“That was metaphor for…”: Even James Cameron Was Struck By 1 Haunting Scene in Schindler’s List That Was Steven Spielberg’s Scathing Dig at the Western Nations
- Steven Spielberg has many great movies, but he is admittedly the proudest about Schindler's List.
- One particular scene featuring the girl in the red coat got James Cameron's attention, who asked Spielberg about its significance.
- Robin Williams played a huge role in making the process of the film's development a little easier on Spielberg.
American filmmaker Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the major figures of the New Hollywood period. He is brilliant to the point that he even left James Cameron stunned after one scene. Stats are proof that Spielberg is the most commercially successful filmmaker in the film industry.
Critically acclaimed for movies like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Fabelmans, and Jurassic Park, Spielberg intentionally put a scene in his 1993 masterpiece Schindler’s List, that was a huge dig at many powerful Western countries. That particular scene even left James Cameron searching for words.
James Cameron Was Left Speechless After Watching One Haunting Scene From Schindler’s List
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List is an American epic historical drama movie that was initially released in the early 1990s. The movie is based on a historical fiction published in 1982, Schindler’s Ark, written by Australian author Thomas Keneally. The movie earned more than $322 million against a budget of just $22 million (via Box Office Mojo).
However, there’s a more interesting side to the movie that almost left everyone shocked. While having a chat with Spielberg, Cameron brought up the topic of Schindler’s List and mentioned the scene where a small girl is shown walking through a crowd wearing a red-colored coat.
In response, Spielberg revealed that the small girl in the red coat is actually a metaphor to point fingers at the Western nations who despite being aware of the Holocaust, did absolutely nothing and ignored the entire brutality. Spielberg explained it by saying (via X):
That was a metaphor for so many countries who knew the Holocaust was occurring but won’t do anything about it.
The 77-year-old director mentioned the names of powerful countries like Russia and Great Britain, and said that just as people in the movie ignored the small girl in the red coat, these countries ignored the Holocaust.
Robin Williams Was A Huge Blessing for Steven Spielberg While Shooting Schindler’s List
Being a Jew himself, Schindler’s List was a personal movie for Spielberg. He is someone who lost relatives due to the Holocaust, a brutal event on which the movie sheds light. One can only imagine how hard it must have been for the director to work on the movie. Luckily, he had Robin Williams to help him through the tough time (via USA Today).
Williams consistently stayed in contact with Spielberg over the phone to boost his spirits. He was aware that the movie is very personal to the filmmaker and it won’t be an easy task to complete it without any moral support. Not just calls, Williams’ sense of humor also helped Spielberg avoid mental fatigue while dealing with such a sensitive project.
If it was not for the mental support by Williams, Spielberg would have faced a lot of difficulties, especially when the studio executives were obstinate about making the film a colored one instead of black and white (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Schindler’s List is available for renting and buying on Apple TV.
