By Robert Oliver

Copyright metro

Liam Neeson stars in the classic film that’s free to watch on iPlayer (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

A classic movie that swept the Oscars after featuring ‘the most terrifying sequence ever filmed’ is available for free on UK streaming.

Steven Spielberg’s classic film Schindler’s list, which won a remarkable seven Academy Awards in one night in 1994, can be streamed for free on BBC iPlayer.

Based on the 1982 fictional historical novel Schindler’s Ark – which drew inspiration from real events – Schindler’s List stars Liam Neeson and follows the story of Oskar Schindler.

Schindler was an industrialist who lived during World War II and is known for saving 1,200 Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.

A former member of the Nazi Party itself, Schindler soon began using his connections within the Schutzstaffel (SS) to keep his workforce ahead of the Gestapo and out of Nazi death camps.

Speaking about why the film was presented in monochrome, Spielberg said: ‘The Holocaust was life without light. For me the symbol of life is color. That’s why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black and white.’

Among many notable scenes in the film is the shower scene at Auschwitz, during which prisoners at the camps are stripped and forced into a communal shower.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis’ chosen method of execution was to force prisoners at the camps into chambers where they would subsequently be gassed to death.

For a moment, the viewer is uncertain as to whether water or Zyklon B gas will be released from the sprinkler system in the ceiling, with the prisoners all wearing terrified expressions.

Schindler’s List was nominated for 12 Oscars (Picture: Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

The acclaimed drama is regarded as one of Steven Spielberg’s best films (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

While the scene eventually provides a brief moment of respite, as water begins to fall from the sprinkler system, the build-up has been described as ‘the most terrifying sequence ever filmed’ by Jewish scholar Alan Mintz.

Schindler’s List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards in 1994, winning seven – including best picture, best director for Spielberg, best adapted screenplay, and best cinematography.

Made on a budget of around £35million (in 2025 money), Schindler’s List grossed back around £524million – a total almost equal to the amounts taken in by more recent films such as Wicked and Dune: Part Two.

Spielberg was intent on having the film in black and white (Picture: HBO)

The film was quickly regarded as one of Spielberg’s best films, while many movie critics believed it to be a classic upon its release – it is now widely considered to be one of the best of all time.

Schindler’s List boasts an incredible 98% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 9.2 out of 10 – one of the highest scores on the entire site.

On film enthusiast website Letterboxd, it has a score of 4.5 out of five based on more than a million user ratings, while it holds a 9.0 out of 10 rating on IMDb.

It also regularly features high among polls conducted by film experts which aim to determine what the greatest film of all time is, alongside the likes of The Godfather, Citizen Kane, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Schindler’s List will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer for the next 28 days, so if you’ve made plans to watch it then you’d better be quick.

Watch Schindler’s List on BBC iPlayer.

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