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169-424: With seven wins out of sixteen nominations, John Williams is both the most nominated and most awarded in this category. Ennio Morricone is the only composer to win in consecutive years; for The Mission in 1987 and The Untouchables in 1988. Morricone also has the highest perfect score and record, with six wins from six nominations. George Fenton and Howard Shore share the record of most nominations without

338-727: A weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 30 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale. Stephen Schiff of The New Yorker called it the best historical drama about the Holocaust, a film that "will take its place in cultural history and remain there." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four and described it as Spielberg's best, "brilliantly acted, written, directed, and seen." Ebert named it one of his ten favorite films of 1993. Terrence Rafferty , also with The New Yorker , admired

507-521: A "deformation" of historical truth. "Fiction is a transgression, I am deeply convinced that there is a ban on depiction [of the Holocaust]", he said. Lanzmann also criticized Spielberg for viewing the Holocaust through the eyes of a German, saying "it is the world in reverse". He said: "I sincerely thought that there was a time before Shoah , and a time after Shoah , and that after Shoah certain things could no longer be done. Spielberg did them anyway." At

676-530: A $ 22 million budget. It was nominated for twelve awards at the 66th Academy Awards , and won seven, including Best Picture , Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay . The film won numerous other awards, including seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globes . In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked Schindler's List 8th on its list of the 100 greatest American films . The film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by

845-492: A 1994 Village Voice symposium about the film, historian Annette Insdorf described how her mother, a survivor of three concentration camps, felt gratitude that the Holocaust story was finally being told in a major film that would be widely viewed. Hungarian Jewish author Imre Kertész , a Holocaust survivor, feels it is impossible for life in a Nazi concentration camp to be accurately portrayed by anyone who did not experience it first-hand. While commending Spielberg for bringing

1014-536: A 2016 interview with the U.S. Air Force Band, he recounted having attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base , after which he served as a pianist and brass player, with secondary duties of making arrangements for three years. In March 1952, he was assigned to the Northeast Air Command 596th Air Force Band, stationed at Pepperrell Air Force Base in St. John's, Newfoundland . He also attended music courses at

1183-541: A European orchestra, for an all-Williams concert featuring Mutter as soloist. The concert included many pieces from Across the Stars . The resulting concert album, John Williams in Vienna , became the bestselling orchestral album of 2020, reaching the top 10 in many countries and topping the U.S. and UK classical charts. The orchestra also commissioned a new procedural from Williams for their annual Philharmonikerball , replacing

1352-497: A Geisha (2005). Williams scored the 2013 film The Book Thief , his first collaboration with a director other than Spielberg since 2005. The score earned him an Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. It was his 44th nomination for Best Original Score (and 49th overall), setting a new record for the most nominations in that category (he tied Alfred Newman 's record of 43 nominations in 2013). In 2017, Williams scored

1521-429: A String, and The John Towner Touch . Williams also served as music arranger and bandleader for a series of popular music albums with the singers Ray Vasquez and Frankie Laine . While fluent in many 20th-century musical languages, Williams's most familiar style is neoromanticism . Williams's score for Star Wars is often described as Wagnerian as it makes use of the leitmotif , a musical phrase associated with

1690-502: A brawl with an elderly German-speaking businessman who insulted the Israeli actor Michael Schneider. Nonetheless, Spielberg said that, at Passover , "all the German actors showed up. They put on yarmulkes and opened up Haggadas , and the Israeli actors moved right next to them and began explaining it to them. And this family of actors sat around and race and culture were just left behind." I

1859-465: A chance meeting with Pfefferberg in Los Angeles in 1980. MCA president Sid Sheinberg sent director Steven Spielberg a New York Times review of the book. Spielberg, astounded by Schindler's story, jokingly asked if it was true. "I was drawn to it because of the paradoxical nature of the character," he said. "What would drive a man like this to suddenly take everything he had earned and put it all in

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2028-553: A factory to produce enamelware . Schindler hires Itzhak Stern , a Jewish official with contacts among black marketeers and the Jewish business community; he handles administration and helps Schindler arrange financing. Stern ensures that as many Jewish workers as possible were deemed essential to the German war effort to prevent them from being taken by the SS to concentration camps or killed. Meanwhile, Schindler maintains friendly relations with

2197-500: A family observing Shabbat . Spielberg said that "to start the film with the candles being lit ... would be a rich bookend, to start the film with a normal Shabbat service before the juggernaut against the Jews begins". When the color fades out in the film's opening moments, it gives way to a world in which smoke comes to symbolize bodies being burnt at Auschwitz. Only at the end, when Schindler allows his workers to hold Shabbat services, do

2366-519: A film about the Schindlerjuden (Schindler Jews) were proposed as early as 1963. Poldek Pfefferberg , one of the Schindlerjuden , made it his life's mission to tell Schindler's story. Spielberg became interested when executive Sidney Sheinberg sent him a book review of Schindler's Ark . Universal Pictures bought the rights to the novel, but Spielberg, unsure if he was ready to make a film about

2535-693: A film composer includes Valley of the Dolls (1967), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Images and The Cowboys (both 1972), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He has collaborated with Spielberg since The Sugarland Express (1974), composing music for all but five of his feature films. He received five Academy Awards for Best Score for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993). Other memorable collaborations with Spielberg include Close Encounters of

2704-415: A meeting in a fancy Beverly Hills restaurant, arranged by executives. It was very cute—you had the feeling Steven had never been in a restaurant like that before. It was like having lunch with a teen-age kid, but a brilliant one." They reunited a year later for Jaws . Spielberg used Williams's theme for Images as a temp track while editing Jaws . When Williams played his main theme for Jaws , based on

2873-522: A mounted Soviet officer announces that they have been liberated but warns them not to go east because "they hate you there". The Jews then walk into the countryside. An epilogue reveals that Göth was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed via hanging , while Schindler's marriage and businesses failed following the war. In the present, many of the surviving Schindlerjuden and the actors portraying them visit Schindler's grave and place stones on its marker (a traditional Jewish sign of respect for

3042-627: A nearby abandoned quarry, as modern high rise apartments were visible from the site of the original camp. Interior shots of the enamelware factory in Kraków were filmed at a similar facility in Olkusz , while exterior shots and the scenes on the factory stairs were filmed at the actual factory. The production received permission from Polish authorities to film on the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum , but objections to filming within

3211-555: A perceived lack of discipline in, and respect from, the Pops' ranks, culminating in this latest instance. After entreaties by the management and personal apologies from the musicians, Williams withdrew his resignation and continued as principal conductor for nine more years. In 1995, he was succeeded by Keith Lockhart , the former associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra . Williams

3380-579: A photographer. Williams is regarded as one of the most influential film composers. His work has influenced other composers of film, popular, and contemporary classical music. Norwegian composer Marcus Paus argues that Williams' "satisfying way of embodying dissonance and avant-garde techniques within a larger tonal framework" makes him "one of the great composers of any century". Similarly, his film music has clear influences from other classical and film composers, including Holst , Stravinsky , Korngold , and others. But while many have specifically referenced

3549-601: A pianist in many of the city's jazz clubs. After his studies at Juilliard and the Eastman School of Music , Williams went to Los Angeles where he began working as an orchestrator at film studios. Williams worked with such composers as Franz Waxman , Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman , and with fellow orchestrators Conrad Salinger and Bob Franklyn. Williams was also a studio pianist and session musician, performing on scores by such composers as Jerry Goldsmith , Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini . One of his first jobs

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3718-541: A place, character or idea. Williams downplays the influence of Wagner: "People say they hear Wagner in Star Wars , and I can only think, It's not because I put it there. Now, of course, I know that Wagner had a great influence on Korngold and all the early Hollywood composers. Wagner lives with us here—you can't escape it. I have been in the big river swimming with all of them." Williams wrote his first film composition in 1952 while stationed at Pepperrell Air Force Base for

3887-663: A promotional film titled You Are Welcome , created for the Newfoundland tourist information office. Williams's first feature film composition was for Daddy-O (1958), and his first screen credit came two years later in Because They're Young . Williams also composed music for television, Bachelor Father (1957–59), the Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963–65), Lost in Space (1965–68), The Time Tunnel (1966–67) and Land of

4056-508: A rough cut of the film sooner than was possible. In 2013, Williams expressed interest in working on the Star Wars sequel trilogy , saying: "Now we're hearing of a new set of movies coming in 2015, 2016 ... so I need to make sure I'm still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with George." In 2015, Williams scored Star Wars: The Force Awakens , earning him his 50th Academy Award nomination. In 2017, he wrote

4225-431: A safety net." This matured Spielberg, who felt that in the past he had always been paying tribute to directors such as Cecil B. DeMille or David Lean . Spielberg decided to use black and white to match the feel of documentary footage of the era. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński compared the effect to German Expressionism and Italian neorealism . Kamiński said that he wanted to give the impression of timelessness to

4394-568: A salary for the film, calling it " blood money ", and believed it would fail. In 1983, Keneally was hired to adapt his book, and he turned in a 220-page script. His adaptation focused on Schindler's numerous relationships, and Keneally admitted he did not compress the story enough. Spielberg hired Kurt Luedtke , who had adapted the screenplay of Out of Africa , to write the next draft. Luedtke gave up almost four years later, as he found Schindler's change of heart too unbelievable. During his time as director, Scorsese hired Steven Zaillian to write

4563-469: A scene in that film when we don't know if there's gas or water coming out in the showers in the camp. You can only do something like that with a naive audience like in the United States. It's not an appropriate use of the form. Spielberg meant well – but it was dumb." Claude Lanzmann , the director of the nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah (1985), called Schindler's List a "kitschy melodrama" and

4732-481: A script. When he was handed back the project, Spielberg found Zaillian's 115-page draft too short, and asked him to extend it to 195 pages. Spielberg wanted more focus on the Jews in the story, and he wanted Schindler's transition to be gradual and ambiguous instead of a sudden breakthrough or epiphany. He also extended the ghetto liquidation sequence, as he "felt very strongly that the sequence had to be almost unwatchable." Liam Neeson auditioned as Schindler early on in

4901-456: A shorthand for approaching danger. Williams's score is more complex than the two-note theme; it contains echoes of Debussy 's La Mer and Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring . Shortly thereafter, Spielberg and Williams began a two-year collaboration on Close Encounters of the Third Kind . They crafted the distinctive five-note motif that functions both in the score and in the story as

5070-402: A sort normally reserved for other survivors. Albert L. Lewis , Spielberg's childhood rabbi and teacher, described the movie as "Steven's gift to his mother, to his people, and in a sense to himself. Now he is a full human being." The film grossed $ 96.1 million ($ 203 million in 2023 dollars) in the United States and Canada and over $ 321.2 million worldwide. In Germany, the film

5239-595: A sub-camp at his factory. As the Germans begin losing the war, Göth is ordered to ship the remaining Jews at Płaszów to Auschwitz concentration camp . Schindler asks Göth for permission to move his workers to a munitions factory he plans to build in Brünnlitz near his hometown of Zwittau . Göth reluctantly agrees but charges a huge bribe. Schindler and Stern prepare a list of people to be transferred to Brünnlitz instead of Auschwitz. The list eventually includes 1,100 names. As

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5408-612: A symphony; a sinfonietta for wind ensemble; a concerto for horn written for Dale Clevenger, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 's principal horn; a concerto for clarinet written for Michele Zukovsky , the Los Angeles Philharmonic 's principal clarinetist, in 1991; a cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1994; concertos for the flute and violin recorded by

5577-482: A tape of Schindler speaking, which Neeson studied to learn the correct intonations and pitch. Fiennes was cast as Amon Göth after Spielberg viewed his performances in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights . Spielberg said of Fiennes' audition that "I saw sexual evil. It is all about subtlety: there were moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold." Fiennes put on 28 pounds (13 kg) to play

5746-659: A tribute to the musicals of Stanley Donen and served as the New York Philharmonic season's opening event. After a three-season absence, Williams conducted the Philharmonic once again in October 2011. After over a ten year break, Williams returned to New York in 2022 to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra for a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall , with special guest violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter . The next year, he

5915-436: A win (six each). Only six composers— John Williams (in 1978; his double citation in 1975 counted as one nomination), Vangelis (in 1982), Maurice Jarre (in 1985), Hans Zimmer (in 2017), and the composing duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (in 2020)—have received two nominations in the same year. In 2019, Lady Gaga became the first woman ever to win this award for A Star Is Born . In 2020, Hildur Guðnadóttir became

6084-579: Is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian . It is based on the historical novel Schindler's Ark (1982) by Thomas Keneally . The film follows Oskar Schindler , a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish–Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II . It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth , and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern . Ideas for

6253-601: Is a seven-piece song cycle based on the texts of former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove . It had its world premiere by the Boston Symphony under Williams with soprano Cynthia Haymon . Williams makes annual appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl , and took part as conductor and composer in the orchestra's opening gala concerts for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003, which included

6422-411: Is an accepted version of this page John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer and conductor. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinema history . He has a distinct sound that mixes romanticism , impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration . He

6591-547: Is being liquidated by the Nazis, the folk song Oyfn Pripetshik ( Yiddish : אויפֿן פּריפּעטשיק , 'On the Cooking Stove') is sung by a children's choir. The song was often sung by Spielberg's grandmother, Becky, to her grandchildren. The clarinet solos heard in the film were recorded by Klezmer virtuoso Giora Feidman . Williams won an Academy Award for Best Original Score for Schindler's List , his fifth win. Selections from

6760-437: Is best known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has received numerous accolades including 26 Grammy Awards , five Academy Awards , seven BAFTA Awards , three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards . With 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person, after Walt Disney , and is the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at 92 years old. Williams's early work as

6929-572: Is now the Pops' laureate conductor, thus maintaining his affiliation with its parent Boston Symphony Orchestra . Williams leads the Pops on several occasions each year, particularly during their Holiday Pops season and typically for a week of concerts in May. He conducts an annual Film Night at both Boston Symphony Hall and Tanglewood , where he frequently enlists the Tanglewood Festival Chorus . Williams has written many concert pieces, including

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7098-606: Is profoundly affected. He particularly notices a young girl in a red coat who hides from the Nazis and later sees her body on a wagonload of corpses. Schindler is careful to maintain his friendship with Göth and continues to enjoy SS support, mostly through bribery. Göth brutalizes his Jewish maid Helen Hirsch and randomly shoots people from the balcony of his villa; the prisoners are in constant fear for their lives. As time passes, Schindler's focus shifts from making money to trying to save as many lives as possible. To better protect his workers, Schindler bribes Göth into allowing him to build

7267-487: The Berlin Wall , he worried that people were too accepting of intolerance, as they were in the 1930s. Sid Sheinberg greenlit the film on condition that Spielberg made Jurassic Park first. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed Schindler I wouldn't be able to do Jurassic Park ." The picture was assigned a small budget of $ 22 million, as Holocaust films are not usually profitable. Spielberg forwent

7436-615: The Boston Pops ' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993 and is its laureate conductor. Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games; NBC Sunday Night Football ; " The Mission " theme (used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia); the television series Lost in Space , Land of the Giants and Amazing Stories . Williams announced but then rescinded his intention to retire from film score composing after

7605-615: The Harry Potter films, " Hedwig's Theme ", was also used in the fourth through eighth films. Like the main themes from Jaws , Star Wars , Superman , and Indiana Jones , fans have come to identify the Harry Potter films with Williams's themes. Williams was asked to return to score the film franchise's final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 , but director David Yates said that "their schedules simply did not align", as he would have had to provide Williams with

7774-504: The Library of Congress in 2004 and selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry . In Kraków during World War II , the Nazis force local Polish Jews into the overcrowded Kraków Ghetto . Oskar Schindler , a German Nazi Party member from Czechoslovakia , arrives in the city, hoping to make his fortune. He bribes Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and SS officials, acquiring

7943-748: The London Symphony Orchestra ; and a trumpet concerto, which was premiered by The Cleveland Orchestra and their principal trumpet Michael Sachs in September 1996. His bassoon concerto, The Five Sacred Trees , which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and principal bassoon player Judith LeClair in 1995, was recorded for Sony Classical by Williams with LeClair and the London Symphony Orchestra. His " Violin Concerto No. 2 "

8112-511: The New York Film Critics Circle were also won for Best Film , Best Supporting Actor , and Best Cinematographer . The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded the film for Best Film , Best Cinematography (tied with The Piano ), and Best Production Design. The film also won numerous other awards and nominations worldwide. In Malaysia , the film was initially banned. The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia wrote to

8281-605: The Oscar and Golden Globe nominated song "If We Were in Love" (with lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman ) to Franklin J. Schaffner 's Yes, Giorgio (1982). For Family Plot , Hitchcock told Williams to remember one thing: "Murder can be fun." He tipped his hat to Hitchcock's frequent composer, Bernard Herrmann , and Hitchcock was pleased with the result. Williams would follow a similar approach when scoring Brian de Palma 's The Fury (1978). Kael called Williams "a major collaborator" on

8450-654: The Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture with co-producers Branko Lustig and Gerald R. Molen. Steven Zaillian won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay . The film also won the National Board of Review for Best Film , along with the National Society of Film Critics for Best Film , Best Director , Best Supporting Actor , and Best Cinematography . Awards from

8619-580: The Star Wars films. It used vocal melodies instead of his usual compositions using brass instruments. Also of note was "Anakin's Theme", which begins as an innocent childlike melody and morphs insidiously into a quote of the sinister "Imperial March". For Attack of the Clones , Williams composed "Across the Stars", a love theme for Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker (mirroring the love theme composed for The Empire Strikes Back ). The final installment Revenge of

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8788-490: The Star Wars franchise: "We know J. J. Abrams is preparing one Star Wars movie now that I will hopefully do next year for him. I look forward to it. It will round out a series of nine, that will be quite enough for me." Williams also makes a cameo in the film as Oma Tres, a Kijimi bartender. In July 2018, Williams composed the main musical theme for Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park attraction Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge . William Ross , who conducted

8957-549: The University of Arizona as part of his service. In 1955, following his Air Force service, Williams moved to New York City and entered Juilliard , where he studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne . He was originally set on becoming a concert pianist, but after hearing contemporary pianists like John Browning and Van Cliburn perform, he switched his focus to composition. "It became clear," he recalled, "that I could write better than I could play." During this time Williams worked as

9126-470: The University of California, Los Angeles , and studied composition privately with the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco . Williams also attended Los Angeles City College for one semester, as the school had a Studio Jazz Band. In 1951, Williams joined the U.S. Air Force , where he played the piano and brass and conducted and arranged music for the U.S. Air Force Band as part of his assignments. In

9295-612: The University of Pennsylvania in 2021. Williams was made an honorary brother of Kappa Kappa Psi at Boston University in 1993, upon his impending retirement from the Boston Pops. Since 1988, Williams has been honored with 15 Sammy Film Music Awards, the longest-running awards for film music recordings. In 2000, Williams received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . Williams has been inducted into

9464-414: The communications signal of the film's extraterrestrials . Darryn King writes that "One moment in that film captures some of Spielberg and Williams's alchemy: the musical dialogue between the humans and the otherworldly visitors, itself an artistic collaboration of sorts." Pauline Kael wrote of the scene: "the earthlings are ready with a console, and they greet the great craft with an oboe solo variation on

9633-718: The "Raiders March" from the Indiana Jones movies at the end of the show. Williams made a surprise appearance at the U.S. premiere of the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) on June 15, where he conducted themes with a live symphony orchestra. Also present were Spielberg, Lucas, Harrison Ford , and James Mangold . Later that year, he conducted the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Matsumoto and Tokyo , Japan, marking his return to

9802-790: The 100th Anniversary of the Hollywood Bowl . He is currently completing a piano concerto for Emanuel Ax . In February 2004, April 2006, and September 2007, Williams conducted the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. The initial program was intended to be a one-time special event, and featured Williams's medley of Oscar-winning film scores first performed at the previous year's Academy Awards . Its unprecedented popularity led to two concerts in 2006, fundraising gala events featuring personal recollections by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg . Continued demand fueled three more concerts in 2007, which all sold out. These featured

9971-793: The 1924 fanfare by Richard Strauss . Williams conducted the Berlin Philharmonic from October 14–16, 2021, marking his second engagement with a European orchestra and his first with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2022, in celebration of his 90th birthday, Williams conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in March, and was honored on August 20 with a tribute at Tanglewood . The tribute at Tanglewood featured James Taylor , Yo-Yo Ma, and Branford Marsalis . The Boston Symphony Orchestra performed some of Williams' best-known music, with Williams conducting

10140-481: The 1985 documentary film Shoah , Spielberg decided not to plan the film with storyboards , and to shoot it like a documentary. Forty percent of the film was shot with handheld cameras, and the modest budget meant the film was shot quickly over seventy-two days. Spielberg felt that this gave the film "a spontaneity, an edge, and it also serves the subject." He filmed without using Steadicams , elevated shots, or zoom lenses , "everything that for me might be considered

10309-468: The 2007 World Series, Williams conducted a brass -and-drum ensemble in a new dissonant arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner". He composed the quartet Air and Simple Gifts for the first inauguration of Barack Obama . The piece is based on the hymn " Simple Gifts ", made famous by Aaron Copland in Appalachian Spring . Williams chose the theme because he knew Obama admired Copland. It

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10478-677: The American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame . Williams was honored with the annual Richard Kirk award at the 1999 BMI Film and TV Awards, recognizing his contribution to film and television music. In 2004, he received a Kennedy Center Honor . He won a Classic Brit Award in 2005 for his soundtrack work of the previous year. Williams has won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for his scores for Star Wars , Close Encounters of

10647-460: The Americans. The workers give him a signed statement attesting to his role in saving Jewish lives and present him with a ring engraved with a Talmudic quotation: "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire". Schindler breaks down in tears, feeling he should have done more, and is comforted by the workers before he and his wife leave in their car. When the Schindlerjuden awaken the next morning,

10816-399: The Dial of Destiny , scheduled for a 2023 release, would likely be his last film score as he planned to retire from film and focus on solely composing concert music. However, he reversed this decision by January 2023, stating that he had at least "10 more years to go. I'll stick around for a while!". He compared the decision to Spielberg's father Arnold , who had worked in his field until he

10985-432: The Dolls (1967) and was nominated again for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969). His first Oscar was for Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score , for Fiddler on the Roof (1971). He scored Robert Altman 's psychological thriller Images (1972) and his neo-noir The Long Goodbye (1973), based on the novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler . Pauline Kael wrote that "Altman does variations on Chandler's theme

11154-618: The Extra-Terrestrial , Schindler's List ) and one for Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score ( Fiddler on the Roof ) . Williams was the subject of an hour-long documentary for the BBC in 1980, and was featured in a report on 20/20 in 1983. He has received several academic honors, including an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in 1980, as well as Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Boston College in 1993, from Harvard University in 2017, and from

11323-635: The Fourth of July (1989), JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995)), and Chris Columbus (the first two Home Alone films (1990–1992) and Stepmom (1998)). Additional films Williams scored during this period include Harry Winer 's SpaceCamp (1986), Alan J. Pakula 's Presumed Innocent (1990), Ron Howard 's Far and Away (1992), Sydney Pollack 's Sabrina (1995), Barry Levinson 's Sleepers (1996), John Singleton 's Rosewood (1997), Alan Parker 's Angela's Ashes (1999), Roland Emmerich 's The Patriot (2000) and Rob Marshall 's Memoirs of

11492-498: The Giants (1968-70), the last three created by the prolific producer Irwin Allen . He also worked on several episodes of M Squad (1957-1960) and Checkmate (1960–1962) and the pilot episode of Gilligan's Island (1964–67). Williams called William Wyler 's How to Steal a Million (1966) "the first film I ever did for a major, super-talent director". Williams received his first Oscar nomination for his score for Valley of

11661-502: The Holocaust as possible, to save their stories. He continues to finance that work. Spielberg used proceeds from the film to finance several related documentaries , including Anne Frank Remembered (1995), The Lost Children of Berlin (1996), and The Last Days (1998). Schindler's List received acclaim from both film critics and audiences, with Americans such as talk show host Oprah Winfrey and President Bill Clinton urging others to see it. World leaders in many countries saw

11830-458: The Holocaust, tried to pass the project to several directors before deciding to direct it himself. Principal photography took place in Kraków , Poland, over 72 days in 1993. Spielberg shot in black-and-white and approached the film as a documentary. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński wanted to create a sense of timelessness. John Williams composed the score, and violinist Itzhak Perlman performed

11999-454: The Jewish activity seen in the ghetto consists of financial transactions such as lending money, trading on the black market, or hiding wealth, thus perpetuating a stereotypical view of Jewish life. Horowitz notes that while the depiction of women in the film accurately reflects Nazi ideology, the low status of women and the link between violence and sexuality is not explored further. History professor Omer Bartov of Brown University notes that

12168-405: The Jewish people being sacrificed in the horror of the Holocaust". The girl was portrayed by Oliwia Dąbrowska, three years old at the time of filming. Spielberg asked Dąbrowska not to watch the film until she was eighteen, but she watched it when she was eleven, and says she was "horrified". Upon seeing the film again as an adult, she was proud of the role she played. Roma Ligocka , who says she

12337-563: The Jewish workers are transported by train to Brünnlitz, the women and girls are mistakenly redirected to Auschwitz-Birkenau; Schindler bribes Rudolf Höss , the commandant of Auschwitz, for their release. At the new factory, Schindler forbids the SS guards from entering the production area without permission and encourages the Jews to observe the Sabbath . Over the next seven months, he spends his fortune bribing Nazi officials and buying shell casings from other companies. Due to Schindler's machinations,

12506-604: The Jews for slave labor or exterminating them outright. Water is seen as giving deliverance by Alan Mintz, Holocaust Studies professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. He notes its presence in the scene where Schindler arranges for a Holocaust train loaded with victims awaiting transport to be hosed down, and the scene in Auschwitz, where the women are given an actual shower instead of receiving

12675-555: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Spielberg emphasized the importance of Williams's score to the Indiana Jones pictures: "Jones did not perish, but listened carefully to the Raiders score. Its sharp rhythms told him when to run. Its slicing strings told him when to duck. Its several integrated themes told adventurer Jones when to kiss

12844-450: The Maiden . Martin Scorsese, who passed the film back to Spielberg and stated his version had different ideas from the final film including a different ending, would later comment "I admired the film greatly." The success of Schindler's List led filmmaker Stanley Kubrick to abandon his own Holocaust project, Aryan Papers , which would have been about a Jewish boy and his aunt who survive

13013-454: The Nazis and enjoys his new wealth and status as an industrialist. SS- Untersturmführer (second lieutenant) Amon Göth arrives in Kraków to oversee construction of the Płaszów concentration camp . When the camp is ready, he orders the ghetto liquidated: two thousand Jews are transported to Płaszów, and two thousand others are killed in the streets by the SS. Schindler witnesses the massacre and

13182-482: The Pops' new leader in the spring of 1980 allowed him to devote part of the Pops' first PBS broadcast of the season to presenting his new compositions for The Empire Strikes Back . Williams almost ended his tenure with the Pops in 1984 when some players hissed while sight-reading a new Williams composition in rehearsal; Williams abruptly left the session and tendered his resignation. He initially cited mounting conflicts with his film composing schedule but later admitted

13351-731: The Press . In 1987, Williams scored George Miller 's The Witches of Eastwick . In his Oscar-nominated score for Lawrence Kasdan 's The Accidental Tourist (1988), Williams developed the two main theme sections in different ways, turning the mood lighter or darker through orchestration and an unexpected use of synthesizers. Other frequent collaborations with directors include Martin Ritt ( Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), Conrack (1974) and Stanley & Iris (1990)), Mark Rydell ( The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973) and The River (1984)), Oliver Stone ( Born on

13520-647: The Sith combined many of the themes created for the series' previous films, including "The Emperor's Theme", "The Imperial March", "Across the Stars", "Duel of the Fates", "The Force Theme", "Rebel Fanfare", "Luke's Theme", and "Princess Leia's Theme", as well as new themes for General Grievous and the film's climax, titled "Battle of the Heroes". Williams scored the first three film adaptations of J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series. The most important theme from Williams's scores for

13689-500: The Superman fanfare and the love theme, "Can You Read My Mind?", appeared in the subsequent Salkind/Cannon film sequels as well as Superman Returns (2006). In 1985, NBC commissioned Williams to compose a television news music package for various network news spots. The package, which Williams named " The Mission ", consists of four movements, two of which are still used heavily by NBC today for Today , NBC Nightly News and Meet

13858-642: The Third Kind (1977), the Indiana Jones franchise (1981–2023), Jurassic Park (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012) and The Fabelmans (2022). He also scored Superman (1978), the first two Home Alone films (1990–1992) and the first three Harry Potter films (2001–2004). Among other directors, he has worked with Alfred Hitchcock , Brian De Palma , Robert Altman , Clint Eastwood and Richard Donner . Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as

14027-437: The Third Kind , Superman , The Empire Strikes Back , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Angela's Ashes , Munich , Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , and The Book Thief . The competition includes not only composers of film scores, but also composers of instrumental music of any genre, including composers of classical fare such as symphonies and chamber music . Schindler%27s List Schindler's List

14196-488: The Worlds allowed him to tip his hat to the scores for classic monster movies. That same year, he scored Spielberg's epic historical drama film Munich . In 2011, after a three-year hiatus from film scoring, Williams composed the scores for Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse . The former was his first score for an animated film, and he employed various styles, including "1920s, 1930s European jazz" for

14365-404: The actor's star quality would not overpower the character. Neeson felt Schindler enjoyed outsmarting the Nazis, who regarded him as somewhat naïve. "They don't quite take him seriously, and he used that to full effect." To help him prepare for the role, Spielberg showed Neeson film clips of Time Warner CEO Steve Ross , who had a charisma that Spielberg compared to Schindler's. He also located

14534-571: The actual death camp were raised by the World Jewish Congress . To avoid filming inside the actual death camp, the film crew constructed a replica of a portion of the camp just outside the entrance of Birkenau. There were some antisemitic incidents. A woman who encountered Fiennes in his Nazi uniform told him: "The Germans were charming people. They didn't kill anybody who didn't deserve it." Antisemitic symbols were scrawled on billboards near shooting locations, while Kingsley nearly entered

14703-456: The alteration of two notes, Spielberg initially thought it was a joke. Williams explained that "the sophisticated approach you would like me to take isn't the approach you took with the film I just experienced." After hearing variations on the theme, Spielberg agreed: "sometimes the best ideas are the most simple ones." The score earned Williams his second Academy Award, his first for Best Original Score . Its ominous two-note ostinato has become

14872-538: The animated short film Dear Basketball , directed by Glen Keane and based on a poem by Kobe Bryant . In 2023, he was commissioned by ESPN to write an original composition titled "Of Grit and Glory" for the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship . From 1980 to 1993, Williams served as the Boston Pops Orchestra 's principal conductor, succeeding Arthur Fiedler . Williams never met Fiedler in person but spoke to him by telephone. His arrival as

15041-665: The anthem's 200th anniversary. The performance was held at A Capitol Fourth , an Independence Day celebration concert in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2014. On April 13, 2017, at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, Williams performed a surprise concert with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra featuring "Princess Leia's Theme" (a tribute to the recently deceased Carrie Fisher ), "The Imperial March" and "Main Title", followed by George Lucas saying, "The secret sauce of Star Wars,

15210-422: The average German rationalized their knowledge of or participation in the Holocaust. Author Jason Epstein commented that the movie gives the false impression that if people were smart enough or lucky enough, they could survive the Holocaust. Spielberg responded to criticism that Schindler's breakdown as he says farewell is too maudlin and even out of character by pointing out that the scene is needed to drive home

15379-403: The coat. John Williams, who frequently collaborates with Spielberg, composed the score for Schindler's List . The composer was amazed by the film, and felt it would be too challenging. He said to Spielberg, "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg responded, "I know. But they're all dead!" Itzhak Perlman performs the theme on the violin. In the scene where the ghetto

15548-419: The country for the first time in over thirty years. In 1956, Williams married Barbara Ruick , an American actress and singer, and they remained married until her death in 1974. The couple had three children: Jennifer (Jenny) Williams Gruska (b. 1956), Mark Towner Williams (b. 1958), and Joseph Williams (b. 1960); the last is best known as the lead singer of Toto . In 1980, Williams married Samantha Winslow,

15717-421: The dead), after which Liam Neeson lays two roses. Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindlerjuden , made it his life's mission to tell the story of his savior. Pfefferberg attempted to produce a biopic of Oskar Schindler with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1963, with Howard Koch writing, but the deal fell through. In 1982, Thomas Keneally published his historical novel Schindler's Ark , which he wrote after

15886-685: The early 1970s thanks to his work for Irwin Allen's disaster films ; he scored The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Towering Inferno and Earthquake (both 1974). Williams named his Images score as a favorite; he recalls "the score used all kinds of effects for piano, percussion, and strings. It had a debt to Varèse , whose music enormously interested me. If I had never written film scores, if I had proceeded writing concert music, it might have been in this vein. I think I would have enjoyed it. I might even have been fairly good at it. But my path didn't go that way." As it happened, Williams's scores for The Reivers (1969) and The Cowboys (1972) shaped

16055-411: The edges of respectability, becomes a father figure responsible for saving the lives of more than a thousand people. While the film is shot primarily in black and white, a red coat is used to distinguish a little girl in the scene depicting the liquidation of the Kraków ghetto. Later in the film, Schindler sees her exhumed dead body, recognizable only by the red coat she is still wearing. Spielberg said

16224-686: The expected gassing. Schindler's List opened in theatres on December 15, 1993, in the United States and December 25 in Canada. Its premiere in Germany was on March 1, 1994. Its U.S. network television premiere was on NBC on February 23, 1997. Shown uncut and without commercials, it ranked No. 3 for the week with a 20.9/31 rating/share, the highest Nielsen rating for any film since NBC's broadcast of Jurassic Park in May 1995. The film aired on public television in Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day in 1998. The film

16393-408: The factory produces no usable armaments. He runs out of money in 1945, just as Germany surrenders. As a Nazi Party member and war profiteer, Schindler must flee the advancing Red Army to avoid capture. The SS guards at the factory have been ordered to kill the Jewish workforce, but Schindler persuades them not to do so. Bidding farewell to his workers, he prepares to head west, hoping to surrender to

16562-453: The film as a classic psychopath . Fiennes looked so much like Göth in costume that when Mila Pfefferberg met him, she trembled with fear. The character of Itzhak Stern (played by Ben Kingsley) is a composite of the accountant Stern, factory manager Abraham Bankier , and Göth's personal secretary, Mietek Pemper . The character serves as Schindler's alter ego and conscience. Dustin Hoffman

16731-400: The film has done much to increase Holocaust remembrance and awareness as the remaining survivors pass away, severing the last living links with the catastrophe. The film's release in Germany led to widespread discussion about why most Germans did not do more to help. Criticism of the film also appeared, mostly from academia rather than the popular press. Sara Horowitz points out that much of

16900-540: The film to make a profit out of a tragedy while Schindler's wife, Emilie Schindler , lived in poverty in Argentina . Keneally disputed claims that she was never paid for her contributions, "not least because I had recently sent Emilie a check myself." He also confirmed with Spielberg's office that payment had been sent from there. Filmmaker Michael Haneke criticized the sequence in which Schindler's women are accidentally sent off to Auschwitz and herded into showers: "There's

17069-402: The film's "narrative boldness, visual audacity, and emotional directness." He noted the performances of Neeson, Fiennes, Kingsley, and Davidtz as warranting special praise, and calls the scene in the shower at Auschwitz "the most terrifying sequence ever filmed." In the 2013 edition of his Movie and Video Guide , Leonard Maltin awarded the picture a four-out-of-four-star rating; he described

17238-586: The film's development. He was cast in December 1992 after Spielberg saw him perform in Anna Christie on Broadway . Warren Beatty participated in a script reading, but Spielberg was concerned that he could not disguise his accent and that he would bring "movie star baggage". Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson expressed interest in portraying Schindler, but Spielberg preferred to cast the relatively unknown Neeson so that

17407-481: The film, Keneally's novel, the film's soundtrack on CD , a senitype, and a photo booklet titled Schindler's List: Images of the Steven Spielberg Film , all housed in a plexiglass case. The laserdisc gift set was a limited edition that included the soundtrack, the original novel, and an exclusive photo booklet. As part of its 20th anniversary, the film was released on Blu-ray Disc on March 5, 2013. The film

17576-406: The film, and some met personally with Spielberg. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has received an approval rating of 98% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 9.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, " Schindler's List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg's signature tender humanism to create the director's dramatic masterpiece." Metacritic gave the film

17745-406: The film, so the audience would "not have a sense of when it was made". Universal chairman Tom Pollock asked him to shoot the film on a color negative , to allow color VHS copies of the film to later be sold, but Spielberg did not want to accidentally "beautify events". However, scenes with the girl in the red coat were shot in color, and later rotoscoped over by hand to remove all color except for

17914-424: The film, writing that he had "composed what may be as apt and delicately varied a score as any horror movie has ever had. He scares us without banshee melodramatics. He sets the mood under the opening titles: otherworldly, seductively frightening. The music cues us in." That same year, Williams scored Richard Donner 's Superman . Donner reportedly interrupted the demo premiere of the opening title by running onto

18083-418: The films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year. This list is incomplete. You can help by expanding it. The following individuals have been nominated for the award multiple times: This list is complete. You can't help by expanding it. The following individuals have won the award multiple times: John Williams This

18252-427: The first woman ever credited for a solo win in this category for Joker . In 2022, Hans Zimmer won this award on his tenth nomination for Dune , setting the record for most nominations in this category before the first win. In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which

18421-463: The five-note theme; the craft answers in deep, tuba tones. The dialogue becomes blissfully garrulous ... there is a conversational duet: the music of the spheres." Williams says the first three notes of the theme are resolved, making the next two surprising, adding "I realized that 20 years after the fact." Spielberg chose Williams to score 1941 (1979) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). For

18590-560: The greatest composer-conductor in the universe, John Williams". Anne-Sophie Mutter , introduced to Williams by their mutual friend André Previn , collaborated with Williams on an album, Across the Stars , on which Mutter played themes and pieces from Williams's film scores in his new arrangements for violin. It was released in August 2019. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra invited Williams to lead concerts in January 2020, his first engagement with

18759-644: The heroine or smash the enemy. All things considered, Jones listened ... and lived." Williams's soaring score for Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) won him a fourth Oscar. Spielberg liked Williams's music for the climactic chase so much that he edited the film to match it. The Spielberg-Williams collaboration resumed in 1987 with Empire of the Sun and continued with Always (1989), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Amistad (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Williams also contributed

18928-403: The hit that it became". Billy Wilder expressed an interest in directing the film as a memorial to his family, most of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. Brian De Palma also refused an offer to direct. Spielberg finally decided to take on the project when he noticed that Holocaust deniers were being given serious consideration by the media. With the rise of neo-Nazism after the fall of

19097-532: The images of candle fire regain their warmth through color. For Spielberg, they represent "just a glint of color, and a glimmer of hope." Sara Horowitz, director of the Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University , sees the candles as a symbol for the Jews of Europe, killed and then burned in the crematoria . The two scenes bracket the Nazi era, marking its beginning and end. She points out that normally,

19266-570: The latter, Williams wrote the rousing "The Raiders March" for the film's hero, Indiana Jones , as well as separate themes to represent the eponymous Ark of the Covenant , Jones's love interest Marion Ravenwood and the Nazi villains. Additional themes were written and featured in his scores for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Indiana Jones and

19435-701: The list. The Library of Congress entered the Star Wars soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". John Towner Williams was born in Flushing, Queens , New York City, to Esther (née Towner) and Johnny Williams , a jazz drummer and percussionist who played with the Raymond Scott Quintet. He has an older sister, Joan, and two younger brothers, Jerry and Don, who play on his film scores. Williams said of his lineage: "My father

19604-687: The main theme for the film. Williams garnered his fourth Oscar for Best Original Score, his fifth overall. Williams scored Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence , based on an unfinished project Stanley Kubrick asked Spielberg to direct. A. O. Scott argued that the movie represented new directions for director and composer, writing that Spielberg created "a mood as layered, dissonant and strange as John Williams's unusually restrained, modernist score". Williams wrote scores inspired by jazz for Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002), which allowed him to tip his hat to Henry Mancini , as well as The Terminal (2004). His 2005 score for Spielberg's War of

19773-464: The main theme. Schindler's List premiered on November 30, 1993, in Washington, D.C. , and was released on December 15, 1993, in the United States. Often listed among the greatest films ever made , the film received widespread critical acclaim for its tone, acting, atmosphere, score, cinematography, and Spielberg's direction; it was also a box office success, earning $ 322.2 million worldwide on

19942-415: The most widely recognized in film history, and the " Force Theme " and " Princess Leia's Theme " are well-known examples of leitmotif. The score was immensely successful—it remains the highest grossing non- popular music recording of all time—and won Williams a second Academy Award for Best Original Score . In 1980, Williams returned to score The Empire Strikes Back , introducing " The Imperial March " as

20111-565: The movie as a "staggering adaptation of Thomas Keneally's best-seller ... with such frenzied pacing that it looks and feels like nothing Hollywood has ever made before ... Spielberg's most intense and personal film to date". James Verniere of the Boston Herald noted the film's restraint and lack of sensationalism, and called it a "major addition to the body of work about the Holocaust." In his review for The New York Review of Books , British critic John Gross said his misgivings that

20280-442: The music for Star Wars: The Last Jedi , the eighth episode of the saga. Williams contributed "The Adventures of Han" and several additional demos for the 2018 standalone Star Wars film Solo: A Star Wars Story , while John Powell wrote the film's original score and adapted Williams's music. In March 2018, Williams announced that following Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), he would retire from composing music for

20449-460: The opening credits and "pirate music" for the maritime battles. Both scores received overwhelmingly positive reviews and earned Academy Award nominations, the latter also being nominated for a Golden Globe. The Oscar nominations were Williams's 46th and 47th, making him the most nominated musician in Academy Award history (having previously been tied with Alfred Newman 's 45 nominations) and

20618-441: The path his career went. Williams's scores for The Reivers and The Cowboys impressed a young Steven Spielberg , who was getting ready to direct his feature debut, The Sugarland Express (1974) and requested the composer for The Reivers . Williams recalled, "I met what looked to be this seventeen-year-old kid, this very sweet boy, who knew more about film music than I did—every Max Steiner and Dimitri Tiomkin score. We had

20787-406: The physically large and strongly drawn characters of Schindler and Göth overshadow the Jewish victims, who are depicted as small, scurrying, and frightened – a mere backdrop to the struggle of good versus evil. Horowitz points out that the film's dichotomy of absolute good versus absolute evil glosses over the fact that most Holocaust perpetrators were ordinary people; the movie does not explore how

20956-707: The premiere of his piece Soundings . In 2004, he served as the Grand Marshal for the Rose Parade and conducted " The Star Spangled Banner " at the Rose Bowl Game . In April 2005, Williams and the Boston Pops performed the "Throne Room Finale" from Star Wars at opening day in Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox , having won their first World Series championship since 1918, received their championship rings. For Game 1 of

21125-459: The project remained "on [his] guilty conscience". Spielberg tried to pass the project to director Roman Polanski , but he refused Spielberg's offer. Polanski's mother was killed at Auschwitz, and he had lived in and survived the Kraków Ghetto. Polanski eventually directed his own Holocaust drama The Pianist (2002). Spielberg also offered the film to Sydney Pollack and Martin Scorsese , who

21294-633: The record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person and is the second most nominated person in Academy Awards history behind Walt Disney 's 59. Williams is the only person to be nominated for an Academy Award in seven different decades (the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s). He is also the oldest person, at age 91, ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. Forty-eight of Williams's Oscar nominations are for Best Original Score and five are for Best Original Song . He won four Oscars for Best Original Score ( Jaws , Star Wars , E.T.

21463-773: The release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023. Among other accolades, he has received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2004, the National Medal of the Arts in 2009 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1998, the Hollywood Bowl 's Hall of Fame in 2000 and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2004. He has composed

21632-502: The role. He watched historic newsreels and talked to Holocaust survivors who knew Göth. In portraying him, Fiennes said "I got close to his pain. Inside him is a fractured, miserable human being. I feel split about him, sorry for him. He's like some dirty, battered doll I was given and that I came to feel peculiarly attached to." Doctors Samuel J. Leistedt and Paul Linkowski of the Université libre de Bruxelles describe Göth's character in

21801-401: The scene was intended to symbolize how members of the highest levels of government in the United States knew the Holocaust was occurring, yet did nothing to stop it. He said: "It was as obvious as a little girl wearing a red coat, walking down the street, and yet nothing was done to bomb the German rail lines. Nothing was being done to slow down ... the annihilation of European Jewry. So that

21970-521: The score for nine of the top 25 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office. In 2022 , Williams was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II , "for services to film music". In 2005, the American Film Institute placed Williams's score to Star Wars first on its list AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores ; his scores for Jaws and E.T. also made

22139-474: The score were released on a soundtrack album . The film explores the theme of good and evil , using as its main protagonist a "good German", a popular characterization in American cinema. While Göth is portrayed as an almost completely dark and evil person, Schindler gradually evolves from Nazi supporter to rescuer and hero. Thus a second theme of redemption is introduced as Schindler, a disreputable schemer on

22308-468: The scores of Alexander Mackendrick 's Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and Robert Mulligan 's To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Williams was also the pianist on the scores of Billy Wilder 's The Apartment (1960) Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise 's West Side Story (1961), and Blake Edwards The Great Race (1966). Known as Johnny Williams during this period, he released several jazz albums under this name, including Jazz Beginnings , World on

22477-452: The second most nominated overall, behind Walt Disney . Williams won an Annie Award for his score for Tintin . In 2012, he scored Spielberg's Lincoln , for which he received his 48th Academy Award nomination. He was also set to write the score for Bridge of Spies that year, which would have been his 27th collaboration with Spielberg, but in March 2015, it was announced that Thomas Newman would score it instead, as Williams's schedule

22646-419: The sense of loss and to allow the viewer an opportunity to mourn alongside the characters on the screen. Bartov wrote that the "positively repulsive kitsch of the last two scenes seriously undermines much of the film's previous merits". He describes the humanization of Schindler as "banal", and is critical of what he describes as the " Zionist closure" set to the song " Jerusalem of Gold ". Schindler's List

22815-414: The service of saving these lives?" Spielberg expressed enough interest for Universal Pictures to buy the rights to the novel. At their first meeting in spring 1983, he told Pfefferberg he would start filming in ten years. In the end credits of the film, Pfefferberg is credited as a consultant under the name Leopold Page. Spielberg was unsure if he was mature enough to make a film about the Holocaust, and

22984-515: The shoot, Spielberg conceived the epilogue, where 128 survivors pay their respects at Schindler's grave in Jerusalem. The producers scrambled to find the Schindlerjuden and fly them in to film the scene. Principal photography began on March 1, 1993, in Kraków , Poland, with a planned schedule of 75 days. The crew shot at or near the actual locations, though the Płaszów camp had to be reconstructed in

23153-534: The shower scene, including one who was born in a concentration camp. Spielberg, his wife Kate Capshaw , and their five children rented a house in suburban Kraków for the duration of filming. He later thanked his wife "for rescuing me ninety-two days in a row ... when things just got too unbearable". Robin Williams called Spielberg to cheer him up, given the profound lack of humor on the set. Spielberg spent several hours each evening editing Jurassic Park , which

23322-499: The similarities, these are generally attributed to the natural influence of one composer on another. The Boston Globe named Williams as "the most successful composer of film music in the history of the medium". Williams has been nominated for 54 Academy Awards , winning five; six Emmy Awards , winning three; 25 Golden Globe Awards , winning four; 71 Grammy Awards , winning 26; and has received seven British Academy Film Awards . With 54 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds

23491-409: The soundstage, exclaiming, "The music actually says 'Superman'!" King writes that "Donner had a theory that the three-note motif in the main theme—the one that makes you want to punch the air in triumph—is a musical evocation of 'SU-per-MAN! ' ". When asked if there was anything to that, Williams replied "There's everything to that." The score's heroic and romantic themes, particularly the main march,

23660-435: The story to a wide audience, he found the film's final scene at the graveyard neglected the terrible after-effects of the experience on the survivors and implied that they came through emotionally unscathed. Rabbi Uri D. Herscher found the film an "appealing" and "uplifting" demonstration of humanitarianism. Norbert Friedman noted that, like many Holocaust survivors, he reacted with a feeling of solidarity towards Spielberg of

23829-413: The story would be overly sentimentalized "were altogether misplaced. Spielberg shows a firm moral and emotional grasp of his material. The film is an outstanding achievement." Mintz notes that even the film's harshest critics admire the "visual brilliance" of the fifteen-minute segment depicting the liquidation of the Kraków ghetto. He describes the sequence as "realistic" and "stunning". He points out that

23998-454: The symbol of life is color. That's why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black-and-white." Robert Gellately notes the film in its entirety can be seen as a metaphor for the Holocaust, with early sporadic violence increasing into a crescendo of death and destruction. He also notes a parallel between the situation of the Jews in the film and the debate in Nazi Germany between making use of

24167-470: The symphonic recording of the theme with the London Symphony Orchestra on Williams's behalf, additionally arranged Williams's original composition in different musical contexts for use, recording nearly an hour of musical material at Abbey Road Studios in November 2018. Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for his Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite . In 2022, he contributed

24336-634: The theme for Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire , " Yoda's Theme ", and " Han Solo and the Princess ". The original Star Wars trilogy concluded with Return of the Jedi , for which Williams provided the " Emperor's Theme ", " Parade of the Ewoks ", and " Luke and Leia ". Both scores earned him Academy Award nominations. In 1999, Lucas launched the first of three prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy. Williams

24505-444: The theme music for the Star Wars miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi , which was subsequently adapted further by William Ross. Williams scored Alfred Hitchcock 's final film, Family Plot (1976), as well as Clint Eastwood 's The Eiger Sanction (1975), John Frankenheimer 's Black Sunday (1977), John Badham 's Dracula (1979), Allan Arkush 's Heartbeeps (1981) and Frank Perry 's Monsignor (1982). He also contributed

24674-503: The theme music for, and scored several episodes of, Spielberg's anthology television series Amazing Stories (1985). Schindler's List (1993) proved to be a challenge for Williams; after viewing the rough cut with Spielberg, he was so overcome with emotion that he was hesitant to score the film. He told Spielberg, "I really think you need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg replied, "I know, but they're all dead." Williams asked classical violinist Itzhak Perlman to play

24843-459: The war by sneaking through Poland while pretending to be Catholic. According to scriptwriter Frederic Raphael , when he suggested to Kubrick that Schindler's List was a good representation of the Holocaust, Kubrick commented, "Think that's about the Holocaust? That was about success, wasn't it? The Holocaust is about 6 million people who get killed. Schindler's List is about 600 who don't." Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard accused Spielberg of using

25012-481: The way the John Williams score does variations the title song, which is tender in one scene, a funeral dirge in another. Williams' music is a parody of the movies' frequent overuse of a theme, and a demonstration of how adaptable a theme can be." Altman, known for giving actors free rein, had a similar approach to Williams, telling him "Do whatever you want. Do something you haven't done before." His prominence grew in

25181-457: The woman of the house lights the Sabbath candles. In the film, it is men who perform this ritual, demonstrating not only the subservient role of women, but also the subservient position of Jewish men in relation to Aryan men, especially Göth and Schindler. To Spielberg, the black and white presentation of the film came to represent the Holocaust itself: "The Holocaust was life without light. For me

25350-407: Was 100. Spielberg recommended Williams to his friend George Lucas , who needed a composer for his space opera Star Wars (1977). Williams delivered a grand symphonic score influenced by Gustav Holst 's orchestral suite The Planets , as well as Richard Strauss , Antonín Dvořák , and Golden Age Hollywood composers Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold . The Star Wars theme is among

25519-466: Was a Maine man—we were very close. My mother was from Boston . My father's parents ran a department store in Bangor, Maine , and my mother's father was a cabinetmaker." Johnny Williams collaborated with Bernard Herrmann , and his son sometimes joined him in rehearsals. In 1948, the Williams family moved to Los Angeles where John attended North Hollywood High School , graduating in 1950. He later attended

25688-405: Was asked to score all three, starting with The Phantom Menace . Along with themes from the previous films, Williams created new themes for 2002's Attack of the Clones and 2005's Revenge of the Sith . Most notable of these was " Duel of the Fates ", an aggressive choral composition in the style of Verdi's Requiem , using harsh Sanskrit lyrics that broadened the style of music used in

25857-487: Was attached to direct Schindler's List in 1988. However, Spielberg was unsure of letting Scorsese direct the film, as "I'd given away a chance to do something for my children and family about the Holocaust." Spielberg offered him the chance to direct the 1991 remake of Cape Fear instead. Scorsese would later admit in an interview that while he believed his version of the film might've been good, he had no regrets passing it to Spielberg stating that "it would not have been

26026-560: Was digitally remastered in 4K , Dolby Vision and Atmos and was reissued into theaters on December 7, 2018, for its 25th anniversary. The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 18, 2018. Following the success of the film, Spielberg founded the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation , a nonprofit organization with the goal of providing an archive for the filmed testimony of as many survivors of

26195-740: Was feted at a gala at David Geffen Hall by Spielberg, celebrating their nearly fifty-year collaboration. In 2024, he returned to headline another gala at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra, this time with Yo-Yo Ma as his special guest. Williams also conducted the National Symphony Orchestra , the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets , the Joint Armed Forces Chorus, and the Choral Arts Society of Washington in his new arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for

26364-530: Was hit in the face with my personal life. My upbringing. My Jewishness. The stories my grandparents told me about the Shoah . And Jewish life came pouring back into my heart. I cried all the time. Shooting Schindler's List was deeply emotional for Spielberg, as the subject matter forced him to confront elements of his childhood, such as the antisemitism he faced. He was surprised that he did not cry while visiting Auschwitz; instead, he found himself filled with outrage. He

26533-449: Was interrupted by a minor health issue. This was the first Spielberg film since The Color Purple (1985) not scored by Williams. Williams composed the scores for Spielberg's fantasy The BFG and his drama The Post (2017). In 2019, Williams served as music consultant for Spielberg's West Side Story (2021) and scored his semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans (2022). In June 2022, Williams announced that Indiana Jones and

26702-519: Was known in the Kraków Ghetto for her red coat, feels the character might have been based on her. Ligocka, unlike her fictional counterpart, survived the Holocaust. After the film was released, she wrote and published her own story, The Girl in the Red Coat : A Memoir (2002, in translation). Alternatively, according to her relatives who were interviewed in 2014, the girl may have been inspired by Kraków resident Genya Gitel Chil. The opening scene features

26871-628: Was made an honorary U.S. Marine at the conclusion of his fifth concert with the Marine Band at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In 2021, Williams conducted the world premiere of "Overture to the Oscars" at Tanglewood's 2021 "Film Night". This was followed in 2022 by a "Fanfare for Solo Trumpet", written for the reopening of David Geffen Hall , and "Centennial Overture", written in celebration of

27040-401: Was my message in letting that scene be in color." Andy Patrizio of IGN notes that the point at which Schindler sees the girl's dead body is the point at which he changes, no longer seeing "the ash and soot of burning corpses piling up on his car as just an annoyance". Professor André H. Caron of the Université de Montréal wonders if the red symbolizes "innocence, hope or the red blood of

27209-419: Was offered the role but he refused it. Overall, there are 126 speaking parts in the film. Thousands of extras were hired during filming. Spielberg cast Israeli and Polish actors specially chosen for their Eastern European appearance. Many of the German actors were reluctant to don the SS uniform, but some of them later thanked Spielberg for the cathartic experience of performing in the movie. Halfway through

27378-441: Was one of many crew members who could not force themselves to watch during the shooting of the scene where aging Jews are forced to run naked while being selected by Nazi doctors to go to Auschwitz. Spielberg commented that he felt more like a reporter than a film maker – he would set up scenes and then watch events unfold, almost as though he were witnessing them rather than creating a movie. Several actresses broke down when filming

27547-417: Was performed by Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman , pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill . Williams has guest conducted " The President's Own " United States Marine Band on several occasions, who commissioned him in 2013 to write "Fanfare for The President's Own" (his first concert band work since his sinfonietta for wind ensemble) in honor of their 215th anniversary. In 2023, Williams

27716-415: Was released in a THX widescreen VHS format on September 9, 1997. The DVD was released on March 9, 2004, in widescreen and full screen editions, on a double-sided disc with the feature film beginning on side A and continuing on side B. Special features include a documentary introduced by Spielberg. Also released for both formats was a limited edition gift set, which included the widescreen version of

27885-455: Was scheduled to premiere in June 1993. Spielberg occasionally used German and Polish language dialogue to create a sense of realism. He initially considered making the film entirely in those languages, but decided "there's too much safety in reading [subtitles]. It would have been an excuse [for the audience] to take their eyes off the screen and watch something else." Influenced by

28054-445: Was very well received by many of Spielberg's peers. Filmmaker Billy Wilder wrote to Spielberg saying, "They couldn't have gotten a better man. This movie is absolutely perfection." Polanski, who turned down the chance to direct the film, later commented, "I certainly wouldn't have done as good a job as Spielberg because I couldn't have been as objective as he was." He cited Schindler's List as an influence on his 1994 film Death and

28223-488: Was viewed by over 100,000 people in its first week alone from 48 screens and was eventually shown in 500 theaters (including 80 paid for by municipal authorities), with a total of six million admissions and a gross of $ 38 million. Its 25th anniversary showings grossed $ 551,000 in 1,029 theaters. Spielberg won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film for his work, and shared

28392-529: Was working under mentor Alfred Newman with an uncredited role in the orchestra for the 1956 film Carousel , which also coincidently starred his soon-to-be wife Barbara Ruick . With Mancini, he recorded the scores of Peter Gunn (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Days of Wine and Roses (1962) and Charade (1963), and played the piano part of the guitar-piano ostinato in Mancini's Peter Gunn title theme . With Elmer Bernstein, he performed on

28561-693: Was written for and premiered by Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 2021, with Williams conducting. Williams composed the Liberty Fanfare for the Statue of Liberty 's rededication; "We're Lookin' Good!" for the Special Olympics in celebration of the 1987 International Summer Games; and themes for the 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games. One of his concert works, Seven for Luck , for soprano and orchestra,

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