Out of Liam Neeson’s whole filmography, there’s one performance of his that truly sticks out.
At 25-years-old, I’ve come around to the idea that I need to watch more classic movies. Since I am a fan of the beloved Irish Actor Liam Neeson, like many others, I decided to go through his filmography first. I learned a lot of things about him, but one of performances in particular blew me away.
At the 1994 Oscars Liam Neeson was nominated for best actor for his role in Schindler’s List. When going through the actors filmography, I tended to gravitate toward some of his other lighter movies first- like Love Actually – where I was shocked by one bizarre storyline. I knew Schnidler’s List would not only be a heavier movie, but it was also one of the first of his Hollywood career.
Neeson plays Oscar Schindler, a German businessman who saved over 1,000 jewish people from the Nazis during World War II, and is based on a true story. Thinking about the weight that Neeson must have felt from knowing the impact of this role and this movie, I am simply in awe of his performance.
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When learning about the holocaust, it’s difficult to swallow that these were reals acts committed by real humans, and that’s exactly what he adds to the black and white film : humanity.
During some of the toughest scenes throughout the film, Neeson’s performance reminds audiences of the moral dilemma and harsh reality that people faced at the time- including having to watch horrible acts committed and wanting to do the right thing but also wanting to keep yourself and your family safe.
It is not a black and white issue, and not only does Neeson show this with with his performance but reminds the audience that the people in charge of these heinous crimes were made up of the same stuff as you and me. Even though their acts make us think they’re a different species, like animals, they’re humans. Sometimes I want to scream at him, and other times I want to give him a hug, and I can’t say that many other actors have made me feel that way.
This is shown in multiple scenes throughout the three-hour film, like when Schindler tells the prisoners that at midnight the war will be over and they will be let free. He starts off the speech like its any normal public announcement and ends with the fact that even though he did try to help, he is a criminal at the end of the day.
Neeson asks everyone to observe three minutes of silence, and the camera pans to all the faces in the crowd, and we are reminded that even though Schindler tried his best to be a good man, he had to play both sides to survive. I found this scene the most moving and where Neeson fully carried out the responsibility of his performance.
And of course, the scene where Neeson is given the jewelry as a gift by the survivors is just as moving. You can almost see the responsibility he holds for those he couldn’t save come out of his body physically as he equates materialistic things to the life’s of innocent people lost and says : “I didn’t do enough” – a moment that made my stomach twist and turn as a viewer.
The film shows that Neeson is much more than a man who can play both a total heartthrob who takes care of his son after his wife passes and an ex-CIA agent who can kick some butt when his daughter is kidnapped. His talent in a rare form of art.
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He is a truly gifted, a one of a kind actor that can pick up the feeling in any room and emulate it in seconds as if no one is watching him. He had big shoes to fill when playing this role, and it did just that.
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