Ralph Fiennes plays one of the most menacing characters in film history in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and, despite the evil of the character, Fiennes could not refuse the part. Arguably one of the greatest movies of Steven Spielberg’s vaunted career, Schindler’s List is a historical drama based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist whose efforts during the Holocaust saved more than 1000 Polish-Jewish refugees. Released back-to-back with Jurᴀssic Park, Schindler’s List showed that Spielberg had not lost his sense of drama for spectacle.
Spielberg shopped the movie around to several directors before determining that if he wanted the story made, he would need to do it himself (via SlashFilm). Spielberg didn’t take a salary for the film, considering it, “blood money“. As a Jewish man, the story was obviously a personal one for him, and the harrowing, unblinking movie effectively puts audiences in the hopeless and wretched shoes of those who suffered during the Holocaust. The architect of much of this suffering is a historical figure, one played terrifically and terrifyingly by Ralph Fiennes.
Ralph Fiennes Played Amon Göth In Schindler’s List
Göth Was The Brutal Commandant Of The Płaszów Concentration Camp
Ralph Fiennes co-stars in Schindler’s List as Amon Göth, an Untersturmführer (second lieutenant) of the SS in charge of the Płaszów concentration camp in Kraków, where Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) has recently taken up residence. The mᴀssacre seen at the start of the movie as Jews are evacuated from the Kraków ghetto to Płaszów is Göth’s design. As commandant of the camp, Göth oversees his prisoners with hateful brutality and ruthlessness. He ᴀssaults his maid, shoots workers from his balcony, and treats the Jews at Płaszów worse than cattle.
Amon Göth represents a vision of evil completely devoid of humanity. Göth hates the Jewish people. Even when he tries pardoning a young boy for a mistake, as he’s heard it feels powerful to give someone their life back, he can’t stop himself from shooting the boy before he gets away. Göth is the face of the Nazi regime in Schindler’s List and Spielberg’s point is clear: the regime is evil to its very core. There is nothing righteous, cunning, or damaged about it; it is pure, animalistic evil, portrayed chillingly by Fiennes’ lifeless cold stare.
What Schindler’s List Leaves Out About Amon Göth
Göth Was Even More Evil In Real Life
Much of what Schindler’s List shows of Amon Göth is true to life. The scene of him firing lazily from his balcony is based on a true story (via YadVashem). Despite everything shown in the film, the real Göth was even more evil than the one Ralph Fiennes portrays in Schindler’s List. It was said that Göth was “grandly deranged” and “creatively sadistic” (via LATech).
Amon Göth’s last name can be alternatively spelled, “Goeth”.
It was alleged he would set his dogs on children and watch them be devoured. His capture and death did occur as shown in the film, though it’s left out that his remains were cremated and thrown in the Vistula River (via DeathCampMemorialSite).
Ralph Fiennes Says Taking The Schindler’s List Role Was A “No-Brainer”
Fiennes Was Nominated For An Academy Award For His Role
While such an unredeemable part may have turned off some actors, Ralph Fiennes could not say no. He even referred to taking the part as a “no-brainer” (via Yahoo),
“I think there are moments you’re lucky to have as an actor when you’re asked to be part of something that feels like it’s going to be quite momentous. I mean, for Steven, it was going to be his pᴀssion work, I think. No, it was a no-brainer – I was delighted. I didn’t even say yes. I didn’t even need to say yes – it was a given.”
Allegedly, Fiennes received the role after doing three takes for Spielberg, who only needed to see one of them (via Collider),
“Ralph did three takes. I still, to this day, haven’t seen take two or three. He was absolutely brilliant. After seeing take one, I knew he was Amon. I saw Sєxual evil. It is all about subtlety. There were moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold.”
Schindler’s List is one of the greatest performances of Fiennes’ career. His intense evil radiates off the screen and the few moments of humanity he brings to the character serve to make his later actions all the more despicable. It’s a role that earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars, and he probably should have won over Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.
