It was the year 1993 when veteran director Steven Spielberg released his magnum opus, Schindler’s List. Based on the book Schindler’s Ark (Schindler’s List in the U.S.), by author Thomas Keneally, the film and the book are a reminder and a tribute to the events of the Holocaust during World War II.
With an ensemble cast consisting of Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, and many more, the film was something extraordinary. When veteran director Martin Scorsese was approached to direct the film, he gave Steven Spielberg a gift that became one of the core parts of the Schindler’s List!
When Martin Scorsese Gave Steven Spielberg a Parting Gift
Initially, in the early 1980s, Spielberg was heavily interested in seeing the life of Oskar Schindler make it to the big screens. Purchasing the rights to the adaptation, Spielberg was hesitant at first to make the film.
Considering himself a bit immature to handle the fragile subject, the director passed on the opportunity to Martin Scorsese. Steven Spielberg later realized that in his opinion, Scorsese wasn’t the right man to do the job and he took the project back for himself.
Being an understanding gentleman, Martin Scorsese gave Spielberg a so-called parting gift that helped the Jurassic Park director really make the film great! In an interview with THR, Spielberg revealed that Scorsese hired Steven Zaillian, the “best screenwriter” for Spielberg who helped him out a lot!
I went to Sydney Pollack. He tried and decided he wasn’t able to do it. I might’ve mentioned it to Barry Levinson at one point; I think Barry passed. And I went to Marty [Scorsese], and Marty was intrigued.
He further continued,
It was Marty who hired Steven Zaillian, so the greatest contribution Marty made was finding the best screenwriter to adapt Keneally’s book.
As mentioned above, Martin Scorsese was set as the director of the film which Steven Spielberg gave him willingly. However, Spielberg had a guilty conscience on his mind the moment he gave the film away.
So how exactly did Spielberg retrieve the film? And how did the two directors come to an agreement that ended up with two movies with different themes and exchanging directors? Well, for starters, Spielberg married Kate Capshaw.
Steven Spielberg And Martin Scorsese Exchanged Films!
The only fear that the Jaws director had was that he wasn’t ready enough to tackle Schindler’s List. Giving away the project to Scorsese, the director had a pang of guilt. In the THR interview, Spielberg revealed that the power to handle his fears came to him when he married the love of his life, Kate Capshaw.
As the interview progressed, Spielberg had a very wholesome conversation about his personal life. Stating that his marriage with Capshaw ended up with Spielberg directing Schindler’s List, here’s how the story went down.
When I married Kate, a lot of things opened up in me. One thing was being able to embrace the impossible. It made me take risks more than I had ever taken before. And I thought that if I was going to take a risk, the greatest risk — not just to myself and my career but to the entire survivor community — was taking on Schindler’s List.
What followed was Steven Spielberg feeling guilty about giving away the film to Martin Scorsese. The veteran director said: “I’d given away a chance to do something for my children and family about the Holocaust.” He approached the Taxi Driver director and made a deal. Spielberg would give Scorsese Cape Fear (the film which he was directing) in exchange for Schindler’s List. The rest, we know, is history.
Schindler’s List earned a rating of 9/10 on IMDB and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of Spielberg’s best works to date.
The iconic 1993 film is available on Prime Video in the U.S.
