Exclusive 2 DVD Canadian version features, Q & A with Roman Polanski, Production Diary, The Warsaw Ghetto - Historical Background, Wladyslaw Szpilman Biography, Filmographies, Bonus Audio Tracks from the Sony Classical CD Soundtrack, Soundtrack spot, 'Story of Survival' Featurette, Theatrical Trailers, Television Spots including Adrien Brody Interview Segments, Poster Gallery, Photo Gallery & Director's Note. Widescreen Version. Aspect Ratio 1.85 1. Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1. Region 1/NTSC.
1 A dreary, yet uplifting, look at the horrors of WWII...
Winner of three Academy Awards, and nominated for four others including Best Picture, The Pianist is one of the best films of the decade. Directed by Roman Polanski, The Pianist is a cinematic and artistic masterpiece similar to The Red Violin in that it was mostly overlooked until the Academy offered the necessary publicity to make it a commercial success on video and DVD. Set against the backdrop of an amazingly beautiful soundtrack featuring such classical composers as Chopin and Beethoven, The Pianist ingeniously illustrates the struggle of one man to maintain his dignity and his connection with civilization in the face of a personal hell on earth and some of greatest crimes in human history...
Actor Adrien Brody turns in a brilliant performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman, a piano player of immense genius in 1930s Poland. Szpilman and his family enjoy a life of relative wealth and comfort as part of the cultured and educated European social elite. But that life is turned upside down on September 1, 1939, when the imperial forces of Adolph Hitler's Nazi Germany invade Poland. As a Jew, Szpilman and his family are considered sub-human in the eyes of the German government, and a campaign of terror is quickly instituted against the Jewish population of Warsaw.
Szpilman must live his life the best he can while Warsaw is fenced in with brick walls, and its Jewish citizens are singled out and driven through checkpoints like cattle. At first, the residents of the Warsaw ghetto believe they can wait out the tragedy unfolding before them, but before long, men are assaulting old ladies for meager allotments of food, and citizens are risking death to escape the horrors of the ghetto. Szpilman survives for a while as a restaurant piano player, but he's soon forced into hiding as the ghetto is cleared and the Jews are sent off to concentration camps.
When Szpilman's family is shipped off by train to a death camp, he manages to escape and survive for a time in the abandoned ghetto. But it doesn't take long for the Nazis to find him and force him to work in a German labor camp. Escaping captivity, Szpilman survives in the attic of an abandoned bombed-out building in the Warsaw ghetto. While there, he befriends a German officer who shares his love of music and brings him food rations on a regular basis. As the war comes to a conclusion, the fate of both men remains in the air as the evils of the Nazi regime are displaced by the iron fist of Soviet expansion...
Based on the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, one the most accomplished piano players in all of Europe prior to the advance of the Nazi regime, The Pianist is a masterpiece on the big screen. The wondrous music and its compelling beauty stand in stark contrast to the horrors of war. Brody is more than deserving of his Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Ronald Harwood's screenplay is simply masterful. The precision with which this film tells its story, coupled with its intimate portrayal of the human condition, makes The Pianist one of the greatest films of all time and a definite must-see for anyone who harbors a love of artistry and cinema...
The DVD Report
2 Good Treatment of Sacred Holocaust Era
This is a poignant tale of one Jewish man's horrific, yet ironically privileged journey through the holocaust. The protagnist is a gifted pianist from a well-to-do family. Naturally, he has good connections, and so avoids the train to a death camp. He struggles through various hiding places, gets used by a wartime profiteer, and triumphs by surviving a time so many did not. Throughout this production we are treated to gentle, somber, yet hopeful piano music that touches any heart that has ears to hear.
The holocaust, and Nazi treatment of Jews is rightly an almost sacred era in history. We quiet ourselves, offer our respect an admiration to those Jews who suffered through the period--as well as to the succeeding generations. Of course, we also wonder how humanity could do such a thing--and why anti-Semitism, and racism generally--continues to be so powerful. Thus, any film that crosses the threshold of solid and good, cannot help but earn kudos.
Bottom line: The Pianist is a solid and good film. It presents a powerful individual story, well-told. However, the pacing was quiet slow, and, in reality, this type of story has been done quite often. So, competition is stiff, and the bar should be quite high for a five-star rating. So, well worth seeing, but falls into the second-tier of holocaust-topic movies. For a more original treatment, I recommend Jakob the Liar (Robin Williams 1999) instead.
3 One of the best dramas ever.
Usually, I'm not a fan of dramas. Comedies are the way to go. However, this movie emphasized more suffering and pain than any other Holocaust movie I've seen. I was stunned by the end of the movie by how much had happened to the main character. It was shocking. I highly recommend this movie to anybody.
4 Outstanding story telling.
The blueprint of this film is the well known true story of a polish-jew concert pianist who survives the War in hiding and eludes the death camps at the 11th hour when he is voilently seperated form his family.
From the moment of seperation onwards, the film is a lonely and tense story of a man struggling to survive, remain anonymous and make sense of what is going on in his own city as he can only view varied acts of random, horrific violence from his window. He has no feedback as to what is going on and who is killing who. One feels the anxiety, pain and hope of his family returning or survivng their fate. His struggle is expertly documented, I found myself confused, tense and anxious at each turn of events; much as the central character does.
He is steadily taken from sophisticated young man to a half starved, half crazed, vagrant and heathen. The survival race takes another bizarre twist as the story nears it's end.
Brodie is excellent and silently portrays this mans degridation, he seems to do this with great emotional resonance and a sadly beautiful, wasting physicality.
The support cast are amazing, Fox as the central source of aid is emotive and couragoues. Lipman and Finlay play the elderly parents with tenderness and realism, the scene when the family share a last chocolate is one of the most emotive displays of solidarity and hope I have seen. Brilliant and a MUST see.
5 ***Adrien Brody at His Best!***
Adrien Brody is definitely at his best in this movie. I love Brody, and after this movie, I declare that I have now found my lifetime obsession-Adrien Brody.
In order to play the famous pianist that survived the agony of war during the years of Nazi terrorism, Brody isolated himself throughout the journey before and during the making of the movie. He learned to play the piano for this role in a few short months. He became one with the character by ridding himself of earthly possessions and disconnecting himself with family and friends. He got in touch with the true feelings of loneliness and despair. Brody certainly captured the true essence of suffering in his acting. Many scenes were of himself, by himself, where the actor is put to the greatest test--to act. He pulls his audience in with expressions, his body language, and he intrigues the audience with his talents. This is an incredible challenge because there are no distractions to muddle up these scenes where he is by himself. Brody expresses a musician's passion, an artist's love for music, as he fantasizes about playing piano when he should not. It is evident in his performance that it is the passion for music that saved Szpilman's life. It kept him moving through the harshest moments in his life, and ultimately draws out the beauty in the beast of a German Nazi soldier. Brody's acting shows Szpilman's strength as a member in his family, and the subtleness of his actions and words signify the bonds he yearns to have with others but never can.
The movie is incredibly done with a symmetry of the beginning and ending. Fear settles in quickly, such an upheaval in a musician's world of talent and popularity is torn apart by war and loss, and then brought back together again with order and grace at the end. The noncommercialization of this extraordinary film and Brody's win of the academy award proves that this movie is one of the best movies ever made.
6 Szpilman - The Pianist
Perhaps the best movie from Roman Polanski, about Jewish-Polish Wladyslaw Szpilman life during the Nazi invasion of Poland in WW2. Adrien Brody is perfect as Szpilman and does a excellent performence here. This movie is based on a true story and it tells you about how his life drastically changed from being great to being a hell. Szpilman was a very promisng pianist and his life in Warzaw was just well. He lived with his mother, father and siblings but suddenly during the nazi invasion they are sent to the ghetto and famine, insecurity and discimination becomes part of their life. His family are sent to a Nazi camp and he is the only one that escapes, after that "The Piansit" will about his life tils the war is over, It is truly a fascinating story about Szpilman's fortune during this time.
This movie will show you everything that happeneded during the nazi occupation. How desperate people were and how painful life was and also the brutality from the Germans and the destruction and famine that took place, It's one thing to read about it, but another to see it with your own eyes. This movie shows you everything about it, it's realistic and very well made. And filmed in Poland aswell, I think.
Sometimes it makes me curious to find out how Szpilman was thinking during the movie( If he would talk to himself or if we could hear what he was thinking) but we'll never know cause Polanski has chosen to not base the movie in that way, which is too bad. However, everything else is good about "The Pianist". A remarkable movie that deserved the prices it good. Good job.
7 Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.
The Pianist is the true story of a Polish Jewish pianist named Szpielman, who had a bright future ahead of him - until the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. From that point forward, Szpielman and his family endured the Nazi repression of the Jews and ultimate confinement to the Warsaw ghetto. Upon losing his family to the death camps yet miraculously being himself spared the same fate, Szpielman's struggle turns into one of survival as he attamps to avoid the Nazis and the simultaneous destruction of Warsaw during the Second World War.
The story is beyond inspirational, there is truly something to be learned from it. A man who literally lost everything, yet in the end still had his dignity and his passion, perhaps the only thing that kept him alive. It is the triumph of a man in the face of great adversity. The movie itself provides a distinct, unique viewpoint of the environment and events in Warsaw during the war, with great pictoral effect as well as accuracy. From an historical standpoint the film is right on the money, and doesn't sacrifice anything. The acting is also superb, particularly with Adrien Brody as Szpielman.
Truly a great film and an amazing story. Highly recommended.
8 This movie...( You can see my other reviews for books )
Rocks. This movie was a true story and I didn't even know that until about the end of the movie. Adrian Brody delivered a masterpiece performance as Spilzman ( or however you spell it. )Hie role as this character made him seem real to those of us watching the movie. I never got to see this movie until last month because I wasn't allowed to watch it ( Don't ask. )Anyways, I thought this movie was going to suck and be bad and stuff like that. I was tired. That movie gave me a whoel new look on the way the jews and polish were treated and how the germans were so mean ( that is putting it lightly )But eeven though this movie is history, that does not mean it is inteneted for children. This movie includes lots of killing, murder, suicide, bomba and explositions, disturbing scenes ( somewhat ) and many, many curse words. The movie also has alot of dead people on the sidewalk and rotting, blood on the wall. Beware greatly. This movie is not intented for the squeamish and weak stomach stay away from this movie. But for those of you that have nice strong stomach and haven't seen this movie...watch t. You really don't know what you are missing.
9 The Pianist
This is the most moving film I have ever seen. It is comparative to Schindler's List in scale and scope, but where Steven Spielberg focuses on a German, a man that finds his morality during the holocaust, Roman Polanski centers on a victim.
Adrien Brody protrays Szpielman, pianist and composer, with brilliance and subtlety. One watches a slow degradation in living conditions, in emotional structure and composure, but not in dignity. The movie hits a climax with one scene, one heartrending scene, that those who've witnessed it will recognize and those who haven't must see. I can't watch it without tears and I can't stop myself despite those tears.
Buy it. If not that, see it.
10 Inaccurate portrayal of non-jewish Polish
This movie seems to help propagate the myth the somehow life for Gentile Poles was basically the same before and after Nazi occupation.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
[...]
Six Million Polish Citizens Were Killed During the Holocaust of World War II.
Half of These Polish Citizens Were Non-Jews.
On August 22, 1939, a few days before the official start of World War II, Hitler authorized his commanders, with these infamous words, to kill "without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space [lebensraum] we need".
Heinrich Himmler echoed Hitler's decree:
"All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles."
Non-Jews of Polish descent suffered over 100,000 deaths at Auschwitz. The Germans forcibly deported approximately 2,000,000 Polish Gentiles into slave labor for the Third Reich. The Russians deported almost 1,700,000 Polish non-Jews to Siberia. Men, women and children were forced from their homes with no warning. Transferred in cattle cars in freezing weather, many died on the way. Polish children who possessed Aryan-looking characteristics were wrenched from their mother's arms and placed in German homes to be raised as Germans.
The story provides little hint of any of this.
11 THE PIANIST - A Review
"WTF is wrong with those Nazis?!?!". I lost count how many times I said that to myself while watching this film. It blows my mind that this happened not even that long ago and it just makes me so angry that there are still racist people today. Why can't people just realize that we are stronger united because we can learn from all different cultures instead of fearing each other which holds us back!
Ok, I'm done ranting...onto the film then =)
I'll admit I put off seeing this film because I wasn't ready for what I thought would be a very sad and heavy movie and while it is that, it is also uplifting, hopeful and beautiful. Roman Polanski shoots this film in a way that is very honest. I didn't feel that he tried to manipulate the way you feel by emphasizing the killings and suffering, he merely shows it to you and lets you decide the way it affects you by showing you only a little bit of reaction from the people in the film.
I only recall one scene in which Adrien Brody really cries, he is walking down a lonely street lined with abandoned belongings scattered on the ground. This makes the movie much more poignant and haunting because your reactions are completely your own instead of the actor's and actress's.
Being a pianist myself I really felt Adrien Brodys anguish when he sat down at the piano but couldn't play it for fear of being discovered. The final piece played in the movie is by Chopin and it was a wonderful choice because it is sad and hopeful at the same time, exactly like this film.
I recommend this movie for all teenagers and adults. Parents should watch this movie with their teens and ask them what they think of racism afterward.
12 A rivetting and disturbing anti-war masterpiece
The rubric on the DVD I purchased stated that "This [...] film follows [the pianist's] journey of survival with the unlikely help of a sympathetic German officer". I had imagined that the pianist in question would have been playing in some kind of caf or bar throughout the five years that Warsaw was occupied by the Nazis, with this "sympathetic German officer" being a keen listener and showing his admiration for the pianist's marvelous playing abilities.
Whilst my speculation about the quasi-friendship was hopelessly wide of the mark, the last speculation was almost exactly on the spot, yet the officer (Thomas Kretschmann) sees the utterly scruffy, bedraggled and starving Szpilman (Adrien Brody) hiding in an attic in a devastated part of the Pole's home city barely weeks before the Germans retreated west before the advancing Soviets.
The state in which the officer found Szpilman conveyed in an unforgettable way the utter privations experienced by just one man in his bid to avoid being shot on sight, if not dragged off to the extermination camps, which would have happened earlier in the war had not one Polish Jewish policeman not physically dragged Szpilman out of the line of would-be deportees to Treblinka, since he knew who he was.
Seen from the perspective of one Jewish man, the Nazi policy regarding their treatment of the Jews is crystal-clear: ghettoization and extermination. Even the scenes depicting the so-called "Gentile street" running through the Jewish ghetto are powerful as a reminder of how physically cut off the Jews were from the rest of Varsovian society and of how utterly demoralized and ostracized the Jews were forced to feel as a people. How ironic, indeed, that a wall would divide the capital of the (then former) Nazi regime for 28 years, albeit along political, not racial, lines.
As might be expected, there are scenes designed deliberately to shock and appal - as well as remind the audience of just how brutally the Nazis, in the form of the S.S., treated the Jews. Who can forget the one where the old man is thrown to his death from his wheelchair from an upper floor of the building opposite where the Szpilmans were living, and the one where an S.S. man picked out people from a work party, which included Szpilman in its ranks, and summarily executed them. This illustrated just how hard-core Nazis dealt with those whom Nazi racial theory regarded as the Untermenschen ("sub-humans").
The conditions in which Szpilman found himself after escaping from the ghetto, destroyed in April 1943, were vastly different from before, as he found himself alone, having to live in a flat locked from the outside to avoid snoopers taking too close a look. When the Warsaw Uprising starts in August 1944, Szpilman is forced to run for his life and take refuge wherever he can as the Nazis snuff out all resistance, killing almost every Pole in sight. It was only at this point that the Kretschmann character, a captain in the army and not the S.S., helps him, but only after he manages to prove he is a pianist in spite of his utterly pathetic and miserable condition. Szpilman manages to survive the scenes of harrowing death and destruction, even if his benefactor was inevitably captured by the Soviet Army and fated to die in a POW camp.
Overall, "The Pianist" is as much an anti-war film as it is a war film, given that the aggressors had all the power at their disposal to do whatever they wished to their unarmed victims, although the will to fight on the part of the Jews is also highlighted, not just during the Uprising. Many of the film's scenes were shot not just in Warsaw, but also in two cities in Germany. The images are highly disturbing almost right from the very start, and that was the intention of Roman Polanski, who won the Academy Award for Best Director, for whom this movie was said to be "his most personal" on account of his own memories of war-torn Warsaw.
Adrien Brody gives a performance which richly deserved his Academy Award for Best Actor, as he immerses himself in the character, sharing whatever joys and pain came both his way and the way of his relatives and friends, and stoically displaying the emotions that one would readily expect in such situations as Szpilman manages to survive, his life intact, ready to resume his career, albeit in a Poland that had been changed irrevocably. English actors Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox and Maureen Lipman co-star with Brody and give sterling performances.
13 One of the greatest Holocaust-based movies I've ever seen
This movie was just superb. The directing by Roman Polanski was amazing, the acting (especially Brody) made me feel as if I was there experiencing his difficulties along side him. The plot too was great, and the piano playing and music throughout the movie was incredible. Although some parts are slightly disturbing, this movie really brings out the struggles that Jewish men, women, and children had to endure in Warsaw, Poland. Overall, this movie expresses so much feeling that it will forever be in my mind and will forever effect me. This movie is worth buying, can be seen numerous times, and in my book is an instant classic.
14 A better title would be: "The Accidental Survivor"
Let me begin by saying that "The Pianist" is a well-acted and superbly directed film. One can immediately sense that Polanski put his heart and soul into the project (for obvious reasons, given his own life story), and this effort brought the best out of everyone involved with the film. I would echo many others who have expressed their admiration of this film as a work of art.
However, here is where I have an issue with this project: I am not sure that this story is worthy of such an effort. We are in no short supply of Holocaust-themed cinema, some of which rises to the level of masterpiece. Films like "Sunshine", "Europa, Europa", and the incomparable "Schindler's List" are not only visually stunning, but convey powerful life-affirming messages. Not the least of these is the idea that one must work pro-actively for one's bodily salvation. In "The Pianist", instead, we are shown a man whose does little to help himself survive. Instead, he is aided by a few sympathetic Poles, and a rather out-of-character Wehrmacht officer. The hero's complete passivity is almost incomprehensible. Is it worth all of Polanski's artistic efforts to glorify? I doubt it.
15 Awesome
Awesome. This one word sums it up. Unlike most of the war movies which ends on a melancholy note. This gives hope. Its exceptional. The background music is sublime. If this has won so many Oscars its because it deserves all those Oscars.
16 An excellent film.
A masterpiece of a movie. Such a sad story though. Because although this man survives nazi germany, it is impossible to watch the film without realizing how many millions did not. How many human beings did not have "The Pianist's" talent or luck or fame to get him out. It is a beautiful movie, bittersweet.
17 Powerful Story...Powerful Performance
This is undoubtedly one movie that will stay with me for a long time. Adrien Brody's performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman was definately oscar worthy. The story is a touching reminder of what humans are capable of acheiving when fighting for survival. The fact that the film is directed by Roman Polanski who lived in the nazi 'era' made the story all the more real to the viewers. I also liked the way the story was told in that there were good and bad Jews, Poles and Germans. Often in the past one side was 'all bad' and the other side was 'all good.'
18 Holocaust epic
The Holocaust is truly one of history's most tragic events. The hatred of the Nazis towards the Jewish folk is just something that's demented and evil.
"The Pianist" revolves around this heartbreaking event that occured in the Warsaw ghetto. Adrien Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish pianist that is respected and well-known throughout Europe (at the time). Brilliant music, I must say. Ultimately, his fame comes to an end when the Germans round up the Jews, thusly ending Szpilman's fame and gift. He and his family become split up, unfortunately, for his family, they've reached their untimely fates. Szpilman on the other hand has his life spared. Why? Because of his gift. He is alone. He manages to survive the whole conflict, going from living as a recluse in an apartment full of Jewish-hating Germans, then living out on the war-torn community by his lonesome, trying to survive.
A true story of this brilliant and brave musician, who fought against all odds and managed to survive the war years. Director Roman Polanski is also a Holocaust survivor as well. His experiences helped make the movie more accurate. He poured his heart and soul into this movie. Although the movie is executed very well... I'm just not... feeling it. Yeah, it depicts the Holocaust thoroughly and accurately, but to be brutally honest... I thought of "The Pianist" as another "Cast Away." We never really know Szpilman at all other than a surviving Polish musician. He expresses emotion, but most of the time, he's quiet and helpless. He really doesn't have much of a personality other than playing the piano extremely well. Perhaps the book can give us more of Szpilman's personality. Given this flaw, I don't think Adrien Brody deserved that Oscar at all. Yeah, go ahead and criticize me, but that's my take.
"The Pianist" is good, but it's no "Schindler's List." Honestly, I can't see how people call this movie better than "Schindler's List." That movie established a hero that saved 1,000 Jews from death. "The Pianist" is nothing more than a movie of survival (hence, the comparison to "Cast Away"). And "Schindler's List" focused more on the Holocaust. "The Pianist" only briefly tells the horrible tale. Yeah, criticize me again, but that's just how I see it.
Despite my lil' rants, "The Pianist" is truly a good film, but not great. But it is told as it was written in the book, and accurately portrayed by Polanski. Afterall, the movie is told from the perspective of one man that saw it through his eyes and survived to tell the horrific tale.
19 This is good
Superb movie; and honest. Bar the oft offended reviewers who once again feel offended because this flick supposedly is anti-German, this picture shows humanity as it is. There are good Poles and bad Poles, good Jews and bad Jews and good Germans and bad Germans. What do these offendes really want?? Weeping SS-men as they are 'just following orders'?
The Hollywood=Red Propaganda rhetoric again rears its ugly head, as it so often does regarding movies about the anihilation of a group of people by another group of people. But let me be very clear: if you want a warm, fuzzy flick on Treblinka, then you have your history a bit wrong. A whole bit. Has nothing to do with 'liberal marxist agendas' carried by 'liberal red filmmakers'. I would be very interested in a Holocaust movie provided by the nay-sayers, on the back of their arguements regarding 'anti-Germanism', 'anti-white', 'anti-christian' et al. I don't think there would ever be such a movie; it's becoming trendy again to not dismiss the Holocaust as a lie, but to pose oneself as a 'critical historian'. Yeah, right.
The pianist is a great film, no glory here.
20 "The Pianist" is a great flick!
Aside from the fact that I thought it was a well-made film (done by Roman Polanski), it did cover the subject of the Wausaw Ghetto uprising. The main charachter (played by Adrienne Brody) in the movie was involved in the part of the effort to smuggle firearms to the Jewish resistance members who plotted the Warsaw Ghetto rebellion. He almost gets caught a couple of times as well. Later, after escaping his captors, he is put into hiding by friends in which his room has a view of a section of the Ghetto and sees the uprising break out first hand. After the fighting is over, Brody's charachter openly expresses regrets to a friend visiting him in the apartment he is hiding in that he wished he was there. His friend replies that he would have ended up dead or worse and it wasnt worth it. His friend then says she is sure that the example of the Jew's courage of resistance will inspire others in Poland to resist the Nazis. I thought this little tie that was shown in this film makes it clear that these scenes are an acknowledgement that the Wausaw Jews who resisted the Nazis with smuggled firearms inspired the Poles to resist the Nazis too. The whole movie itself is based on a true story. Overall, The Pianist is a great flick.
21 Brody's Minimalist Acting Packs Maximum Emotional Punch
This wrenching yet ultimately uplifting fact-based drama won Adrien Brody his Academy Award and finally made him a star (along with his gracious yet heartfelt Oscar speech and That Kiss :-) -- rightly so, since title character Wladyslaw Szpilman is a challenging role in so many ways. It's not easy to command the screen when your character often has to be passive, deliberately trying not to draw attention to himself to keep from falling into Nazi hands in war-torn Poland, but Brody pulls it off. It helps that Brody is absolutely stellar at acting with his eyes, plus his body language speaks volumes; these fill in the emotional cracks, especially in scenes where Szpilman, alone and in hiding, can't speak or even move around much for fear of giving himself away. (Brody is the youngest actor to date to win the Best Actor Oscar, BTW, having gotten his little gold man only a month before his 30th birthday.) While there's no lack of haunting scenes, thanks to the deservedly Oscar-winning work of director Roman Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood, the one that always gets me is the one where Szpilman discovers the apartment serving as his latest "safe house" has a piano. We see Szpilman sit at the piano; we see him in a head-and-shoulders shot, shoulders moving; we hear piano music and gasp as we fear his love and longing for his music is about to give him away -- and then we see his hands moving in the air just above the keyboard and realize, with both relief and a pang of regret, that the music is only in Szpilman's head. Terrific as the other 2002 Best Actor nominees were, now that I've seen THE PIANIST (as well as the fascinating making-of documentary on the DVD's flip side, showing what a physically and emotionally grueling experience Brody's job often was), I'd be angry if anybody but Adrien Brody had won! Besides, the rest of the 2002 Best Actor nominees already won Oscars -- this time it was dark horse Brody's turn! :-)
22 an amazing film.
Roman Polanski's the Pianist is an amazing film it was better than the boring Shindler's list. Adrien Brody who definently deserved the oscar for his performance plays the real life character of Wladyslaw Szpilman who is living in Warsaw during the second world war, and now he must survive the holocaust and being separated from his family.
I felt that the film was very emotional and very intense because it was based on a true story of survival. During the Nazi ocupation of Poland Wladyslaw who is a famouse concert pianist meets up with friends who help him out by giving him food and water and hide him in an apartment building.
He is soon devastated by the cruelty of war and brutality of the nazis as they execute and murder thousands of people mostly jewish. I thought that the cinamatography was excellent and the music is all classical piano, this was definently the best film of 2002.
23 Gorgeous film, Adrien Brody was epic.
This film was truly beautiful. There wasn't any suspense, there wasn't any climax... but there was a beautiful WW2 story inside, and it was EPIC. Adrien Brody was, for lack of a better word, absolutely amazing. Rent or buy this movie... You'll love it. Schindler's List has NOTHING on the Pianist.
24 The dignity under the rubbishes !
This film may be well the sublime masterpiece of this gifted director .
The deep emotional impact and the introspective atmosphere of the movie allow us to watch the artist before the opression , the struggling presence of the Nazis in Poland and through the obstinate bars of the mercurial , epic and granitic Chopin Ballade No. 1 Op. 28 , Adrien Brody will built his own shield against the enemy .
But in the middle of this moral misery this fact will become the weird vehicle which links two refined souls . One of them is clear , but the another is seriously disturbed , between his internal wishes and the outside demands and imposed rules. This encounter will open an invisible gate for those men who will share far beyond his beliefs and points of view a warm and effective reason to forget though for brief moments the crude surrounding reality that involves them .
There is film dated from 1979 titled Roads in the night and casually directed by Krzystoff Zanussi, a polish filmmaker too in what we watch the clash culture between a Polish countess listening Chopin prelude op. 28 No. 15 best known as Teardrop and the curious impossible romance with a aristocratic nazi young officer due the obvious political obstacles .
As you see both films are close related but the Pianist differs from that one in its inner epic aspect .
The heart of the craft will never be under the war miseries , seems the prevailing statement of this excellent movie a real Cannes winner and much more received in Europe than America even it suffers of certain steadiness along its development .
Towering acting for Brody who won the Academy Award as best actor.
25 Minor key to major events
Based on the book by real-life pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, the film traces a single man, surviving on wits and luck through dark, cruel years of World War II Poland. Szpilman is a classical pianist whose middle-class, affluent Jewishness is not much of a liability until the Nazis arrive. From that point on, he and his family endure the slow tightening of the Nazi noose -- yellow armbands and petty restrictions -- leading up to the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto and the deportation of his family to the death camps.
Like many Holocaust films, "The Pianist" fails to serve up the raw terror of the times. We are asked to view terrible scenes of mad cruelty, but as viewers, we are too detached to actually feel the unending sense of dread that must have been part and parcel of everyday life. It may be too much to ask a film to do this for us, but they must at least try.
"The Pianist" is quite true to its namesake book. Both serve up hellish ad bizarre images that if they were not witnessed, would not be believed. The Polish partisan shot in the back and slumping to her knees in the street; the communion-like division of a tiny dime-candy among 6 doomed people; the Bizarre Waltz forced by bored Nazi guards on Jews waiting to cross a barred street; the young lad beaten to death trying to crawl through a storm drain; starving elderly Jewish workers fighting over a pot of beans. These are powerful images that convince because of their relative insignificance. The Holocaust and resistance were a compendium of such small yet telling moments of horror.
While Adrian Brody well deserved the best-actor Oscar for this film, "The Pianist" is an extraordinary ensemble movie. Szpilman's family is very real -- by turns bickering, calming, worrying, sharing. Thomas Kretschmann, who plays German Captain Wilm Hosenfeld, is extraordinary in his depiction of a man torn between duty and humanity. The Pianist brings to the screen the memories of a man who survived two of the most extraordinary events of the war -- the liquidation of the ghetto and the Warsaw uprising. It's a testament to the thousands and millions who played their small parts in a gigantic drama that shaped the last century.
26 Has anyone heard of the Warsaw Uprising?
To all the people who have been saying that Jews were cowards for just letting brutalities happen to them, might I say how hard it is to fight people with automatic weapons with just your fists? They had no weapons, no training, aand the SS had guns, muscle, and cruelty. Frankly the negative reviwers are quite brutal in their treatment of Szpilman for what? Surviving. He was given a chance to survive, and took it. What would you do? This film accurately portrays what it took to survive in the midst of an Anti-Semetic area, dogged by the slime of human creation.
These negative reviewers seem to think the only way to be a hero is to charge out into battle, with plenty of food, ammunition and a high chance of survival. Szpilman was hanging on for his life in the Warsaw, committing acts of bravery no one considered. I find it heroic that this man had the willpower to survive on the meager rations that he did.
To that reviewer who seems to think that Sept. 11(3,000+) was a greater tragedy than the holocaust(13,000,000+), I find it odd that you find it more brave to wrestle with a man with a box knife than to mount a hopeless fight against trained soldiers armed with tanks, flamethowers, SMG's, and so on with nothing but a handful of rifles and pistols you could smuggle in.
Brody did truly an amazing job at bring Szpilman to life. His face is perfect for it, and he was brilliant in making us feel the weakness we feel when your world is collapsing before your eyes. I was nearly moved to tears when that German officer allowed him to live. That act and others, such as Schindler, brought redemption to the German people. As a teacher, I would reccomend at least showing the parts in the ghetto to any class studying the holocaust. It truly brings out the horror of the ghetto.
To Szpilman, the survivors of the Holocaust, and all those Canadians whose flawed DVDs kept them from enjoying this masterpiece. May you one day find a DVD that contains all the Special features you need.
27 ALL THE RIGHT NOTES
THE PIANIST is a devastatingly simple, yet moving, singular viewpoint of the dreadful Holocaust. Adrian Brody plays the title role, a quiet, brilliant pianist who watches his family being hauled off to a concentration camp. Scene by scene, over years of pain and anguish, Brody sees others killed brutally and manages to survive by doing what he's told and hiding out in various buildings in the destroyed city of Warsaw. Director Roman Polanski's Oscar winning guidance gives us Brody's view of this event, and supports him with actors of fine quality: Frank Finlay as his father, and most notably Thomas Kretschman as the German soldier who in the last segment of the movie joins Brody in the most moving and evocative scenes in the film. Krestschmann is an actor to watch---he is brilliant in this small but unforgettable role.
The music is awesome, and the movie's dramatic thrust is heightened by its inclusion.
Not an easy movie to watch, but deeply moving and memorable. Brody's Oscar is surely deserved.
28 Surprisingly conventional
The horror of the holocaust is far better described in non-fiction works in my view. (In film, The Sorrow and the Pity, in book, Life Unworthy of Life.) Certainly a film that addresses the subject must be off the beaten path, and not merely restate the oft-told. I was surprised that Polanski, from whom one would expect originality, has instead produced a thoroughly conventional narrative. So, it isn't a bad movie: in fact, all the elements of a good movie are in place. But it cannot compare to a variety of chilling histories of the terror. In film, one is better served by a holocaust sidebar story, such as the rarely seen The Dunera Boys.
29 Only sixty years ago...
At the beginning of World War II, about four hundred thousand Jews lived in Warsaw, where they represented one-third of the population. By the end of the war, fewer than twenty-five individuals had survived. Director Roman Polanski tells the story of one of these men, focusing on how the various atrocities of the Holocaust affected him. In this sense the film is dramatically different from previous Holocaust films, since it does not attempt to give the "big picture," nor does it show how a family or small group of friends supported each other, emotionally, during the war (as does Anne Frank's Diary). Instead, it focuses on how one artist, a pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), survived hunger, cold, and extreme privation for five years, becoming increasingly more isolated, both emotionally and physically, and increasingly helpless to act, even on his own behalf.
Ronald Harwood's screenplay begins with a broad picture of the life of an artistic Jewish family of some means, but as the Nazis issue directive after directive, the family must abandon, first, its possessions, then its home, then its neighborhood, and eventually each other. This increasingly narrow, inward focus to the film develops extraordinary tension. Szpilman, once he escapes from the line of prisoners bound for Treblinka, is completely alone, dependent on the help of others--including a handful of sympathetic Gentiles who jeopardize their own lives to hide and feed him--and he never knows from day to day if he will survive till the next day, and sometimes barely cares. Eventually, late in the war, a German reservist, Captain Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann), finds him hiding in an attic, asks him to play Chopin for him, and finally brings him food for several weeks, until the Russians arrive and take the Germans themselves prisoner.
Scene after scene tears the viewer apart in this harrowing film, as Szpilman, brilliantly played by Brody, faces one degradation after another by those who refuse to recognize the common humanity among people. The devastated streets and bleak hiding places, utterly devoid of any human touch, are all filmed with sharp contrasts of light and dark, visually emphasizing the "aloneness" of Szpilman in Pawel Edelman's stunning cinematography. The music by Wojciech Kilar furthers the mood without intruding, while the music Szpilman plays by Chopin (Polish) and Beethoven (German) further emphasize the horror of the present. Showing through the eyes of one man, a pianist, the most heart-rending inhumanity mankind has ever witnessed, Polanski's film leaves the viewer numb with horror. Mary Whipple
30 Ignore the morons and watch this film.
Ignore the reviewers who call this film "dull" or "boring" or "overlong"; they're obviously the kind of people who think Will & Grace is the height of comedy.
Ignore the ones who claim Schindler's List is better; Polanski's film goes way beyond Spielberg's sugary tale.
Most of all, ignore the beer-swilling, NASCAR-loving rednecks who claim Brody's character is a coward. They must have thought this film had lots of explosions and guns.
31 the pianist great
this movie is a kind of movie that will leave a tear in your eye. The acting couldn't have got any better, and the action in this movie was good. The pianist is a classic.
32 One of the better "Holocaust films"
Better than Schindler's list. This is the story about survival against all odds, love of music in spite of hatred and friendships despite differences. Add to all that, this is a true story about someone who just recently (2002) passed away.
Wladyslaw Szpilman is possibly one of the best Pianists in Poland when Germany invades and disenfranchises the Jews. In a short period of time, Szpilman and his family lose everything; their money, their freedom and eventually their lives. Szpilman because of his genius on the piano is saved time and time again from what could almost be certain death. The story of his survival is amazing, one could say almost miraculous.
There is also the music in this film, although this isn't your Amadeus (i.e. music throughout) it still has those moments when we see and hear Szpilman play Chopn, and it is in these moments when the suffering (both his on film and ours?) becomes almost bearable. What Amadeus did for me in sparking a love for Mozart, the pianist (unintentionally) did for Chopn.
I cannot say much more as this movie has been adequately reviewed by 200+ other able reviewers, all I can say is that it needs to be in your collection, whether you love good music, have an interest in history or you want a movie about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
One cannot recommend this movie enough - a definite must-see.
33 Unending Nightmare.
As many other reviewers I was avoiding seeing this movie. I thought nothing really new about The Holocaust may be filmed after seeing "Schideler's List" (1993), "Kap" (1959) or "La Vita Bella" (Life is Beautiful 1997) amongst others. I was mistaken.
Roman Polanski has created an emotive and deep film. With poignancy that only a survivor as himself could give.
The screenplay is based on the autobiographic book of Wladyslaw Szpilman a well known pianist and Warsaw's Ghetto survivor.
Szpilman was an artist dedicated to playing and composing music when war came to disrupt his life and that of millions more.
His burden was double: he was a defeated Pole and Jew.
The film shows how step by step a nightmare is constructed around the Jewish Community. First they were limited on what amount of money they were able to keep at home; then they were banned from restaurants; next they were banned from public squares and so on until they are massively relocated into the infamous Ghetto.
Vexations increases: starvation, murder, deportation to the camps.
All this is shown from the interior of Szpilman's family. How they are affected, how their relationships are stirred. Every scene rings true and touches the raw nerve of the spectator.
Adrien Brody fleshes his character with sensibility and accuracy: an outstanding performance.
Polanski is at the height of his best productions and won 2003 Best Director's Oscar.
Even if this is a sad film, I highly recommend it in order to have an inside glance to this terrible historical period.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
34 Spectacular
Wow, initially, a friend recommended me to watch this movie after he received it for christmas. I was almost laughing at him because of the commercials and I thought it was horrible at the time. After constant nagging by him, I decided to give it a try and I feel in love with it. This movie is incredible and almost, almost brought me to tears. If you know me, I'm one that you can't get to start crying.
::HERE IS A SYNOPSIS THAT I WROTE::
The true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who, in the 1930s, was known as the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland, if not Europe. At the outbreak of the Second World War, however, Szpilman becomes subject to the anti-Jewish laws imposed by the conquering Germans. By the start of the 1940s, Szpilman has seen his world go from piano concert halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw and then must suffer the tragedy of his family deported to a death camp, while Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. At last deciding to escape, Szpilman goes into hiding as a Jewish refugee where he is witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw City Revolt in 1945.
I guarantee you will absolutely LOVE this movie.
Thank You and enjoy
35 The Beauty of Music, Against a Backdrop of Hate
What a tremendous impact this film contains! Not only are we witness to the horrors of pure hatred taken to the extreme but we are faced to contrast obscurity with the beauty of music.
This true story of Polish pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, will make you appreciate life and question your own character faced with having to survive such brutal circumstances. Imagine losing your home, your family, your friends, your dignity and then being faced with confronting death, not just as a situation, but as a horrible daily darkness that appears never ending. Left alone in a world destroyed as you know it, to fend for yourself by eating garbage and by checking the pockets of the rotting dead who surround you, would you, could you survive? Well Mr. Szpilman did and this film is a tribute to a true war hero. Although he may not be fighting with machine guns and grenades and he may not be actively filled with pompous arrogance, this war movie exposes Szpilman's character as a most worthy human being who sat in the pits of hell and came out on the other side a man capable of beautiful symphonic music.
Polanski does an excellent job as director on this film by capturing subtle nuances alongside of the absolute horror to create a deep emotion within his viewers. He chooses to cloak this film in the colors of despair, grays, dirty beiges, all muted in tone and begging for light and brightness. We are only allowed to see the greenest of grasses towards the film's end. Many scenes in other movies have captured the horror of the cattle scenes, in which thousands of Jewish people are rounded up into freight cars and carried away to their ultimate deaths, but Polanski films a scene that ripped me to pieces just by the jarring sound of a metal lock closing on a freight car filled with life. Polanski also manages to convey the humiliation suffered by the Jewish people and not just how their lives were destroyed but also their dignity. He stays true to the humanness of his characters and in doing so never loses their impact throughout the entire film.
What can we say about Adrien Brody? Simply that he is stunning! Brody becomes Szpilman and he personifies the walking dead. His entire being changes throughout this film, at first classy and dignified he transforms into a fragile beaten man who manages to feel a simple spark of recognition for life that keeps him moving. My heart ached with every step this tortured man took and cheered beside his undying ability to survive. Brody's walk becomes staggered and painful, his broad shoulders begin to stoop with burden, his mouth twists with scurvy and disease and his eyes reside in tragedy only to find some brightness with each chance survived. His hands become the instrument that seals his fate, sometimes elegant and well groomed and sometimes weak representations of their true abilities across a few dusty piano keys.
This movie is a must have. It will stay with you for days and hopefully for an entire lifetime. We can only pray this devastating reality never touches our shores but as life goes hate somehow manages to exist. I hope that when faced with a moment of boredom, a pang of hunger or that furious glimpse of anger we can all remember this heroic story about Mr. Szpilman and that we allow it to change us into better representations of the human race. The truth is told in this movie and it must be respected and learned from because stemming from the bowels of hate the most beautiful music can arise if we strive to find it.
36 Technical Excellence, Uninspired Story
Stories of the holocaust need to be interesting. After all, who wants to spend their recreational time reliving one of the worst atrocities in history?
The Pianist puts a very personal face on the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, and walks the viewer through the struggle for survival of one man and his family. This interesting perspective should bring something fresh to a topic that isn't very appealing, yet has been relentlessly overdone by Hollywood.
But it doesn't. The story isn't terribly interesting, though the unique hero perspective this movie chooses should be fertile for a new treatment of the subject. We don't get any additional insight, and are treated to countless acts of violence hung over a thready plot.
I distracted myself with the movie's excellent cinematography, editing, and music. It's sad that I spent the time watching the movie for its technical qualities instead of its story, but I found the story to be less than enthralling.
37 For shame
Even though barely deserving a rebuttal, some of the reviews here are so beyond asinine that I cannot restrain myself, particularly with regard to those reviewers who had the gall to call Mr. Szpilman a coward. Mr. Szpilman risked immediate death every time he helped to smuggle a weapon or ammunition into the ghetto. The ghetto uprising itself was essentially a suicide mission, and everyone involved probably knew that. So Mr. Szpilman was a coward because he wanted to live, then? How dare you. While I don't believe that any work of art should be above criticism no matter what its subject matter, I have not read a single negative review here that has any remotely intelligent criticism of this film whatsoever. They pretty much describe it as "boring" or "another Holocaust movie." Schmucks. One reviewer couldn't even remember the protagonist's name, yet had no shortage of would-be scathing things to say about the movie. Almost as absurd are the unfavorable comparisons to "Schindler's List." Yes, Oskar Schindler was a great man, but the very straightforward good vs. evil nature of the subject matter must have appealed to Steven Spielberg's very American sensibilities. "The Pianist," on the other hand, boldly treads a ground that is decidedly messier, morally less clear-cut, and I think that only a man like Roman Polanski, who understands the particular time and place where these events transpired, could have made this film. And Adrien Brody fully deserved the Academy Award for this performance. And, yes, he does spend a good deal of time searching like a "rat" for food. What do these buffoons think it means to survive in such an environment? Idiots. Anyhow, this film is a masterpiece, an artistic triumph of the highest rank. The naysayers have not been able to level a single legitimate criticism against it.
38 Some lied when they vowed "Never Again"
For the record, let me comment on Dennis Littrell on his same review of this film. I find his opening statement repulsive, as he used the persecution of Jews during WW II as an excuse to justify Zionist persecution against the Palestinians here. Littrell is solely wrong if he thinks The Pianist is a film of Jewish supremacy overcoming all odds. Adrian Brody commented that in Szpilman's book (which this film is based), he narrates his experiences in an objective view. There were not just evil Nazis running around persecuting Poles and Jews, but there good Poles and bad Poles, good Jews and bad Jews and even good Germans among Nazi ranks. Even Polanski allows this in his film, where poor and suffering Jews complain of rich and influential Jews doing nothing to allevate their suffering. You can see the extreme contrast of rich and poor gap where you see the Jews in the restaurant where Szpilman plays the piano and the streets where you can see corpses lying on street, victims of starvation.
In the beginning of the film, the Germans have invaded Poland and the Szpilman family are adjusting their lives to the new ruling of the Nazi Germans. They find their living conditions deteriorate as they are hustled away from their comfortable home to Ghetto and finally to the "melting pot". We see two brothers conflicting with each other as Hendrik, Szpilman's brother did not like the way he supposedly grovel to the authorities and using his privilage as a famous pianist which many Jews may envy. Even Hendrik was ungrateful when his brother freed him from prison. "Are you mad?" Szpilman asked. Hendrik's reply was "That is also my business."
Szpilman's influence was so great that he was spared when his family was sent off to the gas chambers. He lost every one of his family and when he goes back to the Ghetto where virtually all Jews were wiped out, here is a man completely devastated. We see the second half of the movie being akin to The Fugitive where he wriggles away from the claws of ever-suspecting Nazis.
When caught by Captain Wilm Hosenfeld and asked to play the piano, he plays the piano for the first time in a few years he had to be in silence for fear of alerting those around him (in apartment where he lives, he cannot play the piano as to alert everybody around him that there is a hiding Jew). This is one of the most redemptive scenes in the history of film, Szpilman plays the Chopin's Ballade reflecting the ordeal he went through. It is akin to Furtwangler conducting the great Beethoven Ninth in 1942 with battlefield sounds heard from distant.
At this age, where we cannot foretell the conclusion to the Middle East conflict and Americans squandering up their operation in Iraq, the pathetic music of MTV is contrary to music in Szpilman's time. Great music can only be created with great suffering. Gustav Mahler said that if his life flows like a calm meadow, he would not have the ability to compose anything. The classical music age has lost it's Szpilmans, Furtwanglers, Menuhins and the like. When another horrific World War comes, will there be another artist like Szpilman? Time can only tell.
39 A Stunning Achievement
The depiction of the brutality of the Nazis toward the Jewish population of Poland is heartbreaking and unforgettable. This film captures the range of emotions that a family experience as they subjected to the gradual increase in persecution that ultimately leads to Treblinka.
Adrien Brody is a marvelous actor and is perfectly cast as Spilmann the famous pianist who is the only member of his family to survive. Spilmann's Survival depends on the kindnes of others who take great risks to protect him. Thes heroic acts are contrasted with the forementioned brutality of Germans to great effect in the film. A final act of redemptive kindness by a german officer near the end of the war brings the absurdity of the circumstances we have just witnessed into full relief.
Based on Spillman's memoirs , the film is very accurate relative to the book. The cinematography is astounding, particularly the transformation of Warsaw to a spectoral ruin where Spillman struggles to survive. The movie is well acted, well written and shocking in it's realism.
IT will leave you numb if you haven't seen it yet.
40 Enduring effect..!!
The movie is based on Wladyslaw Szpilman's real life experience in the midst of torment of World War II.
The movie shows The Pianist(Adrien Brody),a jew forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto after escaping the deportation. The suffering and loneliness of an emotionally devastated, strong minded,but weak otherwise personage. In the midst of this, his fingers always keep on moving on a virtual piano, the only support in his (not-so)surving days until a German officer(Thomas Kretschmann) comes to his rescue.
The director(Roman Polanski) has excelled in remaining as close as possible to reality without being too loud abt it.
This is one of those movies which makes one speechless after watching it. Definitely a movie which cannot be easily forgotten!!
41 Powerful And Full Of Emotion
I'm not into heavy dramas, but this film is so genuinely affecting and powerful, I found it simply impossible not to be moved. Even with the myriad of Holocaust movies made, this one stands in solitude as one of the most powerful and unforgettable. Maybe its Adrien Brody's subtley brilliant performance, or the perfectionist direction that somehow elevates the whole thing to world-class standards. Myabe its the fact that this film focuses solely on this one man's experience, as opposed to a mass film. Perhaps its this, that so directly tranports you into the heart and soul of this man and this film, and makes you feel and experience these indescribably harrowing events that took place during the holocaust.Or maybe its the fact that the film takes its time to build up to its wrenchingly potent conclusion-oh God, what a climax.All I can say, is that you absolutelt must, must, must see it. NOW.
42 Great Movie!
The Pianist is one of those movies you can watch over and over again with the same feelings each time. It is a movie where everything is interesting because there is a sense of despair and you don't know what will happen.
The Pianist basically centers around a man escaping a ghetto. This man, a pianist, travels from house to house in search of a place to hide. The movie has a great pace to it. Just when you start getting bored of a house, a new interesting scene takes place. I've seen this movie several times and it never fails to be breath-taking.
The one thing going through my mind is, "Why didn't any of the Jews fight back?" Well, this movie will likely have you wondering what you would do in the pianist's situation.
To receive 4 stars from critics a movie has to be either the best picture of the year or extremely good. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and The Two Towers both received 3 stars. Terminator 2 recieved 3 stars. I am not surprised to see that The Pianist receieved 4 stars as it is probably one of the best movies of all time.
43 Absolute Masterpiece
When I finished watching this movie I was pretty much speechless. This is a movie that, I think, everyone should see. In some ways, it's similar to Schindler's List but The Pianist follows one person as opposed to a large segment of people. At times, it's a difficult movie to watch because of the atrocities that occured. I found myself comparing The Pianist to Schindler's List quite a bit. In the end though, I prefer The Pianist because it seemed more real. It must have been awful to feel so alone in the world after being split up from your family and not knowing what will happen to you or them.
The movie is about a man, Wladyslaw Szpilman who, in the 1930s, was known as the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Szpilman becomes subject to the anti-Jewish laws imposed by the Germans. By the start of the 1940s, Szpilman sees his world go from piano concert halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw and then must suffer the tragedy of his family deported to a death camp, while Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. At last deciding to escape, Szpilman goes into hiding as a Jewish refugee where he is witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw City Revolt in 1945. This is truly a movie that must be seen.
44 IS THE H ERO THE PROBLEM?
Why is this film a very, very good movie, an excellent one, rather than a great movie? It probably is a great movie, but the viewer is frustrated by the gutless main character. He reacts only after being acted upon. How very odd. But, let's face it, how very realistic. We have no Schindler here.
Nevertheless, Polanski more than deserved the Academy Award for the film's direction, as well as the other awards he received. It seems in fact, while viewing it, that one is not watching acting or directing, but as if one is watching the real thing. It is as close as most of us will come (unless at some point someone makes a better film of the subject matter) to the the war years in Poland and their horrors.
The film was an education to me. It had not one dishonest moment. Yes, the hero is disappointing. Sort of milquetoast. But the film should not be missed because we don't have a true hero here.
45 Thin story elevated by excellent production
"The Pianist" follows the misadventures of Wlad Szpilman, a piano-playing Polish Jew who must endure the horrors of Holocaust. Already an adult by the beginning of the war, he suffers the growing indignities heaped upon the Jews - from Jim Crow style segregation to internment in the notorious Warsaw Ghetto. As a concert pianist, Szpilman enjoyed the friendship of non-jewish Poles before the war. Once the war began, he managed to hold onto enough of them to successfully escape the ghetto and elude the Nazis or Nazi-backed Poles. The final half of the flick has Szpilman moving from one safe-house to another as the enemy goes from containing the jews, to crushing the Warsaw uprising, to crushing other resistance forces. The story moves slowly as the horrors of war and its deprivations slowly erode Szpilman's life.
I wanted to like this flick, especially given its apparent devotion to the hero's POV. The production values are incredible, and some of the sequences are just fantastic (especially the scene which touched off the ghetto uprising). So why isn't this a classic flick? Let's blame the player. Though Brody gives a good performance, he's hamstrung by the emptiness of his role - once he escapes, Szpilman is reduced to living on the generosity and pluck of others. I don't want to get into the whole "should he have fled or fought" debate, but Szpilman doesn't really do anything other than lay low. This restricts the directions the story can take to two - document only what Szpilman sees, which would tell a good story but essentially nullify him as a main character; or, keep the focus on Szpilman himself - marooning the story on a guy who - deprivations aside - remains isolated from the horrors occurring around him. "The Pianist" opts for the 2nd approach, quickly morphing into a Holocaust film which has little to do with the Holocaust. Arguably, Anne Frank was also holed up in a temporary asylum - why should her story be treated differently merely because she was a more sympathetic character? (She was a kid, and everybody knows that her story was NOT one of survival.) The difference between the two is that, Anne Frank's story redeems humanity in an inhumane time - the interaction between Anne and her fellow refugees framing a debate about whether all people are good, and that finally being captured by the Nazis ironically liberates her from a dehumanizing experience surviving in ceaseless terror. The opposite is so in "Pianist" - depriving Szpilman of much interaction to reveal his feelings (his Polish saviors are sympathetic strangers - connected to him by mutual acquaintances; we learn very little about them or how they made the superhuman decision to stand up to both Nazis and similarly minded Poles). Excellent production only highlights the sense that "The Pianist" is telling the wrong story - never letting you forget the possibility that a more deserving story was unfolding across the street, down the block or over the wall from Szpilman's safe-house. The script makes a further mistake in that it loses Szpilman's character completely - who he is and why we should care if he survives when others don't. The error is compounded when the script hints at an ulterior motive for the generosity of at least some of Szpilman's Polish saviors (who found that many Warsaw Jews were willing to part with some of their won possessions to pay for Szpilman's safety). The film surprisingly redeems itself near its end when Szpilman receives help from an ironic direction. A Wehrmacht (German Army) officer discovers Szpilman, but protects him - not only feeding the refugee but giving him his first crack at the ivories in years. We're supposed to be cheered that the survival of the artist bodes well for the hero's humanity. It's a moment the film crafts and then destroys. By the end of the film, Szpilman has survived, looking more polished than you'd expect for the horrors he had endured. Tuxedoed, and at the center of a concerto, he bears no scars of the horrors he's seen, nothing to indicate the enormity of the miracle of his survival.
46 Excellent!!!
Very touching and at the same time disturbing imagery. I cried at the end of this movie, not because it was so sad, but because for once a movie was made about the Holocaust that has a happy (or perhaps bitter-sweet is a better term) ending. The
only thing I could possibly suggest to make the movie even better is for everyone who enjoyed it to also read the book- Szpilman may have been a musician but the imagery in the book is very articulate and extremely well-written, and at the end they even printed entries from Hosenfeld's diary- the German soldier who helped him survive. Theses entries give a lot more insight into the mentality of Captain Hosenfeld, which I think the movie barely scratched the surface of.
Yes, Szpilman ran, and yes, he hid instead of fought. But he also survived, and I do believe that no one in their right mind can mock him for hiding unless they've been in the same state of circumstance and fear, unless they've lost everything they've ever held dear to them -as Szpilman did- but at the same time realized that yes, life is precious, and gone through any means possible to preserve and reconstruct their life after they've lost everything.
I only hope that after all he has been through in his life, the soul of Wladyslaw Szpilman has been reunited with the rest of his family in heaven and is now resting in peace.
47 Cowardly
To the Michigan reviewer. What the heck does this mean? "Or are you really that narrow-minded that nobody suffers like us?"
I have No Clue as to what you are talking about. Be concise.
The movie is well acted & directed. The fact that the story is true sickens me.
If I find the movie boring due to the pianist's lack of backbone, that is my right. I do not hold well with spineless acquiescence nor willfull brutality.
The mere fact that you enjoyed it seems to vilify your own sense of right and wrong. The entire movie imputes flight rather than fight. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
National treasure? National coward!
48 Great Job, Adrien!
Summary: Famed Polish concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) struggles to survive the onslaught of Nazi tyranny during World War II in this autobiographical film. Already lauded at the time for his talents as a musician, Szpilman spent those years holed up in Warsaw, subsisting on scraps of food and barely able to stay alive. Grace comes in the form of a second chance -- at music, at freedom, at life.
My comments: Everyone knows by now that Mr. Brody won an Oscar for his starring role. I think it was well deserved...it was rumored Adrian actually got rid of his apartment, sold his car, and didn't watch television, in order to prepare for the role. And he dropped around 30 pounds as well. This movie is about the Holocaust, BUT it takes a different approach than most Holocaust films... It's a little slow at times, but the movie will stir up some emotions. There are very violent & sad images in the film, and I almost cried during some parts. The fact that this was based on a TRUE story makes it even more amazing...watch out for Thomas Kretschmann, the actor who played the Nazi Captain who helped Szpilman while he was in hiding...the few scenes between those two were the most surprisingly beautiful, & emotional parts of the whole movie.
THE SOUNDTRACK WAS LOVELY: the piano playing was amazingly splendid.
Overall, excellent film about history, music, love, loss, and the will to live...the way Adrien Brody portrayed different emotions on screen, you forget he is acting. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
49 Humanity is still there
This DVD i was searching for last so many days and afterall got it from amazon.com. It's a very very good movie. What a brilliant acting and a true story too! After seeing this dark movie I came to conclusion that humanity is still there.
50 An Amazing Survival Story
The Pianist is a heart-wrenching and intimate story of Wladyslaw Szpilman's intense struggle to survive the Nazi invasion of Poland at the outset of WWII. Based on a true story set in 1939, Szpilman was a famous Pianist in Warsaw, and of course, a Polish Jew.
Wladyslaw Szpilman was born in 1911 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He studied Piano as a young boy and in 1931, continued his development at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He composed several pieces for piano and orchestra, and quickly began to be considered a promising composer and virtuoso, becoming very popular in his homeland as a result of his work. As a young man, Szpilman began working for the Polish state radio station and it is there that the story begins.
The camera begins to roll and we see the employees of the radio station acting out their daily routines with an aura of unsuspecting calm. Suddenly, as Szpilman is performing, the sounds of bombs crashing to the ground can be heard in the distance. Before long, the distant sounds become a shocking reality as the building begins to shake and debris begins falling on Szpilman and his piano. The air raids had begun. Warsaw, the capitol of Poland, was one of the first targets of the German Luftwaffe.
Shortly thereafter, the Nazis marched inside the city and by December 1st, 1939, and Warsaw Jews soon find themselves forced to wear distinguishing armbands with the Star of David on them. Tolerance of all things Jewish disappeared completely and thus began the brutal campaign to subject the Jewish population to unimaginable terror: all property and funds were confiscated; food was rationed to inhumane levels; all sidewalks, benches, buses, and parks were forbidden to anyone Jewish. Surprisingly, Szpilman seems to take a nonchalant attitude toward the events transpiring before his eyes at first; but that attitude does not last very long. Feeling like a hunted animal, Szpilman is then reduced to live with a fight-or-flight mentality and paranoia. He becomes completely detached from all things superficial and is forced to rely on the most basic survival instincts and stoic reserves. Should he by chance encounter any type of pleasure at all, the moment is relished with extreme passion. Reduced to existing simply as a hunter/gatherer, his only concern is making it through the day without dying; and Polanski capitalizes on this desperation to captivate you.
For example, in a scene where Szpilman is hiding in an apartment filled with pro-Nazi, non-Jewish tenants, we see Szpilman sit at a piano. For his own safety, he is to remain as silent as possible; but then, we see him in a head-and-shoulders shot, shoulders moving. You hear piano music and gasp as we fear his love and longing for music is about to give him away; and then we see his hands moving in the air just above the keyboard and realize, with both relief and a stitch of regret, that the music is only in Szpilman's head.
Another example is a scene in the movie where a German commander stops a group of Jews going to work, with whom Szpilman is among, and randomly asks several of them to lie down. While the others stand in horror watching, the German shoots them all in the head except for the last one because his magazine is then empty. Unlike the German soldier in Schindler's List who ends up letting the person live under a similar circumstance because his gun jams, Polanski's soldier reloads the gun and shoots the man. The camera captures these horrific events intrepidly, far detached from them. Yet this detachment is a benefit to the film because it adds to the ghastly, ruthless realism of the story.
Then there are scenes that are so callous they take you by surprise. Such as when a Nazi tells an elderly man in a wheelchair to stand up and the man doesn't respond. Shockingly, the Nazi picks up the wheelchair and throws the man off a balcony.
The film's best scene, in my opinion, is a scene that occurs when Szpilman encounters a Nazi officer in an abandoned house. Devoid of sentimentality, beautifully directed, it is simply a mosaic of shots of Szpilman playing Chopin on the piano and the officer watching. Yet it is also a scene that ironically symbolizes and encapsulates Szpilman's experience itself. The German officer is not an enemy or a ruthless brute, but a human being, who by circumstance, is in the position to save or kill Szpilman, who by circumstance, is completely helpless.
Szpilman's character is brilliantly played by Adrian Brody, who won the Oscar for Best Actor for this film. It must be difficult to command the screen when your character often must be acquiescent, deliberately trying not to draw attention to himself in order to keep from falling into Nazi hands; but Brody pulls it off. It helps that Brody has utterly mastered the art of acting with his eyes. Additionally, his body language speaks volumes, and these nonverbal cues are crucial to filling in the emotional cracks; especially in scenes where Szpilman, alone and in hiding, can't speak or even move around much for fear of giving himself away.
Roman Polanski produced and directed the film, and like Brody, also won an Oscar for this film for Best Director. The Pianist is an extraordinary milestone for Polanski, who himself survived the Nazi Holocaust. I suspect it is because of this fact that Polanski's film, for me, has an edge over several other holocaust films. The directing in this film is fearless, honest and it does not settle for easy answers; rather, it shows us a true story without adjudicating any of the characters or the situation within which they coexist. It simply unfolds and it is in this simplicity that lies its impact.
Wladyslaw Szpilman survived this historic tragedy by the grace of the Almighty, joining His presence in the year 2000.
51 Good but you've seen it before
This is a beautifully tragic movie about the Holocaust, but ultimately, you've seen it dozens of times before in dozens of other Holocaust films. There is nothing new or illuminating here.
52 The other side of war
This movie is an excellent war movie in a different way then you would expect. It is a war movie from a different perspective.
What happens to the main character is a perfect example of what can happen to a person who is on the sidelines of a war, someone who is not involved in the fighting but becomes very much involved in the horrors of what war can bring. The acting of Adrien Brody was superb. To pull off the part of going from a clean cut pianist in a higher class society to a sickly scavenger searching for food and water shows the skills and determination of being an excellent actor.
The cinematography was also outstanding. The realism of the Jewish holocaust is captured in a truthful yet disturbing way. This movie brought me to the times of Poland during WWII and I felt what it would be like to be there. That's what an excellent movie is all about.
53 mesmerizing
The whole time my wife amd I watched this film, we couldn't leave it for a minute. Aside from the incredible acting, the film showed disturbingly clear how a whole sect of the human race could be isolated and left open for violation. It was so slow and subtle, that people didn't realize what was happening before it was too big to stop. I have also watched Schindler's List which was more disturbing as a whole, but much more stark in it's telling. This movie is on a more intimate level and I consider it to be one of the best I've ever seen. Warning- there are some extremely disturbing scenes in this movie-stark, and brutal that will stay with you. And one note to the person from New York that wrote-BORING-, did you know that this was a true story? That the effort by people to hide the pianist was because he was considered a national treasure? Or are you really that narrow-minded that nobody suffers like us? Buy this movie? Most definitely!!!
54 Ordinary everyday nightmare
This is what is wildly mindblowing about this movie: Showing the most, just mind snapping human behavior, in such an ordinary sleepy bystanderish type way. No filmmaking dramatization is required because you can't even believe what these people are doing to their own kind. Very focused, intimate, personal view.
55 Moving beyond words, and destined to be a classic.
This is an excellent portrayal of the horrors of WWII, seen from the perspective of one victim. The tragedy and triumph of one man is masterfully acted by Brody, who deservedly won the oscar for his performance. Fantastic, gripping, heartwrenching movie that is entirely worthwhile in our time of frequently mindless entertainment. Highly recommended for adults and mature teens. Keep your younger kids unexposed to this, as they may not be able to process the intense and complex emotions aroused by the picture.
56 Real life,death and absolution mimicked at the movies
Can someone explain to me how the little entertainment "Chicago" beat out this film for best film of 2002 as judged by the Motion Picutre Academy? What a travesty! Here is a monumental re-telling of a true story, a once in a decade film and surely the best World War II story since "The English Patient" and better than that flick! Adrien Brody at least won the Oscar for best actor. Maybe he deserved that but this film surely deserved best movie. It is probably the best film of the new century.
57 The worst attributes of human beings.
B O R I N G! This movie shows the worst qualities of any people on the face of the Earth. A whole race of people goes to their certain death without raising the slightest bit of resistance. The story lacks a hero. It is about a field mouse that hides and scrounges for food in war torn Warsaw. Meanwhile a small group of resistance fighters take on the Germans in what ever way they can with absolutely no support from our less than adequate field-mouse-like main character. He doesn't give a Darn about anyone but himself. Not his family, nor his fellow Jews. The only hero in the movie was a German officer who gave food to his pet mouse for performing tricks.
Jews of today take no guff from anyone and must be profoundly embarrassed by this movie about sheep being led to slaughter. While it's good to make new generations aware of genocide, the Holocaust was sixty years ago. Get over it already. It will never happen to the Jews again. Although very recently genocide was perpetrated on the Kurds in Iraq.
Due to the injustices bestowed on Jews, the movie makes a blatant attempt to blame America for not declaring war on Germany in order to save them. Maybe we should've taken Iraq when the Kurd genocide began.
As an American, I cannot stomach this lack of backbone. Think of 9-1-1. Think of the first three flights going down at almost the same time. Everyone was told to stay calm and the hijacking will take its course without further incident. Think of flight 93 learning of the other three crashes. Think of the true American heroes on that flight who decided that it was better to die than to allow terrorists to kill other innocent people.
I rest my case. This movie shows the worst attributes of human beings.
Worth watching, not worth buying.
58 Beautiful movie about a dark period in history.
Based on a true story, this film illustrates the horror of war and the holocaust. Yet it does so in a beautiful way--the cinematography, the direction, and the casting is perfection. I don't really know what else to say about this film, except that it is a must see.
59 A story of survival?
This is no story of survival. Its a story of cowardice! This guy is so dumb, he can't see the handwriting on the wall and while other jews are fighting for THEIR survival he's hiding behind garbage cans. Oh, I forgot, he doesn't have to fight, he's an artist.
60 An Oustanding film based on humanity's darkest hour
THE PIANIST is a powerful film by famed Jewish director Roman Polanski, who won a Best director Oscar, as well as star Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor playing Wlady Szphilman, a real-life world-renown pianist
The movie is set in World War II Nazi-occupied Poland. Szpilman is a Jewish pianist, and survived miraculously in the ghettos hiding from the Germans and eluding Nazi death camps. Unlike many unfortunate Jews, Szpilman is lucky to have survived.
THE PIANIST is an absolutely great piece of work; Polanski does a startling job at building such an epic war film at such a grand scale, and also a builds a sad and emontional tone as well. Brody also did a magnificent job potraying Szpilman, and I think he richly deserved that Oscar.
One of the greatest Holocaust films ever made!
61 Tedious drama, unremarkable perspective.
Before purchasing this DVD, I didn't know the particulars about statutory rape charges and Roman Polanski. My vote today is not on that legal and moral issue.
As a patron, I purchased what I hoped to be a fresh view regarding an terrible period in human history. I was looking for a new Shindler's List. But this story failed to meet expectations. If I wanted to spend hours listening to fine piano, maybe. But I wanted what lacked here: uniqueness, a tight story, excellent entertainment, and the sensation proclaimed. It just didn't do it for me.
62 Incredible!!!
I am from a family of artists; my mother, who was Welsh, was a professional pianist. My father was a professional drummer. An uncle was a professional artist. (Another uncle raised horses.) So from an early age, the arts and horses and ballet and figure skating were all included in my life.
So I can say, from experence, that "The Pianist" is fantastic!! Anyone who loves music of any-kind; this DVD is wonderful.
63 An Outstanding Emotional Film
Adrian Brody is in the role of a lifetime. He certainly deserved the Oscar for his acting performance in The Pianist.
Very moving and touching. This historical film will go down as one of the greatest films in history.
64 Just WONDERFUL
I really loved this movie. I could not even leave the room while it was on. YOU have to see this. A++++++++++++++++
65 Intense Life Story During the Holocaust
"The Pianist" is one of the top 10 best films of 2002. It was rightfully nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, going on to win three: Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Its true story of world-famous pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, who struggles for his life during the Holocaust is very powerful, yet brilliant. The hardcore drama begins the moment his passionate music career becomes threatened by Hitler. Its material is close to as graphic as the actual conditions, which is how it should be displayed. Such intensity, which is never lost for a second, guarantees an emotional reaction. All the emotions in the scenery and through the characters are heartpounding through Szpilman's entire unfortunate journey. The immense research of these events is present. The writer's own heart and soul was written in every word. This project was wonderfully led by Roman Polanski's brilliant vision. His directing talents answer why he deserves his legendary status.
The set scenery is as accurate to the actual buildings and living conditions of Europe in 1939-1945. The hard work through the construction paid off, adding extra living intensity. The clothing worn in the movie adds the necessary emotional value that keeps audiences watching. All other physical details in this film are also flawless, namely the make-up and the dirty scenery (dirt, burns, blood, etc.). The musical score was composed beautifully, blending perfectly with every scenes' particular mood.
The performances from all the actors are beyond words. Adrien Brody beautifully portrays Szpilman in his career-launching role. His every drop of heart and soul are obviously presented through his character. This is one of the best Holocaust movie roles in cinema history. His talents prove that he'll be around for many more years. A few other actors could have received Oscar nominations for their supporting roles without critic complaints.
"The Pianist" is a great movie for entertainment and education. This future classic is sure to please many audiences. Those looking for more perspectives on the Holocaust should also watch "Schindler's List", which offers a more graphic look.
66 For Gods Eyes Only
Iam almost speechless to explain just how horrifying a motion picture this really is!That in fact much of what we are asked to view is actually based on true events is equally as disturbing.I would find that there was much personal information that was placed in context of the Third Reich occupation of Poland and the creeping calculation of annilation that placed any efforts to survive as a premium that was virtually fruitless.That the garden was virtually barren and the green of spring was dried to a crisp is to suggest that what was attempted by the forces of the Third Reich brought the end of the world in sight.This is not a picture for the faint of heart for there is such a terrifying calculation to certain death that the only greater shame would of been when the victorious Russian Army was searching thru the occupied communites and almost shot to death the pianist who in order not to freeze to death wore a german coat to keep warm.To me that would of been a defeat to knock you out of your chair,however,thank God,that defeat was not to be.It is an un-nerving event that this individual survived and even more so why we couldnt get to that monster sooner.Though this dear reader is not to place controversy at those that perished during the occupation,the victorious Russian Forces were to be required to surrender the lives of some ten million before they entered into Berlin.Even today with such devastation just a crisis away there may never be a time when such would be the case as was told of in this motion picture.I dont like a whole lot of politics however a concept of eternal vigilance may seem more appropiate than a recommendation to see this picture.I viewed this on DVD,it was a rental from a local library.I do not recommend this film to be viewed by anyone under the age 18 or even perhaps 21.If the adult wants to view this film they should be forewarned,again this is not for the faint of heart!
67 Is There More to Say? To This I Answer Affirmatively
There are so many ways to review a film. So many angles, perspectives. Criticisms are as easy to find (Brody's long hair toward the end is not that convincing) as laurels (Polanski's brilliant use of original black and white footage (much viewable on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial website) of pre-war Warsaw integrated into the scenes of film--reconstructions, if you will.
In all respects a brilliant film.
I will therefore focus on only one aspect. This is the encounter between Szpilman, the Pianist, and Wehrmacht Hauptmann des Reserves Wilm Hosenfeld (pulled from the Reserves out of wartime necessity), the man who provided the means for him to survive the few weeks left before the Red Army enters Warsaw, which, using Computer Graphic Imaging, is in color as startlingly real as the actual black and white photographs of the period--near total destruction and decimation of a great city.
That encounter, which of course one must live through the film to appreciate, is acted to perfection by Brody and Thomas Kretschmer, the German actor. I have before me an actual photograph of Captain Hosenfeld in 1940, having what appears to be a pleasant conversation with a Jew, on the street, in the snow, in Wegrow.
Hosenfeld was an unusual man, leaving behind many letters to home. He died in ingnominity in some Soviet prison camp--only 5,000 of some 90,000 Prisoners of War returned to Germany--a Holocaust unto itself about which we know little.
Hosenfeld was a Captain of Reserves, if anything, a rather stunning man in contrast to what we normally think of when we see the Wehrmacht officer in uniform, the Reichsadler (Reich Eagle holding the Swastika, or Hackenkreuz in German), prominently over the right upper breast pocket of the Waffenrock (four pocket tunic).
Even in the winter of 1939/1940 (the photo is in a recent German book, "Retter in Uniform"--Rescuers in Uniform--showing Hosenfeld and Schindler to be hardly unique. Schindler a war profiteer who seemingly regains, or assumes, his humanity in Schindler's list....Hosenfeld, a busy leader organizing retreat who can take the time to listen to Szpilman play, and to say ironically, with a smile--good name for a Pianist. In German, it would be Spielman--one who plays. These contrasts--the emaciated Szpilman, the robust, dutiful if resigned Hosenfeld, make the film unforgettable--you will not have to worry about placing it in a "favorite's" place. You can never forget the moment when Kretschmer, as Hosenfeld, says. "Speil was"--play something.
This film lasted, possibly, four weeks in Austin, Texas, at one, two, maybe three theaters, often nearly empty. I recommend it most highly, for its tragic and ecstatic moments, one of the most dramatic being Szpilman's ultimately failed search for Hosenfeld. Mr. Polanski has not lost his filmmaking touch.
68 Melodiously deserving great praise
A very powerful drama!
If you like the movie, "Schindler's List," you will like this movie as well.
It's about World War II and the holocaust; about a pianist and his family; and about the minuscule goodness from a German soldier towards him while having to deal with the running over of their homeland. [...]
69 Intense and thoughtful without being offensive or overdone
--This film recreates the survival of a brilliant concert pianist who is subjected to the terrors of Nazi occupation. That survival depended on his own wits, a great deal of luck, the kindness of many benefactors, and even the compassion of an enemy officer. The director indicates survival is tenuous, and depends on the attitude of the survivor -- one moment's lapse of concentration or effort, and all could be over -- and on the environment -- one false or unlucky step, and all could be over.
--Unlike many Holocaust films, this one moves quickly from one scene to another without overdwelling -- Polanski shoots, makes his point, and then moves on quickly, which allows the movie to avoid being emotionally mawkish and overdone (although it also makes it harder to develop depth of character).
--I saw this film with a person who normally despises and avoids violent documentaries, and neither of us felt Polanski tried to glorify violence for the sake of gaining an audience. Therefore, we felt far less offended by the violence than in a typical Hollywood film. It also made us count our blessings!
--I would recommend it to anyone interested in the phenomenon of survivorship or who just wants to see a positive, thoughtful, and decent movie.
70 What a movie!
Incredible is what I can describe this man's life story. Here you have a concert pianist, who with his family, ends up in the Warsaw ghetto, but by one of the Capo guards pulling him out of line, Spillman was able to escape the fate of many other Jews during that time. What surprised me is the Nazi Officer's compassion towards him(probably thinking that it was too late in the game to shoot him or send him off),even to the point of giving him his coat(which almost got him shot when the Russians came to Warsaw),but still a great film just the same. I cannot compare it with Schindler's List, since I haven't seen it in its entirety, but I feel that it is worth every five and more of its stars.
71 The Real Best Picture of 2002!
My favorite film of 2002 was The Two Towers but I thought Chicago was still a deserving Best Picture winner ...until I saw The Pianist and came to the reason why it won the top awards overseas (BAFTA's Best Film,Cannes film festival's The Golden Palm). I was shocked at how much I was moved emotionally by the end. This is the most emotionally powerful film I've seen in a while. I don't know what else I could say except definitely the film will become a true classic.
72 The Pianist - An extremely poignant true story!
This extraordinary film serves skillfully as a poetic reminder of humanities startling capacity for insufferable cruelty towards one another and amazing capacity for kindness to one another in particularly difficult situations! Although there are several scenes throughout this film that are dreadfully difficult to watch it is a film that should be watched and the reminders it displays continued to be learned in the sincere hopes that nothing like this ever happens again in the future of humanity.
It is of little wonder that this film that is based on a true story won three Academy awards; Best Actor for Adrien Brody, Best Director for Roman Polanski and Best (Adapted) Screenplay for Ronald Harwood. Adrien Brody's unforgettable performance is nothing short of stunning as he plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish pianist caught up in the Nazi's war against the Jewish in Poland during World War II. This extraordinary film wouldn't have been as nearly successful without the exceptional performance given by all the supporting actors in this film as well who all deserve as much praise as possible for their parts.
Strangely enough, this is the first film I've watched that was directed by Roman Polanski, which is a mistake that will be corrected. From the beginning to the end this film is a highly gripping one and I'm sure the credit for that goes just as much to Roman Polanski's direction as it does the script and the actors performances.
The Premise:
"The Pianist" is the true story Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish man of Jewish faith who, with his family and millions of others, was swept up in the Nazi occupation of Poland and their quest to exterminate the Jewish people. Szpilman, being an exceptional pianist finds himself spared from the horrible train ride to a death camp but must bare the memory of watching his entire family take that ride as he continues to do what he must to survive to make it to the end of the war...
It is exceedingly difficult not to find yourself shedding a tear for the events that go on throughout this true tale of survival during the holocaust, which brings that much more poignancy to the film and its story. I highly recommend this film to any and all! {ssintrepid}
Special Features:
-A Story of Survival: Insight into the making of the film and its authenticity
-Roman Polanski's own story of survival during WWII
-Behind the scenes interviews with Oscar winners Roman Polanski, Adrien Brody and Ronald Harwood
-Clips of Wladyslaw Szpilman playing the piano
73 Read This....
Life in Nazi Germany was a terrible thing, not a hollywood feel-good experience. For those of you who do not like seeing the reality of that time period; jews selling out jews, people scrambling for their life, fear, and solitude, than watch "Schindler's List", or "Life is Beautiful." But if you want to know what it was like to survive amidst a torrent of hatred, from all people, not just Germans, watch this movie...correction..read the book.
Szpilman is not trying to make himself a marter, a hero, or an icon for the resistance, he is simply explaining how he survived, and how people more brave than himself did not. If you want character development, watch "Fried Green Tomatoes." This is a story of survival. Something lost upon you liberals who view our fighting overseas as excessive.
Our protagonist is accurate, honest, and in a most amazing way, emotionally detached from the horrors that we know affected him far more than he described in his book. Polanski does a fabulous job of bringing this man's story to life. Bravo...
And for the naysayers, ignorance justifies your position.
74 Historically acurate, great!
This movie was very powerful, very sad at times, sometimes uplifting, and a seemingly accurate account. It focuses on the life of a man who avoids being sent to the death camps of Nazi Germany during WWII, and the struggles he goes through. Very powerful, actors/director did a great job. Something I appreciate: it was based on the accounts of a man who lived during the time.
75 Three Academy Awards.........
....Should have been FOUR, Another for Best Picture. A Great and Important movie!
76 Another Surprise
This is a truimph of a story. A Warsaw ghetto survivor making it through the war, suffering, alone, scare and scarred, yet undaunted.
It showed the human side of tragedy, the cruelty and the heart.
Brody plays his part excellently. This movie kept me riveted. It is worth owning.
77 An Awakening
I have never in my life been so affected by a film. I was forced to watch it over a period of several weeks as it was difficult to digest the horror & apathy all in one sitting. How any group of people could degenerate to this level and the world turn a blind eye for so long is beyond comprehension. I was able to put aside the initial hate & disgust and see this masterpiece of filmaking through the eyes of one man's family. From this I have developed an entirely different view of "isolationism" and would recommend it highly to anywone interested in world history.
78 Spectacular in its innocence
After it was garlanded with awards and so much critical acclaim I decided I had to watch The Pianist, even though with war movies you never know whether you'll get something honest and affecting or trite and clichd. Polanski's movie definitely belongs to the former. Charting the life of the Jewish pianist Szpilman (Brody) against the backdrop of war in Poland it's a powerfully emotional piece that, once you've seen the end especially, makes it well worth sitting down for two and a half hours to watch. Interestingly, rather than show us a view of the Polish resistance or an inside view of the harrowing concentration camps, this is all about one man, and all the better for it. The Pianist achieves a kind of intimacy with its subject that other similar films cannot boast.
Beginning with the bombing of the radio station where Szpilman plays to Polish listeners, his family are rapidly dispatched to the Jewish ghetto. I've heard a few reviews stating that the parts of the movie involving Szpilman's family life are clichd. In a way this is easy to see, with stereotypes being made of various figures such as the brother who refuses to be put down, the valiant sister and the elderly father being used for the sympathy vote. However, the movie is told in such a brilliant manner that you forget all of these clichs (especially since it's based on a true story). There are some scenes that are very difficult to watch - people being shot point blank or tossed from windows - but it's this kind of emotional intensity that make it all the more worthwhile. It was certainly a wise choice to stay out of the concentration camps, in part because the looks on the faces of the Jews being herded into cattle trucks to be sent to their deaths is enough to affect any viewer, and also because it might have been too harrowing for the viewers. Significantly, it is when Szpilman is alone in the bombed down city streets of Warsaw that the movie really scales down to the intimate and where Brody's performance stands alone as one of true excellence. Admitedly these parts can get a little slow, but they're worthwhile for the conclusion, which couldn't have come about without these parts and it's certainly brave of Polanski (and typical) for him not to flinch at any part of Szpilman's memoirs.
The final moments though, are just sublime. Starving in an abandoned house Szpilman is finally discovered by a sympathetic German officer, and these scenes really burn a deep impression into your memory. Acted with humiliation and sense of what's lost, culminating (inevitably) in Szpilman's uplifting/depressing performance of Chopin, it's the emotional core of the movie. Put simpy, this deserved every award it won, and then some.
79 Polanski's Best Since "Chinatown"
Wladyslaw Szpilman was having a happy enough life in Warsaw in 1939, making a living by playing the piano on the radio. Then the Nazi tanks rolled in and the next six years were very very desperate as the events of the holocaust unfolded. First, all kinds of laws came into effect restricting the movement and activities of Jews. Jews must wear a Star of David, must walk in the gutter, are routinely brutalized. Then the Warsaw ghetto is constructed and Jews are walled off in a closed world of escalating brutality and starvation. Then they are told the majority of them will be deported, taken to places they are told are "labour camps" but which they are beginning to realize are something must uglier... Szpilman escapes this fate though he must watch his entire family taken away to their deaths. He is put in a work group, labouring in the city outside the ghetto. He then escapes out into the city where he is helped out by friends and resistance workers including Dorota, a young non-Jewish Pole he had courted before the ghetto was built, and her husband. From the window of the room he is hiding in he watches the 1943 uprising of the survivors of the ghetto. (Of course it fails and they are all killed.) Then abandoned by the man who was meant to be helping him he is relocated to another room elsewhere right opposite the Nazi police station. There he stays until the water supply is cut off and the building is bombed and burned out by the Germans. Now altogether alone, he hides out in the ruins of Warsaw and, as the Russians advance against the collapsing German army, he is helped to survive the closing stages of the occupation by German officer Wilm Hosenfeld.
That is the story of this movie and it's a true story taken from the memoir Szpilman wrote soon after the war. It also owes a good deal to the memory of its director as Polanski, a Polish Jew, himself survived the Holocaust as a child. It's a wilfully unflashy piece of cinema where everything is extremely understated. The performances are quietly excellent. Brody's in particular is superb but creeps up on one only very slowly. There is no score, no incidental music and music is only heard when it is being played for real as part of the action (except in one scene where it is very pointedly not being played.) It is as if Polanski wants to present these events as plainly and straightforwardly as possible and have us respond to them as directly as possible. For the most part this strategy pays off and the film is an extraordinary and moving experience.
The most extraordinary and unforgettable parts are also the parts that involve the greatest artistic risk on Polanski's part when Szpilman, after escaping the ghetto, is completely alone is a bare room with nothing to do except sit around and wait, hoping that maybe someone will bring him some more food before he starves, watching from his window events in the street at whose significance he can only make frightened guesses as months and months pass. The risk with theses scenes of course is that they could so easily have been just boring and the temptation Polanski resists splendidly is that of being driven by anxiety on that score to sex these scenes up in ways that would have killed off their effectiveness and their integrity: adding a bit of music, perhaps, or a voiceover or cutting into Szpilman's narrative with scenes from elsewhere telling, say, Dorota's story too. But no: here as elsewhere, Polanski sticks rigorously to relaying events as Szpilman experienced them and eschews any other perspective. And in fact these scenes are the triumphant reverse of boring as is the whole movie.
One thing troubled me. This film is always sold as a story of how Szpilman is saved by his love of music and it's hope-inducing dramatic centre is, I think, intended to be the scene amongst the ruins of Warsaw when Szpilman has just been discovered by Hosenfeld and, asked to play the piano to him, proceeds to do so. This scene is intended to be moving and it is but it's also surely a little disturbing. It's not entirely clear whether we are intended to think that this is the point where Szpilman is being saved by his love of music and if it is thereby implied that, if he had been a less accomplished pianist, or if he had been a fishmonger, say, or a dentist, Hosenfeld would not have bothered with him. I'm sure that's not the idea and yet there is a deeply troubling sense in this scene that we are unsure to what extent Szpilman is being tested out to ascertain if he is, in some sense, worth saving...
In any case, this is an extraordinary film, certainly Polanski's best movie since "Chinatown" and a spectacular return to form after the altogether unremarkable "Ninth Gate".
80 An Extraordinary and True Story--
THE PIANIST is one of the best films that I've seen in a long time. The music, acting, cinematography and the superb direction of Roman Pulanski have all combined to make an extraordinary film. It's the true story of a Jewish pianist and takes place in Poland during World War II. Adrien Brody's performance in the part of Wladyslaw Szpilman was sensitive and believable.
The story begins with Szpilman playing the piano on live radio as the Germans are bombing Warsaw. Wladyslaw is so into his music that he continues to play even after the station's radio manager signals for him to stop. Thus begins the story of Hilter's war on Poland and the Jews living there. The portrayal of the home life of the Szpilman family was intriguing. It gave me a good idea of what it was like for them to live day to day under the increasing threat of Nazi violence towards the Jewish community. All of the Jewish families are made to wear arm bands and sent to live in one area that became known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Some Jews have permits to work outside the Ghetto. Wladyslaw is a radio star and has some influence. He obtains work permits for his family, hoping that would save them all, but it's too late. Before his family can even use the permits, the Nazis begin to evacuate them from the Ghetto and load them into cattle cars to be sent to concentration camps. Wladyslaw is standing with his family and just before they are loaded up, he's pulled off by a friend who's a Jewish policeman. He escapes from the Nazis, and spends the war years hiding in various buildings. He survived with the help of Christian friends and by his sheer tenacity.
Since Wladyslaw Szpilman wrote his memoirs shortly after the war, his account is considered to be very accurate of what took place during those terrible years. I've visited Warsaw three times, and felt that THE PIANIST gave me the real feeling of that city. I've seen many photographs of the ruins of Warsaw, and this film gave a clear idea of what was left after the bombing. The Old Town has been rebuilt and its a monument to the dedication and hard work of the people of Poland
81 5 star film, flawed DVD
This review applies only to the Canadian DVDs released by TVA films. Do not buy them. They're vastly inferior to the American DVD from Universal.
I bought the 2 Disc version because the extra features seemed to be more extensive than the American disc. This is not the case. The American release simply has one two-sided disc instead of the Camnadian's two one-sided ones. There is an additional trailer or two on the Canadian release, that's it.
However, the negatives are much more important. First, the main bonus feature on both the TVA and Universal DVDs is a 40 minute documentary about the making of the film. It's informative and intelligently made.
However, the TVA disc has French subtitles which cannot be removed. I understand the market for this in Quebec, but for English speakers this is infuriating as you try to watch.
Worse, the transfer of the film is markedly less sharp than the Universal disc. I rented the Universal disc and compared them side by side. I took captures on my computer and compared them frame for frame. There's no contest -- the Universal disc has a much sharper, clearer transfer.
Also, the TVA transfer has a noticable flicker to it, which seems to have been caused by using a European PAL transfer from which to make the discs. Since PAL uses a different frame rate, the frames don't match up to this NTSC disc and cause frames that are half one image and half the image from the next shot.
Avoid at all costs. I ended up wasting money on a Canadian set only to sell it used and finally pick up the American disc.
82 FANTASTIC (the first time)
This is kinda like Schindler's List. The movie is incredibly powerful and flawless the first time you see it and then you see it again, you know what happens, and it loses so much. Rent it and you'll see what I mean. I loved this film, but I could never look forward to seeing it again like I do with the movies I buy.
83 ALEXS CAPSULE MOVIE REVIEWS
Highlights: Adrien Brody's powerfully restrained performance; the horror of war well-displayed; engrossing plot.
Lowpoints: Congrats, this is the 1,000,000th war film Hollywood exuded.
Conclusion: Roman Polanski has a confident but unoriginal grip over the film - the story of a Jew escaping Nazis is invigorating, there are quite a few dramatic scenes, and the impact is strong, but...not long-lasting. It's EASY to make people cry if you show an old man being thrown out a window from his wheel-chair. Mass murder will always evoke tears, and when it's incorporated through a poignant story about WWII brought to life by a classic director, the film is an immediate Oscar candidate. I expected more subtlety from Polanski - luckily, Adrien Brody's silent, touching performance saves the film - it is still a part of the WWII infestation ('Schindler's List', 'Stalingrad', 'The Grey Zone', 'Jacob's Liar', 'The War Zone', 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Windtalkers', 'Pearl Harbor', 'The Thin Red line'...should I go on?)
84 The best holocaust film I have ever seen...
Yes, Adrian's acting was a bit dry in this film, but maybe that was Wladyslaw Szpilman for you. The movie is about him, and if his demeanor was that way so be it; but no one can deny that the ordeal and pain this man endured for approximately 5 years of his life is not intriguing and worthy of a film. This person managed to survive the impossible, lost his family, his home, was in the warsaw ghetto (very low survival rate) and managed to escape, his profession and ultimate love (that of the piano) was stripped away from him, and even without these things to keep him going, he SURVIVED? This movie was amazing, and the fact that it was a true story is absolutely incredible.
This film also brings to light the struggles of non-jewish Poles in Nazi occupied territories. The resistance of the warsaw ghetto and the poles, the Russian army. It's an excellent movie for history buffs. I own the DVD and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical films.
85 Oddly Compelling, But Runs a Bit Long
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect when I rented this film. I heard the reviews and Oscar nominations, but I had no idea what I was going to experience when I popped this into my DVD player.
What makes the film so oddly compelling is Adrien Brody's silent performance. There are long sections of the film that smoulder on the screen with an eerily noisy silence. Combined with the constant uncertainty of what will happen next, the film places the viewer unnervinngly on edge...for two and a half hours! While it was undoubtedly the director's intent to convey the sense of imminent danger to the audience, much of the film involves Adrien Brody crawlingly silently through the rubble of ruined buildings. I can't help but to wonder if the film could have been shortened considerably with some careful editing of some of these long pauses, which ultimately do not provide much in the way of exposition or character development.
Also interesting to me as a music lover was the subtext of music transcending race and nationality, even between a Nazi and a Jew. A commendable piece of filmmaking, although ultimately not quite as powerful as Schindler's List.
86 Brilliant and ultimately redemptive
It's hard to watch this film and not think of the situation in the Middle East today. What is worse, being stuffed into cattle cars and sent to death camps or being blown up by suicide bombers (or bulldozed by machines of steel)? For me the answer to this strangely relevant question is the former. I know that the old Jewish Defense League that I recall from my college days, whose slogan was something like, "Never Again," would agree and so would most of the population of Israel. I think the terrorist Islamic groups ought to be required to view this film and/or some others like it on what happened to the Jews in Europe during the time of the Nazis so that they might have a better appreciation of why they will never be able to overrun Israel and why the United States continues to support Israel even while questioning some of Sharon's policies.
Director Roman Polanski tells the familiar horror tale, this time with a concentration on the Jews of Warsaw and in particular on the famed pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. (The screenplay by Ronald Hardwood is based on Szpilman's memoir). Polanski spares us none of the brutality or the sadomasochism that is an inevitable interpretation of the events. He has the Jews meekly acquiesce to the increasingly horrific Nazi demands, and then has them just lie down when told to and accept a bullet through the skull.
(Actually the vast majority of the Jews were not shot, of course, since the bullets were too costly and needed elsewhere. Indeed, as long as I am doing an aside, the stupidity of the Nazis in wasting their resources in genocide contributed to their losing the war. Small irony. But of course that was a war they could not win anyway. If by some magic they could have gotten the Jews--especially Jewish physicists--to work for them, that would have been their only chance, which once again demonstrates the self-destructive nature of Hitler and his followers.)
Polanski shows us the Jews who collaborated with the Nazis and he even has a Jewish boy in the compound as they await the cattle cars selling candy at inflated prices, and then later a Nazi who talks to his Jewish workers about trading goods and says, rubbing his fingers together, "That's what you're good at, isn't it?"
It is interesting to compare The Pianist with Vittoria De Sica's The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971), an entirely different sort of film, but one with a similar theme and some similar scenes as the Jews, this time Italian Jews, are loaded into the cattle cars. The experience in these films is always the same for me in at least one respect. I want so much to shout: "Do something! Don't let it happen! Charge them with the sheer mass of your bodies, if nothing else. Better to die fighting than to die like cattle." But of course I was not there. We think we know what we would do, but unless we are confronted with the actual situation, we don't know. And of course we have hindsight.
At one point, Szpilman and his brother are talking as they eat their thin soup and their bread. The brother tells him that the cattle cars are going to Treblinka but they return empty and that there are no cars containing food that go that way. He concludes, "They are exterminating us."
Polanski's point is that the Nazis were able to actually commit their ghastly mass murders (and the German populace to excuse them) because they had come to believe that Jews were not human and that they were only killing vermin. The Jews had been demonized, which is the first step toward genocide. We declare that our enemies are not human, and that allows us to kill them with moral impunity. I had a new thought while I watched this time, thinking: a respect for animals and a belief in animal rights might serve as a moral buffer so that when one group of people hate each other and begin to turn the other into animals, they will still have a step to go before they can begin the mass murders.
It is in the second half when Szpilman goes into hiding that Polanski's film distinguishes itself. Here the focus is entirely on Szpilman and his need to survive. The cinematography of the Warsaw streets, the apartments he lives in, the snow, the gray buildings, the people below in the streets, the hunger, the music that he hears in his mind but cannot play, the burned-out buildings, and then the scene in which the German officer says, "Play something" and he does. It is here that the film becomes magical and a testament to the best that is in humans. Note that the pianist has become in his beard and his persecution a Christ-like figure who never raised a hand against anyone. He is the Christ who turned the other cheek. And note that it is his ethereal talent as a great musician that saves him. This is Polanski's message and the reason he made the film. The best that is in humans can rise above the brute that is in humans.
See this for Adrien Brody, who gave it everything he had, and then some. His performance will haunt you. Polanski's clear, Hollywood-like, almost Spielbergian direction, tells the story a bit too brightly at times, and a bit too simplistically at others, but he has planned well so that in the end we see that he has told it brilliantly. For those who have never actually had the details of the Holocaust acted out for them, this will be quite an eye-opener and a chilling, depressing and deeply disturbing experience. And see it because we need to be reminded of what can happen when we give way to hate and prejudice.
87 ADRIEN BRODY INTERVIEW
Q: What was the specific appeal here?
In this case I wanted to feel that I was being honest with myself. Sometimes I see something that I've done that I didn't necessarily feel that I'd nailed it. But what's important is that I move me, the journey would be less interesting for me if I didn't. I felt that I had a real responsibility in this case more than with most roles because I was playing an actual historical figure, and of course because of the personal historical nature of the film for Roman Polanski, the director.
Q: He has a reputation for being quite a hard taskmaster, did he live up to it here?
He did give us a rough ride, but I don't think it was unfair. I think he expects a lot from everyone, and I expect a lot from myself too so I identified with that. I can also understand how he would have expected a lot from me in particular in this film because this is the most personal film he's made. It was a huge honour for me, and I felt a great deal of pressure but at the same time he treated me with a great respect and regard to my work.
Q: How much research did you do for the role?
Quite a bit. Roman was very helpful in that his office lent me a lot of documentary footage and I had some literature that I had read. And Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoirs were ver
