The Pianist (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
WWII: A brilliant Polish/Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of a Warsaw ghetto in 'The Pianist', directed by Roman Polanksi. After his family is rounded up & shipped to the concentration camps, said pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), is conscripted into a German Labor Compound. Events occur which lead him to hide in the putrid ruins of Warsaw. A witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Szpilman is never sure if he can make it out alive. Based on a true story, this dramatic, artistic, admirable film takes a long look at what happened during & after the Poland-occupied anti-Jewish laws of the 1930s & 40s.
1939: Germany had just defeated Poland. In the beginning, Jews were forbidden to eat in certain restaurants, or even walk in certain parks. As time passed, they then had to resort to wearing specific armbands, & bowing to Nazis in the street! Ultimately, all Warsaw Jews were moved into single room ghettos. After Szpilman's family are cattle-called away (to possible 'extermination'), he's left behind to work for the Germans. With the help of the 'Underground', Szpilman escapes. But his troubles (starvation, disease(s), frigid temperatures) would only start. All he & various others could do would be to wait for the Soviets to rescue them. But by then, it could be far too late. 'The Pianist' is a tribute to Wladyslaw Szpilman, and to what happened in Warsaw at that time.
This is not the type of film that warrants further discussion of plot. The plot is secondary, anyway. We know all about the Holocaust. We know what the Germans did to their victims. What we watch is impeccable attention to detail (surroundings, nuances), & a brilliant performance from newcomer, Adrien Brody. Roman Polanski takes us right into the dire life & death situations of Warsaw (no concentration camp scenes). The deaths of these Warsaw citizens (gunshots to the head, methods of torture, scarcity of food intake) are numbing to watch. Filmed in an almost faux-documentary manner, we look in on these people as if the camera were on our shoulders; quite the filming technique. Because of it, everything we see is even bleaker, more devastating than if told in a melodramatic manner.
Brody's portrayal of Szpilman is a revelation. We meet him as an intelligent, distinguished musician; he has a way about him. By the end of the film, there is no way about him. He's barely existing; animalistic. Whether he's scouring the ghetto for food, or fleeing from the Nazis, Brody's Szpilman takes us right along with him through the misery. That doesn't sound too appealing on paper, but it's still riveting to watch. There's a memorable scene near the end in which Szpilman gives an impromptu piano concert to a Nazi, Capt. Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann). In a rare act of kindness, the Capt. spares Szpilman's life. We're able to see (in this moment) the remnants of the old Szpilman, a man who was once refined. I like that such a tense, climactic scene could be as low-key as it is.
The Pianist's better half is its 1st. And though some exposition gets a bit heavy-handed, the 2nd half still has its moments. The film is never boring; though, it teeters on being a bit commonplace. But as I said, this one differentiates itself jussst enough from other films of its ilk. It's not Schindler's List; just a different take on what happened to a specific group of people. There's no way I can get a sense of what it must have been like to be a Jewish person at that time. I cannot fathom what they had to go through. And to that, Polanski's film intoxicates us.
1939: Germany had just defeated Poland. In the beginning, Jews were forbidden to eat in certain restaurants, or even walk in certain parks. As time passed, they then had to resort to wearing specific armbands, & bowing to Nazis in the street! Ultimately, all Warsaw Jews were moved into single room ghettos. After Szpilman's family are cattle-called away (to possible 'extermination'), he's left behind to work for the Germans. With the help of the 'Underground', Szpilman escapes. But his troubles (starvation, disease(s), frigid temperatures) would only start. All he & various others could do would be to wait for the Soviets to rescue them. But by then, it could be far too late. 'The Pianist' is a tribute to Wladyslaw Szpilman, and to what happened in Warsaw at that time.
This is not the type of film that warrants further discussion of plot. The plot is secondary, anyway. We know all about the Holocaust. We know what the Germans did to their victims. What we watch is impeccable attention to detail (surroundings, nuances), & a brilliant performance from newcomer, Adrien Brody. Roman Polanski takes us right into the dire life & death situations of Warsaw (no concentration camp scenes). The deaths of these Warsaw citizens (gunshots to the head, methods of torture, scarcity of food intake) are numbing to watch. Filmed in an almost faux-documentary manner, we look in on these people as if the camera were on our shoulders; quite the filming technique. Because of it, everything we see is even bleaker, more devastating than if told in a melodramatic manner.
Brody's portrayal of Szpilman is a revelation. We meet him as an intelligent, distinguished musician; he has a way about him. By the end of the film, there is no way about him. He's barely existing; animalistic. Whether he's scouring the ghetto for food, or fleeing from the Nazis, Brody's Szpilman takes us right along with him through the misery. That doesn't sound too appealing on paper, but it's still riveting to watch. There's a memorable scene near the end in which Szpilman gives an impromptu piano concert to a Nazi, Capt. Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann). In a rare act of kindness, the Capt. spares Szpilman's life. We're able to see (in this moment) the remnants of the old Szpilman, a man who was once refined. I like that such a tense, climactic scene could be as low-key as it is.
The Pianist's better half is its 1st. And though some exposition gets a bit heavy-handed, the 2nd half still has its moments. The film is never boring; though, it teeters on being a bit commonplace. But as I said, this one differentiates itself jussst enough from other films of its ilk. It's not Schindler's List; just a different take on what happened to a specific group of people. There's no way I can get a sense of what it must have been like to be a Jewish person at that time. I cannot fathom what they had to go through. And to that, Polanski's film intoxicates us.