The Pianist: Review By Dan

I'll begin by saying I am not particularly a fan of Roman Polanski. I wasn't there, so I can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt that he committed rape against a minor in '77, but the evidence seemed compelling (the victim gave detailed descriptions of what occurred, details I don't see someone just 'making up'). He's since been under the protection from extradition by the French and Swiss governments. And even though the victim herself forgave him, I still have a jaded view of the man. I understand he went through Hell in his time, surviving the Holocaust, and his 2nd wife, Sharon Tate, being murdered by Charles Manson's sadistic followers. These things of course would affect someone in many ways, but I find child molestation unforgivable. Now I'll step off my judgmental box and judge his movie.

While not a fan of his personal life, I can't deny that I've enjoyed the two films of his that I have seen, being this and The Ninth Gate. He has a solid pacing for both, and his characters can range from downright evil to warmly sympathetic, so for that I give him props. The dialogue can also be excellent at times. So while I detest his actions in real life, I do recognize him as a good film maker all the same.

The Pianist follows the real life Holocaust story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody, in his finest, Oscar-winning performance), who does about everything he can to survive during the German occupation of Poland during World War 2. We watch the eventual ruination of Warsaw over the course of the war and Wladyslaw surviving with different friends and family, Jewish and non-Jewish. As the war comes to a near closing, a high ranking German officer happens upon Wladyslaw in an abandoned, decrepit, bombed out house trying to open a food can for sustenance, and instead of killing Wladyslaw, he questions him and what he did before the war, in which he tells the officer he was a pianist. We're then treated to an excellent piece by him on the piano as the German officer patiently listens to him playing. Afterwards, he shows compassion and sympathy on Wladyslaw, a rare trait for a Nazi (although not too surprising, because if you are watching carefully, when the officer sits at his desk after getting back to his headquarters, you can see a picture of his family on it, telling you he's not the same heartless, son of a bitch the other Nazi's were earlier in the film. At least not to Wladyslaw).

Before that event, however, we witness the same type of brutality that Spielberg masterfully captured with his Holocaust epic 'Schindler's List'. In Pianist, all the violence we witness is literally from Wladyslaw's point of view. Meaning a lot of the combat we see is far off in the distance, from how he would have seen it where he stood. Although at some points it was uncomfortably close, such as when he's made to line up with a bunch of other Jews, and several random ones are told to step forward and are summarily executed for no apparent reason other then being Jewish. While Pianist didn't fully capture the harrowing nature of Schindler's List to me, I did find it disturbing and depressing with the violence in the same manner.

I'd imagine this was a particularly personal project to Polanski, being a Holocaust survivor himself, and seeing his loved ones killed before him. It's no surprise that the most affecting films on the subject also happen to be directed by Jewish directors. It was a horrible event that I'm glad has been remembered and preserved in the film medium, and should be a reminder for people from time to time. History repeats itself when we don't pay attention to it, that is inevitable as we are human and prone to human behavior (with not all of it good, obviously. Cruelty, malice, and hatred are common and easy traits to have, as well as doing nothing in the face of evil, which in my opinion is worse then the evil being committed).

In terms of acting, Polanski gets the best out of everyone involved with Pianist. Brody's interactions with his family and friends seemed realistic and plausible enough, and I can see why he won an Oscar for his role. As I explained with the scene between him and the German officer (whose name is Wilm Hosenfeld), the reactions between the characters can range from strangely warm and unlikely friendly, to deadly cold and malicious (see: about every other Nazi shown in the film).

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, as it chronicled not just the war, but shortly before it, and shortly after it. During the war, however, we can see that Wladyslaw's passion for piano playing helps him cope with his dark reality, as he plays a ghost piano in his sleep and at other points playing an actual one. I can understand how that would help one stay sane amongst such insanity and death constantly around you. Polanski has delivered a great biographical film that showed the terrible nature of the Holocaust, and while not up to snuff as Schindler's List (rarely can a drama compare to Spielberg's opus, anyways), still wonderful in it's own way.

Hope you enjoyed my review, and I encourage you to give this one a try :) (All words, ideas are mine. Any similarities to other reviews is complete coincidence).

Next up for my 75th review: Schindler's List :D

(Also, this is the first in what will be a trilogy of reviews on the Holocaust films that I find to be of excellence).