The holocaust is a tragedy that the entire world wished had never happened. In 1982 Thomas Keneally wrote Schindlers Ark which was based on the accounts from a Holocaust survivor. This story was later developed into a screenplay by Steven Zallian later to be a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg made the film to educate those who tried denying that persecution on such a grand scale ever happened. Though filmed in black and white the director chose to highlight a few images in color to draw attention and elicit emotion.
The actress who portrayed “the little girl in red” is 24 years old now but the impact the film had on her disturbs her to this day. We are introduced to the girl in the screenplay on page 52; she is described as wearing small red shoes. In the movie the director chose a jacket instead of just the shoes. I think this was merely because it could be viewed easier by the audience. But why do both screenplay and movie use the color red. I believe red was chosen because it is a bold color that stands out but it is also the color of blood. It can be assumed that its significance was chosen to represent that amount of bloodshed during that time.
The scene takes place in one of the ghetto’s. The screenplay describes this taking place during dawn. In the movie it appears to be later in the afternoon, but it is the weather that plays a more important role than the time of day. The movie sets the scene during a rainy and dreary day to coincide with the events that are occurring. This choice does a better job reinforcing the fact that what is happening is just plain miserable.
In the screenplay and movie Schindler watches the cleansing from the hilltop. The image was particularly strong. It was almost as if the writer had an underlying theme to imply that the rest of the world is just watching as the atrocities occurred. The screenplay doesn’t describe his wife being with him but the movie chose to include his wife on the hilltop. Including Schindlers wife on the hilltop was a wise choice. It added more of a family factor to the viewers. Almost as if it was saying “what if that was our little girl”? Emilie can no longer stand to witness what she is seeing and begs Oskar to move on.
One page 54 of the screenplay it describes the little girl in red as being almost invisible. This is consistent with the movie. She certainly stands out to the viewer but why was she so invisible to the Nazi’s? She symbolizes youth and innocence so it gives the viewer hope. The screenplay and movie remain consistent and have her enter and abandoned building and she hides under a bed. Once she is hidden under the bed the color disappears. This could imply several things to the viewer; is she safe, or does the color go away because her fate is similar to so many others.
A large difference between screenplay and movie occurs during the burning of the bodies. The screenplay has no mention of the little girl in red after the hilltop scene. The movie has the same scene play out but it has significantly more impact on the viewer because we see the little girl in red reappear. However whatever tiny glimpses of hope the audience had for the little girl in red disappeared when the red color reappears and her little body is being wheeled to burn with the rest of the bodies.
There is a good reason that Schindlers List is one of the greatest films ever created. It brought to life what society did not know or chose to forget. The subtle use of color in the movie was just right to give the audience or reader room to ponder its importance and reflect on the events that occurred during the Holocaust.