I agree. 6,000,000 is a number - not a name, nor a face. By giving her a shade of red, we're drawn to her because she stands out in what would otherwise be a faceless sea of inhumanity. She gives it a face, albeit briefly. The fact that she's young implies innocence, something that also symbolizes the many victims. It also demonstrates the power of narrative perspective. We're essentially watching her through the eyes of Oskar. We see her, we cut back to his reaction. We see her again, Oskar perched atop his horse, seemingly helpless as the violence happens all around him. Her escape seems to imply hope, but really this is all to set up the reveal later that she in fact, perished. If she had not stood out at that moment, her corpse would have been just another among thousands. When Oskar does see her again, it resonates thematically because we can see the regret that is echoed at the end: I could have gotten one more person...

The cinematic storytelling used so brilliantly here -- the way it's shot across the void between the hilltop and the ghetto below -- just chimed with another brilliant example of same, called to our attention early this week by Andrew Stanton in his TED talk on storytelling, just published over at TED.com. In that speech, Stanton talks about how he watched David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" six or seven times, learning more and more on each viewing. Then he shows the TED audience the scene which hit him in the gut as it personalized the epic for him, driving home its theme. That highly cinematic scene is also shot across the void of the Suez Canal, as Lawrence is hit in the gut by the central dramatic question driving the film: "Who are you?" Just...jaw-dropping craft. Just...maddeningly, depressingly brilliant...stuff. Thanks a lot, guys...

I'm reminded of two scenes in "The Pianist," where Wladyslaw Szpilman is horrified by the brutal mutilation of a child he is trying to save as the kid tries to crawl under the wall that separates the ghetto from the rest of the city, and another scene in which a music teacher has his very young students sing, in order to give them courage and distract them from the horrors they face. A lot of good scenes in this set of cuts: http://youtu.be/ivYHhW-v3x8 At 32:49 in this you can see the music teacher, however it seems the scene with the song was cut from this version: http://youtu.be/18JcAtH0EGE "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" takes a child's point of view of the holocaust. I can't see the following scene without crying. The point where the two children hold hands just breaks my heart: http://youtu.be/jcb_obGjm54

That's a terrific point TBBB: When Oskar breaks down at the end, 'One more person'... totally recalls the 'ghost' of the Little Girl in Red. I don't know if I read it somewhere or it just came to me, but there's this line: "Every life is a universe." It mostly comes to mind when I'm thinking about writing and characters, a reminder that our characters have all the depth they require, we just need to dig deeper. But there is a much more obvious meaning, isn't there: Each life is meaningful. It's one reason we tell stories, to humanize our world of experience. And it doesn't take much, does it? As small and yet powerful a story as the Little Girl in Red...

John, I am swept up in your passion for film as a visual medium. "Cinematic storytelling" indeed! This tiny subplot works on so many different levels, but certainly a remarkable scene from a visual standpoint. Re Lawrence of Arabia: I have that near the top of my re-watch list. It's been years. Just need to carve out 4 hours of time to do it!

The Pianist, such a powerful film. And you've reminded of that gut-wrenching scene in Sophie's Choice, where she must literally choose between her son or daughter, who shall live, who shall die. The Holocaust is perhaps the ultimate example of "I - It" thinking, the neutering of another's personhood, transforming them from a human into an object. Remember that scene in The Silence of the Lambs where Buffalo Bill tells kidnap victim Catherine Martin, "It puts the lotion on its skin." Referring to a person in 3rd person impersonal, objectifying them like that enables the murderer to think of them as an object, not a human, thus removing the taint of guilt or shame over what they are doing. That is inauthentic living at its worst. Authentic living is based on "I - You" relationships, where we acknowledge the humanity of the Other. Yet another reason to tell stories as a constant reminder of that simple fact: we are all fellow citizens of this lifeboat known as Earth. Discovering Martin Buber in college is right up there with being introduced to Joseph Campbell.

Interesting that John Arends mentioned the TED video I forwarded to you yesterday. In that same video, Andrew Stanton noted a quote Mr. Rogers used to carry in his wallet from a social worker: "Frankly, there isn't anybody you couldn't learn to love once you've heard their story". I think that echoes your thoughts perfectly.

I think that the Gong Li movie "To Live" ranks with the others mentioned here. In this saga that follows a family through the communist revolution, the "Great Leap Forward," and beyond. The protagonist's daughter becomes mute due to a high fever and later dies immediately after childbirth. The scenes that preceding the death give context: http://youtu.be/oceUNZwPSkU And here, parents along with the young "doctors" (who have Red Party approval but lack medical training) are helpless while the daughter hemorrhages: http://youtu.be/F7Vzvr8drNg

I disagree about the reason Spielberg used color with this one character. It's not to draw our eye to her—he does that fine with camera movement and framing. It's not to help the audience identify with her—he makes us identify with dozens of unnamed one-scene characters in this movie by storytelling alone. Spielberg used red for her so that, later in the movie, when Oskar Schindler recognizes her unearthed body in the corpse pile, the audience would know what he was looking at. She was supposed to be decomposed beyond all recognition, but he identified her through the color of her coat. Nevertheless, the audience would never be able to make that connection without the use of color in an otherwise monochromatic film. Another solution could have been to have Oskar say aloud "OH HEY ITS THAT GIRL I SAW FROM THE GHETTO LIQUIDATION" but I think we can all agree a little color cheating did the trick much more nicely.

Wow, that is an amazing quote. And so true. Thanks for that1

Per Dan's last point: Has anyone ever found an interview with Spielberg about his use of red with this character? Certainly someone had to ask him about that, seeing as it's the only time color in is used in the historical section of the movie [the epilogue at the cemetery, of course, is in color].

This blurb from Wiki: Spielberg himself has explained that he only followed the novel, and his interpretation was that "America and Russia and England all knew about the Holocaust when it was happening, and yet we did nothing about it. We didn't assign any of our forces to stopping the march toward death, the inexorable march toward death. It was a large bloodstain, primary red color on everyone's radar, but no one did anything about it. And that's why I wanted to bring the color red in." Also found this http://www.oskarschindler.com/13.htm.

TBBB, there you go. We were all off-base, missing the most obvious symbolic reference: red = blood. Straight out of Jung dream interpretations and myths before that. OTOH I think all of our observations have value. An artist can intend one thing, but either unconsciously create something else as well or the thing itself can have multiple layers of meaning as a result of it coming into being. That's one of the most powerful dynamics of storytelling and filmmaking. And great stories allow readers to plumb their depth to keep finding more and different meanings. That's why even though I've taught a movie like Shawshank or Silence of the Lambs a dozen times or more, I can still find new insights. Thanks TBBB. The GITS community is incredible. I thank all of you for what you bring to this blog to help make it what it is.

It's interesting to read Spielberg's take on it because the link provides some other insights, most notably how this seemingly was influenced by true events. Whether or not he knew of these and was, in turn, influenced subconsciously, will probably remain one of those little mysteries for the rest of us. I know of a writer over on Google+ who has said his stories are much smarter than he is and that he's continually surprised by readers pointing out things within his work that he himself failed to realize - and that is what's great about individual perspectives. Reminds me of a quick story: my first job ever in high school was in a clothing store. Some girls used to get flowers delivered all the time and as a new bouquet came in, one girl in particular said to the rest of us with a bit of seriousness in her voice how nobody ever gave her flowers. So, being the joker that I am, I drew a picture of a flower on a piece of paper, wrote her name and "a flower" underneath it. My intent was to not be a wise ass so much as lighten her mood. Instead, she was genuinely moved when I gave it to her, telling me several years later that she still had it to that day. Just thought I'd share that because it's a good lesson on author's intent vs. the recipient's own understanding and the power of the gap in between. And thank you for the providing a little corner of the internet for people to dwell, learn, share perspectives and their own little stories!