Schindler's List - the Valuation Matrix

So what is the Valuation Matrix?

The Valuation Matrix is one of the two underlying structures in the film Schindler's List. The second structure, the Competing Libidinal Economy Models, is subsumed and subordinate to the Valuation Matrix, and therefore I shall deal with it in a later post.

The Valuation Matrix could be thought of as the most fundamental and basic structuring mechanism of the film. Although I am tempted to say that it sets the tempo of the film, it would be more pouissant to think of it as the five-line staff on which the key, the tempo and the notes are written. So on the very basic level, it lays down the (essentially relational) structure of all the content in the film. And while it structures the film, it is by no means a neutral, extrinsic element. Gradually, the film reveals (or maybe reveals is not the best word, as the revelation comes as no surprise... it is rather a reaffirmation or re-establishment of a familiar preconception) its own particular bias, or, to continue the musical notation analogy, the specific location of the clef on the staff, and the dominant key towards which the various movements of the film gravitate. Within the boundaries of the structure, the viewer is thus given the wherewithal to read and interpret the text - the film clearly indicates the harmonious, triumphant chords and seperates them from the dissonant and unreconciled chords.

Another important comment is that via the Valuation Matrix the film not only operates internally, but it also projects itself externally, towards the world of the viewer. So the Valuation Matrix IS, but it also DOES - it acts upon the viewer, rather than simply exist inertly within the film.

So what the hell am I rambling about?

Starting with the very motto of the film, the by-now notorious quote from the Talmud "He who saves one life, saves the world entire" (scroll down to the Mishna III section), the film is set within a comparative matrix of valuation, within which all objects, persons, etc. are posited one against the other in relations of equality/inequality, they are measured and weighed, deemed to be greater than, smaller than, lesser than, equal to, and so forth. A person who saves one life = a person who saves the entire world; and by proxy, one person's life = entire world. This is the professed message of the film, an optimistic, sentimental humanistic ideal that is postulated above all else and is seemingly unproblematic. Seemingly.

As an aside note, it is interesting to note that the quote itself originates from a pretty mundane context; this particular section of the tractate of Sanhedrin in the Talmud deals with the divergent methods used to ellicit testimony from witnesses, distinguishing between civil cases and criminal cases (which involve casualties). This quote then serves to admonish witnesses against bearing false witness, as well as against witholding testimony, if such testimony could help save a person's life.
So the context of this quote itself is also structured around a binary opposition that establishes value, >=<, life being more precious, valuable, than mere material possessions. This could come as a shock to people who have not come into contact with Talmudic texts before. Ripping just one sentence from its context, Spielberg is playing on the common perception that the Talmud is an abundant resource of abstract, atemporal, general moral principles; a collection of aphorisms, a Jewish "best of" compilation... Nothing could be farther than the truth, though. The Talmud is a very detailed guide to the day-to-day modus operandi of the Jewish person and the Jewish commonwealth/community - it is anything BUT abstract, atemporal or generic. Rather, it is thoroughly embedded within a specific material, historical, political context.

Back to the Talmudic motto - the film proceeds via a long, unfolding series of comparative valuations.
In the first scene which includes Schindler, he dresses and surveys his accouterments (cuff lings, cigarette case, lighter, swastika-pin - remember these, we'll return to them shortly) and stocks up on some cash. Immediately afterwards, in the club/SS-men hangout, we see precisely how the money bills and the fashion accessories are converted into status and social capital (and like I say, we'll return to these accessories in a sec).

For the Valuation Matrix is not static - it does not merely compartmentalize various objects in respective positions along a contiuum of value; rather, it operates through a constant flow, an interminable process of exchange - this for that, this instead of that, this over that. The objects keep changing positions in an ongoing marketplace circulation, announcing their values by shifting from one place to the next a long the value-chain.

The next scene that reveals the underlying Valuation Matrix is the one in which Schindler meets Poldek Pfefferberg for the first time. This episode takes place in a church. We hear the priest reciting the preface to the Sundary Mass (the specific lines, around "nos tibi semper et ubíque grátias ágere", relate to what is just and worthy that "we", humans, should give unto god - again, value and exchange), and Schindler's conversation with Poldek follows on a discussion by a group of Jewish black-market dealers, who bicker over the value of shoe polish in tin vs. glass jars (haha, Jews talking business in church, I hope you did not miss this here Spielberg's oh so subtle pun...). Pun aside, again, we see the incessant preoccupation of the film (and the characters depicted within it) with comparative values.

And further examples of valuation and exchange abound -
Schindler moving into a fancy apartment just barely vacated by its Jewish tenants  who in turn move into a crowded flat in the ghetto;
"money still money", the Jewish "investor" tells Schindler, only to be told in reply "no it's not, otherwise we wouldn't be here" (indicating, by the way, Schindler's perception in this early stage in the film, that the situation, i.e. the war and the early stages of Aryanization and relocation, are the result of a disruption and hiatus in capitalism; the results of a break within the established modes of social stratification - hence, he understands, this is his change to move forward and leap into the world of new business opportunities);
"Poles cost more", Schindler tells Isaac Stern, when they discuss Schindler's burgeoning business model;
the history and literature teacher being told he is "not essential", that is, worthless, to his surprise;
stamps of approval by the SS-authorities gained in exchange for large baskets filled with black-market delicatessen;
"my father had 50, I have 350 [people on payroll]", Schindler tells his wife, and a minute later we see the wife herself being measured up against Schindler's soon-to-be lover, as the two couples waltz around the dance floor;
etc. etc. etc.

I can't possibly enumerate all the many examples of valuation and exchange included in the film, as that would be tedious and pointless. So at this stage I will take as a given the fact that we've established the Valuation Matrix as THE fundamental mode and aspect of the film; and I will focus only on the most significant valuations and exchanges from here on.

In order to do so, we should already at this early stage point out one of the salient comparative valuations in the film, which forms the backbone of the narrative - the juxtaposition of Schindler against his evil doppelganger, Amon Goeth.
I'll return to deal with this comparative duo when I discuss the second underlying structure, since what Schindler and Goeth are measured upon are their divergent libidinal economies. However, already now it is necessary to state the Schindler/Goeth (and hence the Schindler/Stern vs. Goeth/Hirsch) are mirror images, around which and through which many objects are exchanged and valuated.

Whoof, tired again. I'll pick up here next time.