I always knew that one day I would make a film about this painful chapter in Polish history, but I did not want it to be based on my own life.
As soon as I read the first chapter of Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoirs, I instantly knew that The Pianist would be the subject of my next film. I knew how to tell it. It was the story I was seeking: in spite of the horror, it is a positive account, full of hope.
I survived the bombing of Warsaw and the Cracow Ghetto and I wanted to recreate those childhood visions. It was also important for me to stick as close to the truth as possible and avoid Hollywood-style make-believe. I have never done, and don't intend to do, anything autobiographical, but making THE PIANIST I could use the experiences I went through. While visiting Cracow scouting for locations, my childhood memories resurfaced. What I felt, walking along the streets of the former Ghetto, proved that I couldn't shoot the film in Cracow.
In addition to my own recollections, I could rely on the authenticity of Szpilman's account. He wrote it just after the war - perhaps that's why the story is so strong, so genuine, and so fresh. He describes the reality of this period with surprising - almost cool and scientific - objectivity. There are decent Poles and evil Poles in his book, decent and evil Jews, decent and evil Germans.
Before we began the shoot, we consulted historians and survivors of the Ghetto. I also showed the whole crew documentary footage of the Warsaw Ghetto. As for the actor to play Szpilman, I wasn't looking for a physical resemblance. I wanted a young actor who could slip into the skin of the character as I imagined him. It was important that he not be a household name. As the film was to be shot in English, we needed someone who spoke the language fluently. We organized a casting call in London - "no experience necessary." 1400 people showed up. After the auditions, we realized it would be difficult to find someone with absolutely no experience, so we broadened our search to professional actors. I didn't find anyone in Britain, so we extended our search to the United States. When I saw some of Adrien Brody's work, I didn't hesitate: he was THE PIANIST.
THE PIANIST is a testimony to the power of music, the will to live, and the courage to stand against evil.
-- Roman Polanski
The winner of the top prize, the coveted Palme d'Or (Best Picture) award, at the 2002 Cannes International Film Festival, THE PIANIST is the latest film from one of the world's true visionary filmmakers: Roman Polanski. The film is Polanski's most personal statement, the one he has waited four decades to make, a testament to the belief that the triumph of the human spirit is wedded to the transforming power of art.
THE PIANIST was adapted by U.K. playwright/screenwriter Ronald Harwood ("The Dresser") from the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who detailed his survival during World War II. A celebrated composer and pianist, he played the last live music heard over Polish radio airwaves before Nazi artillery hit. During the brutal occupation, he eluded deportation and remained in the devastated Warsaw Ghetto. There, he struggled to stay alive even when cast away from those he loved. He would eventually reclaim his artistic gifts, and confront his fears, with aid from the unlikeliest source - a German officer who helped him hide in the final days of the war.
Adrien Brody ("Summer of Sam," "The Thin Red Line") portrays Mr. Szpilman. The supporting cast includes Thomas Kretschmann ("Blade II"), Frank Finlay ("The Four Musketeers"), Maureen Lipman ("Educating Rita"), Emilia Fox (the "David Copperfield" mini-series), Ed Stoppard ("The Little Vampire"), Julia Rayner ("Topsy-Turvy"), and newcomer Jessica Kate Meyer.
Roman Polanski himself escaped the Cracow Ghetto, at the age of 7, through a hole in a barbed-wire fence. THE PIANIST marks the first time that he has made a movie in Poland in 40 years.
Polanski has received four Academy Award nominations over the years: for directing "Tess" and "Chinatown"; for his screenplay adaptation of "Rosemary's Baby"; and as director of foreign-language film nominee "Knife in the Water" (his first feature film). Among his other films are "Repulsion," "Macbeth," "The Tenant," "Frantic," and "Death and the Maiden."
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