealing for the audience ; in other words - to cut out the parts which are cr*p - or superfluous. There are two very good examples of this in cinema history - and both are masterpieces. Firstly, the 1967 film 'The Graduate' with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. I read the novel which I think was published in 1964. The film is far superior to the novel which is actually quite poorly written; for example, 'said Benjamin' repeated endlessly in the dialogue. Why not 'uttered' or 'shouted' or 'growled' with a good adverb like 'angrily' or shakily' attached for greater emphasis ? These are basic writing skills which can be taught even to kids writing fiction at primary school level. The film is much darker, too - and it isn't just a 'sex comedy' or a film about a younger man in a relationship with an older woman - and her daughter. It strikes at the very core of cherished American values - and has been hugely influential on films since then. Secondly, the 1972 film 'The Godfather' which I think is superior to the Mario Puzo novel mainly because Francis Ford Coppola cut out the superfluous 'sexy' bits from the novel about Hollywood starlets having their private parts 'tightened up' - or Johnny Fontane's surgery to remove growths on his throat which affects his singing. For sure - he appears in the first film - but Coppola focuses on what this novel is really about and its key thematic ideas; family tensions and rivalries, and the rivalries between so-called Mafioso families as they vie for power and control and adapt to a changing world in post-war America. The music score is great, too !
Actually, I just was refering to the interpretation of the red raincoat; not the film itself. As a matter of fact I disagree with that concept of ``The book is always better than the movie´´. Both are very different tools; and it´s obvious that because of that difference ; the narration also has to be aproached another way. I actually think that it was a genius´idea. Ignore if it was Spielberg´s or Steven Zaillian´s, the writer who adapted the book. It doesn´t really matter. I think that even has a bigger impact, than if the girl had been introduced in an ordinary way. On the other hand, I recommend to watch a 10 minute video called ``The Godfather´s notebook´´. Coppola made what is known as a ``visualization´´, sheet by sheet of the book. That´s why many people used to say that it was one of the best adaptations to film. For example, in the book , there is a description of ``The Turk´´. The novel description´s said : ``Virgil Sollozo had a cruel stare. And in the film , the first time that appears , he looks creepy. Here it is ua-cam.com/video/awce_j2myQw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=DinukWijeratne
To me, light represented hope and that the little girl was the embodiment of that. When she is shown to have died, to have been swallowed up by the monstrosity of the evil brought on by the Germans, it symbolized the death of hope. Unbelievable use of symbolism in a movie. That image made me cry the first time I saw it.
I think the reason the little girl in red exists is because she humanizes the Holocaust to us. Sadly, we don’t understand tragedies until they happen to us. We can learn the maneuver of the Japanese bombers over the ships in Pearl Harbor and learn the names of the ships that were sunk…but we don’t understand the impact this had on Americans until you hear the story of the chaplain who not only refused to escape the sinking ship but managed to save eleven men and give last rites to the dying. We can identify the Twin Towers in a photograph and watch news broadcasts of that day until our eyes sting…but it doesn’t become real to us until you see the missing posters of the victims with their information on them. We can say “Never Forget” until our throats run dry and read the names on Schindler’s List…but you aren’t moved until you meet one of them and hear them recite their stories. Spielberg understood this. He made the Holocaust real to us by giving the six million victims a face. We don’t see the little girl in the red coat as a nameless victim. We see her as our daughter, our sister, our niece, our granddaughter…someone we love.
In the Eichmann trial, a witness from Auschwitz told how his wife and four year old daughter was sent the other way (unbeknownst to him then, to the gas chamber.) His daughter had a red dress, which stood out in the crowd, and he looked until the red dot got smaller and smaller, and eventually disappeared. The prosecutor who questoned him stood for minutes without being able to utter a word, because he had bought his little daughter a red dress the same day. This is a very well known story, and I've always thought this was in Spielbergs mind..
The little girl in red perhaps represents all other little girls and boys who were separated from their parents and siblings, terrorized, starved and eventually killed.
I have read and heard accounts of women coming forward to say 'I was that girl'. So what is the truth, they were not saying it in a symbolic manner but as a truth.
Look at the war in Ukraine. 1M+ dead for no reason. And I don't care if it is a man, woman or child. There should be peace in Europe, I never thought I would see this again in the 21st century.
She symbolized the innocent blood shed for no reason other than the brutality of hate. A child, a baby, a black man , an old woman even a stray animal. It is a life. Sacred to God. War and hate have no boundaries. We do. Choose Love. In Jesus Name. Wonderful teaching movie. 🙏
I watched this film when it first came out I noticed the girl in red straight away and then forgot about her until I saw her coat.The girl in red matters because people forget to easy.
God, this is hurts .please continue you hv great potencial as analyst and philosopher. I'm not tryna be sarcastic just a genuine description. Also godbless you for Jesus cares for everyone
At the beginning of the movie, the candles color fades to gray, symbolizing the loss of hope. At the end of the movie, the end of the war, the return of color to the candle flames signifies the return of life and and hope. This is why to Holy Spirit is also frequently represented as a flame.
I did not get the feeling when I was in the Shindler Museum last year that Shindler actually learned to care about the people. Certainly some of those who worked in his factory felt he didn't have the same character arc as Liam Neeson.
Yep, l, too, found it difficult to discern the red. With a red/green deficiency the colour in the film is subtle to the point of nonexistent. When the dead girl is being carted away, the person l was with said "That's the little girl in red" and my response was "*What* little girl in red?"
The girl with the red coat is a true story! It comes from Gabriel Bach when he was a junior council in the eichmann trial - Hungarian man’s story - look it up because it’s a million times more powerful
Wow thanks for this info. I am actually writing a 4000 word research essay on the importance of color and the few scenes that include some sort of color. Very interesting!
@@redbrixanimations no problem, you can find this story from Bach in UA-cam, it’s really powerful - the link is below - 15 mins in he tells the story, have some tissues ready
Within war and genocide, it can be easy to lose sight of humanity and the toll that all the violence and death is taking. Often, people will try not to look closely because of how horrific and terrible and dehumanizing everything is when you surrounded by it and immersed in it, while others will join in for one reason or another. But the little girl in red is meant to make you stop and take notice of the human cost of it. That little girl was innocent. She couldn't have possibly done anything to deserve that fate. It's the sobering realization for Oskar Schindler - and through him, the audience - that what was happening was cruel and evil when not even a little girl could be spared.
@@kerrymillar1267 What`s not to get? Art is subjective, movie has some great qualities, no doubt, but to me it`s a bit kitschy, especially that scene with the girl in red.
On a visit to Auschwitz I noticed that in the stacks of shoes, suitcases and clothes it was the red coloured ones that stood out even after all these years! I wondered at the time if that’s where Spielberg got the idea from!
“One death is a tragedy, while a thousand deaths are a statistic.”Spielberg wanted us to think of the six million not as a statistic, but as individual human beings.
In a similar quote I read, "We weep above a dying sole but whistle past a slaughterhouse."
It should be remembered that that quote came from the mouth of Joseph Stalin; a demonic monstrosity and mass murderer. Of course there is some truth in what he said, in that the individual tragedy gets diluted in the mass tragedy but thankfully most people can see the horror of both. To Stalin, either were fair game as 30M of his own people found out.
This quote actually is from Stalin after he butchered 30 million Orthodox Russian and Ukrainian Christians...how ironic.
At the Ann Frank House all there's a placard that says this:
"One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did but whose faces have remained in the shadows. Perhaps it is better that way; if we were capable of taking in all the suffering of all those people, we would not be able to live."
- Primo Levi
that was a citation from Stalin
I think it's worth noting that a toddler girl is the literal picture of innocence. The girl in red stands out because she is innocent. She is perfect, a newborn child, old enough to see the world but not old enough to be corrupted by it. And yet, she too falls prey to the atrocities of the holocaust. To tie this in to your theme of humanity, the girl in red serves to demonstrate the emotional magnitude of the monstrosity that was the holocaust. No one was spared from suffering, not even an innocent little girl.
Also it serves as the symbolization on how Schindler viewed the massacre. Schindler's face looks genuinely horrified when he sees a child in the red coat also is not spared from the brutality of that act. Remember before this scene.. Schindler was a womanizer and a profiteer. The girl with a red coat scene (the only color in the film) is the turning point of Schindler's attitude later in the film. Oh. And especially after the scene of "Chujowa Gorka" where Schindler finally seen the aftermath of the liquidation & he noticed the remain of the girl in the red coat..
Well said, better than I could articulate
@Daathiel?
I think your explanation is better than that of the video creator. When I watched the movie and saw the girl in the red coat, I thought that she was going to be a token of human survival; of life continuing and surviving in the face of horror.
I can remember vividly the moment when her body was shown on the cart, having been slaughtered like all of the others. It was gut wrenching.
I think that was the message; that there were few moments of redemption amid the squalor and bestiality of the Holocaust.
Totally agree. I wrote an essay on the film back in Jr. High for one of my classes and my focus was her. I still remember that I titled it “Marked Innocence”. She is there in the film, and, outsold of the part at the end where they visit Schindler’s grave, her coat is the on,y part of the film that is in colour for a reason.
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, said in his autobiographical book about his experience in the Holocaust, Night, that the last sight he ever saw of his little seven year old sister, Tzipora, was her walking away in her little red coat. He was taken straight to the gas chambers when he and his family arrived at Auschwitz along with his mother. He didn’t know it then, but that was the last he’d ever see them. He says that her little red coat was burned into his memory.
I always thought, in part, this was a tribute to his experience. Same age approximately of the girl, same innocence, same little red coat, same needless violence and tragedy.
I am reading this book right now and his little sister was 6 year old, not 7. And there is no mention of a red boat. Why are you lying, bast@rd?
I’m sure it is😔
You say that he was taken straight to the gas chambers when he arrived but he obviously survived to write his autobiography . How did he manage to escape the chambers. Have you any idea.
@@chocolatechipkookie3439 in the book Elie and his father are separated from his mother and Tzipora once they enter Auschwitz. If I remember correctly they are immediately lined up at fire pits and pushed in, but before the line reaches Elie and his father, they are redirected to the barracks. The men were more useful in the labor agendas of the concentration camps than the women, so the women (Elie's mother and Tzipora) were executed almost immediately. It's a heart-shattering book from beginning to end; I'd really recommend reading it.
@@trashdragon6289 Thanks for the information . I don’t think I can read the book, I’d be reading through tears the whole time.
She's not the only thing in color.
There are also the candle flames, at the start which go from color to grey (as to show the loss of hope and the start of the war), and the candles at the end of the movie which go from grey to color, to show the return of hope after the war.
also the golden ring at the end which I think represents value
Come on dude , she aint a ''thing'' , geez
Geez, you missed the whole point to prove your right, well almost right. Strain at a knat and swallow a camel is addressed in the Bible. The younger generations today are led away by such nonsensical reasoning.
@@SirHumphrey498 Your comment actually just shows how unintelligent you are...
@@KindisbetterGen Zero will never be heroes.
When I saw her dead body on the cart in the red dress, I broke down into tears. To me it was the most significant part of the movie.
Me too. And I'm a so-called 'Alpha' male ! One of the most heart-breaking scenes I've ever watched in a film. That - and the ending of Stanley Kubrick's 'Spartacus' when the slave Kirk Douglas is crucified at the end of the film - and his 'free' child is presented to him by Jean Simmons as she flees from the Romans with Peter Ustinov.
I’ve only seen the movie a couple of
times because it is so horrific and so well made the brutality is relentless. I was completely focused on the little girl in the red coat and when her body is seen in the cart I was crying too….
me too
Cried too. And stopped watching the movie . I never watched it again...
😢😢😢😢😢
That poor baby girl. The scene stuck with me forever. Seeing her dead body being wheeled out broke me.
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I watched Schindler’s list recently after having watched it many, many years ago and I think I blocked that part out of my memory 😭 I was shocked when I saw her remains. I genuinely did not remember that happened.
Don’t be sad. The child lived. The actual woman who was in that scene as a child saw it at the cinema and got in touch with Spielberg to say she had survived.
@@SaltybuherBruh😂
The girl in the red coat represents both an enigma and an epiphany. The observer starts by wondering, "Why does this one girl matter so much," then comes to realize that not only she, but all who suffered with her, truly matter.
Perfectly stated…
I find it truely sad re their suffering but i find some Americans pitiful with their understanding of the genocide of other semetic peoples and children being blown to bits by usa bombs in gaza west bank and lebanon
Smh. Hope you all repent of your gross sin to our Lord Jesus. Yourkilling christians . 60 per cent of lebanon are Christs. 2 per cent gaza christians. And west bank and arabian christians are the oldest Christian group in existence. Yet usa backs the theft and murder in occupied territories. No theres no hamas in west bank , only isresli t errorists and wicked murderous settlers. Love a christian jew
All good thoughts, but fyi the “red toddler” was real. Her name was Genia. Red was her favourite colour and she liked to wear it head to toe. She was particularly fond of her uncle. She was hidden with gentiles outside the ghetto but the gentiles returned her to her family in the ghetto for fear of nazi reprisals when she was 3. She showed some remarkable survival instincts for one so young. Schindler was shocked by the way the nazis treated her and that they didn’t try to hide their atrocities from her. From this, he understood that the nazis expected to leave no witnesses. They would try to kill everyone, down to the smallest child. Genia is the reason Schindler understood the true “final solution” and choose then to save who he could. She inspired the rescue, but she was a person, not just a cinematic technique.
I read Keneally's book years ago. In thr book, it's implied that she survives that particular roumd-up by hiding, but we never find out what happens to her afterwards.
Shut up bro she is a film technique for the sake of this video.
Make your own if you care so much.
I had this on vhs in the 90s. The end. Credits told that Schindler spent millions bribing the right Nazi leaders. Before the surrender!?!?
The way I understood it. Then he failed in some 2 or more legitimate business which failed!!!!! He was a decent man at heart!!!!!
Really always thought it was a clever way to say go read Anne frank it stops right here you flicking snuck.
Why is the girl in color? It reminds us that she's a Person, and not just a character in the film. It sort-of drags us back to the reality, the 'life' of the film. It takes you out of the moment, but no more than it takes Oskar out of his horse ride, and stuns him .
Audrey Hepburn had a conversation with Speilberg years ago where she talked about her time in Holland during the Nazi occupation in WW2.
She told him about seeing Jews being taken to a train station and how one little girl stood out as she was wearing a bright red coat, I believe this is where he got the inspiration for that scene.
I'm finding it hard to believe that no one seems to have read Thomas Keneally's novel 'Schindler's Ark' where the little girl in a red coat features prominently. Yes, Keneally did his research and read the other accounts. But it's there prior to Spielberg.
The girl in red is just a "highlighted beacon" for the audience to care about *Everyone* else in that situation. The girl is just "one more", but once you really stop to care about her, you unavoidably are "forced" to care about all others.
My thought exactly
Tout à fait !
I studied this a lot when I was younger. It's been years since I've dived into that part of history because it's so dark and bleak.
I may be wrong, it has been a long while, like I said - But I believe this little girl was the daughter of a prominent and wealthy Jewish judge. She was the youngest child of many. The mother put the bright red coat on the little girl, in case she wandered off they would be able to find her easier in the crowd. I was always under the assumption that she was purposefully made red in the movie because so many survivors accounts of what happened on that day also included this little girl in the bright red coat. She stood out to so many people. It was more than just a few who remembered her in their testimonials. Unfortunately, there was also a survivor of the camp who was forced to dig up bodies for burning who also included the little girl in the red coat in his testimonial.
It seemed like people cared or at least knew she was there, name or not. That is interesting, however very tragic.
With these people endured!
That movie…I only watched it once…I can’t watch it again. I was seriously depressed for a couple weeks after seeing it. It’s an incredible movie, it should be shown in schools.
I only watched it as far as the little girl in the red coat was in the wagon. I couldn’t stop crying. It’s the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen. I have no desire to see it again. It affected me. It still does…
I feel the same,couldn’t watch it again. I was torn up for a while 😢
I watched it in the theater, can’t watch it again either 😢
It is shown in schools in Europe.
I agree. I’ve only seen it once. I knew about the atrocities, but seeing this movie really opened my eyes. Even just the way they went into peoples homes and wrecked everything for no reason except to terrorize them, and would rip the gold fillings out of your mouth!! I mean, I know there’s much worse, but I did learn from that movie
I'm red green colorblind, I never noticed this. Thank you
Iam blind but i like liam neesons nose
It's a shame that Hollywood doesnt put out quality movies like this anymore
What the hell are you talking about, 2023 was an amazing year for movies. Killers of The Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, May December, The Holdovers, etc.
Hollywood still puts out propaganda filth like this all the time. You’re just so brainwashed you cant see the difference.
@@blaisetelfer8499they suck
@@blaisetelfer8499All long and boring.
Say what you want, 1917 and All Quiet On The Western Front were incredible, just to name a few..
Moses: You know it is death to strike an Egyptian?
Joshua: I know it.
Moses: Yet you struck him. Why?
Joshua: To save the old woman.
Moses: What is she to you?
Joshua: An old woman.
Yup, people matter.
chicken swingers are not people.
That's from the movie. In the Scriptures Moses strikes a Egyptian who was beating on a isrealite slave. He kills him.
This is Spielberg's magnum opus but man it's a hard watch, that said it is a necessary one to educate us on what human beings are willing to do to other human beings
I know I feel like watching it again, but I just can’t because, well you know
It should be shown in every high school
I've never forgotten the little girl in the red coat. My daughter was about the same age and had a red coat when the movie was released. As I watched her, I saw my daughter. My heart was stricken when she was deceased in that cart, still with her red coat.
Heartbreaking...I stopped watching the movie after that scene... I never watched Schindler’s List again....
In an interview with Steven Spielberg, he stated that the little girl in red represented the Allies who knew what was happening there and chose to do nothing. The red coat was death, the girl was innocence, and the world continued to ignore. So powerful! 😢
Tragic...😢
Spielberg’s labored explanation of the red coat was, I’m sure, news to every person who watched the movie. “The little girl in red represented the Allies . . .” Good luck with that!
@@johntechwriter Yeah, that doesn't make much sense at all
It's a terrible rebuke of the Allies that their indifference compounded the Holocaust, but what was possible to stop it from occuring?
The USA and the UK bombed Germany into rubble and the killing continued and when the end was near, the killing accelerated.
This movie just breaks my heart over and over again.
Movie name pls
@@esthermere1394
Schindler's List - like the title of the video.
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The girl in the red coat is a shout to the little sister of a holocaust survivor who became an author. Can't remember his name but i remember reading the book he wrote in school where he describes his little sister and a red coat she used to wear.
They would be Elie Weisel and his autobiography, Night - I think.
This scene was much deeper for me. I saw a little girl alone and afraid, too innocent to even understand what's happening. Someone's daughter ripped from her parents, nobody to protect her, left to die alone.. i cried when I saw her running down the street, only scene that truly brought me to tears. What an amazing and well directed movie showcasing the true horrors that took place during the holocaust.
It broke my heart. Never forget.
Absolutely! Never forget!❤
But people here either have forgotten or they were not schooled about this horrible part of history.
Yet here we are as humanity, allowing it to happen again in this very instant
Seen this movie in middle school. This particular scene still make me cry like a baby.
If that sequence failed to move your heart .... perhaps you don't have one
I remember watching this movie, while in high school. My class (the only sophomores, who had been studying WWII, when it came out), was going to be allowed to go see this on Spielberg's dime. He paid for students who were studying WWII, to go see it. But this one administrator was being a douche canoe, and we weren't allowed to go, with the seniors and juniors, who were also studying. I was so pissed off. This same douche canoe, prevented us, from going to the Holocaust Museum on the day we asked for, instead giving it to someone else (even though we had put in for it, before anyone else). We were so mad at him, because the day that we wanted, was the same day Spielberg was there. We could have talked to him about all of this, but because of one jerk, we never got the chance to. I would have loved to hear him talk about this, but I don't think I will ever get the chance.
Speaking of which, since I was attending college when I learned a mind-blowing history lesson on how the MPAA ratings system started, I was hoping that the wave of teens I supposedly expected to be ushered over to the theaters for the 25th anniversary reissue in 2018 (especially those that’ve not yet reached the magic number of 17 at that point, which should serve as an obvious hint) were informed that it was at the point of that reissue when it was exactly twice as long since a certain milestone in the film industry entered the scene that was supposedly deemed essential in order to make that type of experience a reality. It was thanks to that particular experience during my college education that I managed to easily analyze this trailer bumper when it entered the scene that same year: ua-cam.com/video/Zdha3_xMMeU/v-deo.htmlsi=imyc5vRk3m81ib-y
The girl in red WAS highly important to the film because it was seeing this innocent little child die that truly changed his heart . She showed him thus us that no one was spared the horrors of the holocaust, not even the innocent little children. Seeing her be killed showed him the true evil of the Nazi's persecution of the Jews in a way he just couldn't forget or turn away from. It left him changed forever and he couldn't help but act on it from that point forward or he too would be a horrible part of the thing that killed that innocent child. It serves to show why he changed so drastically and exactly the point he went from being a selfish war profiting Nazi supporter and became a selfless protector and hero of the Jewish people who became one of the Righteous Among the Nations. This was the point he went from zero to hero.
This is the most influential movie in my life, this movie has really changed my perspective towards life.... And world itself.... I wanna thank the director for awakening my long lost humanity with your movie ....
Nicely observed and explained. There may be other versions but the impact never lessens.
It is possible to desensitize people if they see too much of something terrible. Putting the lil girl in there to "shock" the senses is brilliant to show that its not over yet. To wake up and keep the emotions raw. You root for the lil girl. Seeing her wheeled away was gutwrenching. Spielberg didnt want us to tune out . He wanted us locked and invested.
I recently watched a film called Remember Me which starred Robert Pattinson. The story uses a similar device in its telling of the 9/11 attacks on the WTC. It poignantly reminds us of the humanity of the individual which is usually lost in the statistics of the event.
That’s was the spark, the moment he saw something was wrong.
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He wasn't the only one that cried when he saw that girl, I can tell you that...
That's Roma Ligocka. She's a jewish girl in Poland and wrote a book The Girl In The Red Coat about her life. She's well and alive and even watched the screening of Schindler's List and shook hand with Spielberg who ignored her.
I broke down in tears when I saw the little girl in red dead and being wheeled in the cart. I doubt if anyone who watched the movie didn't weep at the scene.
This hits a million times harder since I have 2 daughters aged 9 and 4. I couldn't imagine anything like this happening to either of them.
When I see her first time in the movie, I thought thank god. he Just saved this little innocent girl. She was so innocent and immature. But after seeing her dead body I was broke down with tears.. I cried entire night after this little girl being carried away by the cart with all other dead bodies.
It's a way as tracking her in the movie because otherwise you wouldn't notice her movement through different scenes to her end... that's all. It draws attention.
Way to be intentionally obtuse and literal. Good work. Yes, we understand the practical reason she was the only thing in color. That’s not the point or the question that was asked. The point is to ask why she was so special that Spielberg felt that he needed to color her coat and follow her? With all that human suffering and cruelty happening on screen (to many children), why should the audience focus on one little girl milling around during a massacre? There’s the sentimental reasons, which illustrates Schindler being overly sickened by what he’s seeing. Another reason is the fact that there really was a little girl in a red coat that many Jewish survivors testified to having seen, including a Jewish gravedigger who had to exhume her body to burn it. She was the daughter of a Jewish judge, and her parents dressed her in the bright red coat so she’d be easier to see if she wandered off into a crowd.
I had to see this movie for a college class, I saw it back in high school, promised myself 20 years ago not to ever watch it again. Really hard movie to watch😢
One of my favorite movies. A real tear jerker.
Me: Oh a four minute video about Schindler's List. Thats not long enough to make me cry.
Also me: 😭😭😭😭
The girl in red was taken from Don`t Look now, a 1973 film by Nicolas Roeg.
Isn't there a book with that Name?
@@nele7443Yes, written by Daphne du Maurier
@@Pieternel2002 yeah! I have the book i think
At the moment I am reading a book called "The Girl in the Red Coat". Her name is Roma Ligoka. She tells her story in the ghetto of Krakow and how she survived the war. She says that she is the girl in the red coat in the movie
It can’t be the same girl. The little girl in the red dress was killed.
@@stephaniegoddard6935She lived. I know that she did go back to the apartment that her uncle was living and was overlooked. It was used because Schindler did see the little girl and started to actively shelter Jews. He saved 1100 people from the Nazis.
This is the scene that made me realize that I am colorblind. "A girl in red? This is a black and white movie. I am not that easily fooled. "
The colour of Rotschields or Edom
@@sylvielisabethharrouz2656You know that "roth" is German for "red" right ?
When i watched this movie, the one and only time i did watch the full movie, this lil girl in the red coat haunted me for years ! Many parts in the movie made me cry, but this scene haunted me and broke my heart !
You explained it so well
Thank you for the kind words. They are always appreciated.
There is currently a 6 years old girl named Hind trapped in a car. Her parents were killed along with her siblings when the car went under fire by the IDF. I hope the rescue team can get to her but they also lost all contact with them. How tragic it is when the tormented become the tormentors.
It's good to share this, but please note that not all Jewish people are Israel. Infact, many Jewish people do not support its actions and g*nocide.
Really - perhaps reflect on October 7 and that it could have all been avoided.
@@peonypink9149 this story is new. But this brutality is going on since 1948. Go and read history of Palestine first and then scream khamas khamas
RIP Hind Rajab. Free Palestine 🕊️
That was derp. I remember how I felt and I've watched that movie many times. I absolutely love this break down.
I believe there is another symbolism, in the existence of the girl with the red coat. The girl, in all the scenes, is alone. She walks with a steady step, as if she knows where she is going or as if she is trying to escape. All alone, and instead of being invisible, as a small child alone in the crowd, a crowd living in absolute terror and despair, she stands out because of the red coat.
What a brilliant analysis & commentary, from just one short, yet albeit powerful scene of many in this epic Movie!! 🤔
I remember vividly the first time I watch this movie. It was over the course of a week or so in modern world history class my freshman year after finishing our world wars unit. The initial plan was to see a Holocaust survivor speak, but that plan crumbled. Instead, we watched this movie. I remember seeing the little girl and noticing all the chaos going on around her and seeing her carry on. A couple days later when we continued the movie, I wanted to cry out when I saw her on that cart. So that’s how fifteen-year-old me’s life changed when it came to truly understanding the Holocaust.
The spread of disease, breakdown of law and order, proliferation of crime, rise of food insecurity and malnutrition, collapse of the health-care system, and continued cycles of displacement from one area to another have completely and utterly broken Gaza’s population.
The girl in red moment, the first time I saw it, rocked me more than any other movie moment I’ve ever seen
Thanks for the insight.
In Austria all classes in high schools had to watch this movie in the cinemas for free when it came out. I was 16 years old at that time and it was really heartbreaking to watch. 😢
Red is often seen as symbolic of death, bloodshed and impending doom; witness its use in Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' in which Curley's wife is dressed in red - she is also doomed like the little girl in Spielberg's film.
We can also probably state that on a simplistic level, Spielberg shot this film in black and white to achieve a 'newsreel' effect as a drama-documentary in addition to its effect as a film; it is, of course, a depiction of the novel 'Schindler's Ark' which is supposedly based on true events during World War Two. The idea of using a colour motif - the little girl in red - in a black and white film reminded me of the film 'Rumblefish' with Matt Dillon and Mickey Spillane who are two dysfunctional, warring siblings. This film was also shot in black and white - and the two symbolic, fighting 'rumblefish' are the only items to appear in colour in the film.
It’s SO hard to make me cry to a movie, Schindler’s List is one of the very very few to do so. The movie is so powerful, I couldn’t believe it! It’s just mind-blowing that all of the stuff in the movie actually happened, and this ending with all of the actors and their real life counterparts putting stones on Oskar’s grave totally broke me 😭
We watched this in high school history class and one girl asked if the little girl died and he said no and then when we found out she did die my classmate yelled you lied. He said her forgot
She is also representative of the orphans of the Warsaw ghetto orphanage who were ferried to Treblinka. They were told to take picnic bags and wear their best clothes because they were going on a trip to the countryside where there would be streams and butterflies
The horror
Movie made me cry.
It’s so rare someone makes a case for making “the greatest movie of all time”
Schindlers List and The Godfather are the two closest films to ever come to that
Spielberg is a directing genius
very helpful in understanding the history and issues regarding the UCC
I just finished watching the movie few minutes ago. not gonna lie, the ending scene where Schindler starts to realize he could've saved a few more people if he had flipped the car and the badge made me shed tears.
This movie always makes me cry 😭
I completely agree with this analysis. That was my opinion about the girl in red ever since I first saw the movie about ten years ago. We have a saying in hebrew which roughly translates to: “each and every individual life is a fully fleshed world”. And that saying is what comes to my mind every time I see the movie, and specifically the girl in red.
I see her as the blood lost in life. The red coat was lost and looking for life and never found it.
Another great video! Keep it up.
Thank you :)
I can’t believe I didn’t notice the red coat when watching the movie 😭
I think the greater question is why pollute an important, landmark film with needless sex / nudity? Like Spielberg did with Munich and Band of Brothers. Nude is lewd, Steve. It cheapens.
Now cue the hate spate.
I disagree because , actually, in the book a girl with a red raincoat was described ( don´t remember if her name was Nina or Gina). Her parents had instructed her to lie about her ancestry ; so the nazis wouldn´t kill her. Actually, Thomas Keneally, the book´s author changed certain details. Issac Stern, the accountant , for example, in the real case there were 2 Schindler´s helpers. Roma Ligocka is a polish woman who wrote the book ``The Girl in the Red Raincoat´´. She claims to be the real character.When Spielberg went to the Actor´s Studio show, he said he wanted the color to be a symbol of the blood that was shed and nobody did anything about.DH Lawrence had an expression: Never trust the artist. Trust the tale
I hear you. The color red definitely has some symbolism. If you watch the 25th anniversary NBC special between Lester Holt and Spielberg (on UA-cam, it’s 22 mins long), the question is asked why the girl was in red at the 10 minute mark. Spielberg does mention the symbolism of the color first, but then goes on to say how it showed that it grabbed Schindler’s attention.
That mention of attention stuck with me. And on this channel, I try not to just discuss the theme on a surface level… but if I am going to talk about it, talk about why and how director’s decisions impact the viewer. And I know I felt something when I saw that girl in red, just as Schindler did. Therefore, I wanted to focus on the reasoning behind the red.
And if you’re not convinced, I’ll leave you with this question: why does the girl lose her color as she hides under the bed… and does it have anything to do with Schindler just happening to stop giving her his full attention?
Yes. But you forget that most film directors will alter certain parts of a novel or playscript to make it visually and dramatically more appealing for the audience ; in other words - to cut out the parts which are cr*p - or superfluous.
There are two very good examples of this in cinema history - and both are masterpieces.
Firstly, the 1967 film 'The Graduate' with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. I read the novel which I think was published in 1964. The film is far superior to the novel which is actually quite poorly written; for example, 'said Benjamin' repeated endlessly in the dialogue. Why not 'uttered' or 'shouted' or 'growled' with a good adverb like 'angrily' or shakily' attached for greater emphasis ? These are basic writing skills which can be taught even to kids writing fiction at primary school level. The film is much darker, too - and it isn't just a 'sex comedy' or a film about a younger man in a relationship with an older woman - and her daughter. It strikes at the very core of cherished American values - and has been hugely influential on films since then.
Secondly, the 1972 film 'The Godfather' which I think is superior to the Mario Puzo novel mainly because Francis Ford Coppola cut out the superfluous 'sexy' bits from the novel about Hollywood starlets having their private parts 'tightened up' - or Johnny Fontane's surgery to remove growths on his throat which affects his singing. For sure - he appears in the first film - but Coppola focuses on what this novel is really about and its key thematic ideas; family tensions and rivalries, and the rivalries between so-called Mafioso families as they vie for power and control and adapt to a changing world in post-war America. The music score is great, too !
Actually, I just was refering to the interpretation of the red raincoat; not the film itself. As a matter of fact I disagree with that concept of ``The book is always better than the movie´´. Both are very different tools; and it´s obvious that because of that difference ; the narration also has to be aproached another way. I actually think that it was a genius´idea. Ignore if it was Spielberg´s or Steven Zaillian´s, the writer who adapted the book. It doesn´t really matter. I think that even has a bigger impact, than if the girl had been introduced in an ordinary way. On the other hand, I recommend to watch a 10 minute video called ``The Godfather´s notebook´´. Coppola made what is known as a ``visualization´´, sheet by sheet of the book. That´s why many people used to say that it was one of the best adaptations to film. For example, in the book , there is a description of ``The Turk´´. The novel description´s said : ``Virgil Sollozo had a cruel stare. And in the film , the first time that appears , he looks creepy. Here it is ua-cam.com/video/awce_j2myQw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=DinukWijeratne
To me, light represented hope and that the little girl was the embodiment of that. When she is shown to have died, to have been swallowed up by the monstrosity of the evil brought on by the Germans, it symbolized the death of hope. Unbelievable use of symbolism in a movie. That image made me cry the first time I saw it.
A beautiful analysis of a tragic & briliant movie.
I’ve never seen that movie so to see the part with the little girl was absolutely heartbreaking 💔 💔💔
I think the reason the little girl in red exists is because she humanizes the Holocaust to us. Sadly, we don’t understand tragedies until they happen to us.
We can learn the maneuver of the Japanese bombers over the ships in Pearl Harbor and learn the names of the ships that were sunk…but we don’t understand the impact this had on Americans until you hear the story of the chaplain who not only refused to escape the sinking ship but managed to save eleven men and give last rites to the dying.
We can identify the Twin Towers in a photograph and watch news broadcasts of that day until our eyes sting…but it doesn’t become real to us until you see the missing posters of the victims with their information on them.
We can say “Never Forget” until our throats run dry and read the names on Schindler’s List…but you aren’t moved until you meet one of them and hear them recite their stories.
Spielberg understood this. He made the Holocaust real to us by giving the six million victims a face. We don’t see the little girl in the red coat as a nameless victim. We see her as our daughter, our sister, our niece, our granddaughter…someone we love.
In the Eichmann trial, a witness from Auschwitz told how his wife and four year old daughter was sent the other way (unbeknownst to him then, to the gas chamber.) His daughter had a red dress, which stood out in the crowd, and he looked until the red dot got smaller and smaller, and eventually disappeared. The prosecutor who questoned him stood for minutes without being able to utter a word, because he had bought his little daughter a red dress the same day. This is a very well known story, and I've always thought this was in Spielbergs mind..
Thanks for sharing, when we picture the people we love in these situations the brutality becomes inescapable.
Is that liam neilson.😮
The one and only.
Neeson
no its Liam Neeson
Speally as his friends call him, wanted to convey the hopelessness of timelessness.
The little girl in red perhaps represents all other little girls and boys who were separated from their parents and siblings, terrorized, starved and eventually killed.
I have read and heard accounts of women coming forward to say 'I was that girl'. So what is the truth, they were not saying it in a symbolic manner but as a truth.
#NeverAgain, they said.
ua-cam.com/video/YVmCwhFk6Pc/v-deo.html
Look at the war in Ukraine. 1M+ dead for no reason. And I don't care if it is a man, woman or child. There should be peace in Europe, I never thought I would see this again in the 21st century.
Let us never forget the monstrous killing of innocence and the senseless killing of others.
She symbolized the innocent blood shed for no reason other than the brutality of hate.
A child, a baby, a black man , an old woman even a stray animal.
It is a life.
Sacred to God.
War and hate have no boundaries.
We do.
Choose Love.
In Jesus Name.
Wonderful teaching movie. 🙏
I watched this film when it first came out I noticed the girl in red straight away and then forgot about her until I saw her coat.The girl in red matters because people forget to easy.
God, this is hurts .please continue you hv great potencial as analyst and philosopher. I'm not tryna be sarcastic just a genuine description. Also godbless you for Jesus cares for everyone
Thank you so much for your kind words. They mean a lot :)
What does the candles being incolor mean
At the beginning of the movie, the candles color fades to gray, symbolizing the loss of hope. At the end of the movie, the end of the war, the return of color to the candle flames signifies the return of life and and hope. This is why to Holy Spirit is also frequently represented as a flame.
I've only been able to watch Schindlers list and the boy in the striped pajamas once. Both films are amazing
I did not get the feeling when I was in the Shindler Museum last year that Shindler actually learned to care about the people. Certainly some of those who worked in his factory felt he didn't have the same character arc as Liam Neeson.
I just watch this again. When I saw her on the cart I died
Awesome analysis.
As someone who's a bit colour blind, this kind of passed me by...
Yep, l, too, found it difficult to discern the red. With a red/green deficiency the colour in the film is subtle to the point of nonexistent. When the dead girl is being carted away, the person l was with said "That's the little girl in red" and my response was "*What* little girl in red?"
The girl with the red coat is a true story! It comes from Gabriel Bach when he was a junior council in the eichmann trial - Hungarian man’s story - look it up because it’s a million times more powerful
Wow thanks for this info. I am actually writing a 4000 word research essay on the importance of color and the few scenes that include some sort of color. Very interesting!
@@redbrixanimations no problem, you can find this story from Bach in UA-cam, it’s really powerful - the link is below - 15 mins in he tells the story, have some tissues ready
@@redbrixanimations ua-cam.com/video/B9zYIVej8mk/v-deo.htmlsi=YiYucTXuiq3QRsxa
I can not rewatch it again , one time was enough , I don’t want to cry again , the little girl in red is a beautiful Angel in heaven now !
Red=blood sacrifice.
And now they are on the other side of the fence. Ironic
I thought she was supposed to be Elie Weisel's sister.
I'm colourblind and never noticed the girl in red.
one of the best films ever, genious made from a man with a loving heart for humanity and an open eye for every detail with a special message...
Within war and genocide, it can be easy to lose sight of humanity and the toll that all the violence and death is taking. Often, people will try not to look closely because of how horrific and terrible and dehumanizing everything is when you surrounded by it and immersed in it, while others will join in for one reason or another. But the little girl in red is meant to make you stop and take notice of the human cost of it. That little girl was innocent. She couldn't have possibly done anything to deserve that fate. It's the sobering realization for Oskar Schindler - and through him, the audience - that what was happening was cruel and evil when not even a little girl could be spared.
It`s a bit kitschy though.
No, you just don’t get it.
@@kerrymillar1267 What`s not to get? Art is subjective, movie has some great qualities, no doubt, but to me it`s a bit kitschy, especially that scene with the girl in red.
On a visit to Auschwitz I noticed that in the stacks of shoes, suitcases and clothes it was the red coloured ones that stood out even after all these years! I wondered at the time if that’s where Spielberg got the idea from!
Some people still think this is a factual movie. Its not. Go to any library and you will find the book in the fiction category.