The Pianist (2002)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Wladyslaw Szpilman (book)
Ronald Harwood (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.

Plot:

A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Warsaw | Warsaw Ghetto | Jewish | Nazi | Piano

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 45 wins & 42 nominations

Cast

Adrien Brody	...	Wladyslaw Szpilman
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
Frank Finlay	...	Father
Maureen Lipman	...	Mother
Emilia Fox	...	Dorota
Ed Stoppard	...	Henryk
Julia Rayner	...	Regina
Jessica Kate Meyer	...	Halina
Michal Zebrowski	...	Jurek
Wanja Mues	...	SS Slapping Father
Richard Ridings	...	Mr. Lipa
Nomi Sharron	...	Feather Woman
Anthony Milner	...	Man Waiting to Cross
Lucy Skeaping	...	Street Musician
Roddy Skeaping	...	Street Musician

Also Known As:

Der Pianist (Germany)
Le pianiste (France)
Pianista (Poland)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and brief strong language.

Runtime:

150 min | Spain:142 min (DVD edition)

Country:

France | Germany | UK | Poland

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 | Egypt:(Banned) | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R15 | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

R.P. Productions

Trivia:

Jurek's voice is dubbed by Roman Polanski.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When "the pianist" goes to his friend of last resort for help it is deep winter in Poland with snow. On the table in his friends flat is a bunch of fresh yellow roses. How do you get roses in mid-winter wartime Poland? Also, the following morning the roses have mysteriously changed to apricot-colored roses.

Quotes:

Henryk Szpilman: I thought you only recruited boys with rich fathers. Look at my father, look at us.
Itzak Heller: Yes, I'm looking at you, and that's why I'm here. Your whole family can have a better life. You want to go on struggling for survival, selling books on the street?
Henryk Szpilman: Yes, please.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#20.6)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Marsz Strzelcow

To hell and back.

The Pianist is an incredible film in many aspects. Roman Polanski's account of the survival of the pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, is a document about how one man can overcome the worst possible situations in a world gone completely mad around him.

The only fault one can find with the adaptation of Mr. Szpilman's story by playwright Ronald Harwood, is the fact that we never get to know the real Wladyslaw Szpilman, the man, as some of the comments made to this forum also have indicated.

There is a very interesting point raised by the the pianist's father who upon reading something in the paper, comments about how the Americans have forgotten them. Well, not only the Americans, but the rest of the world would not raise a finger to do anything for the people that were being imprisoned and made to live in the confined area of Warsaw. The exterminating camps will come later.

What is amazing in the film, is the frankness in which director Polanski portrays the duplicity of some Jews in the ghetto. The fact that Jews were used to control other Jews is mind boggling, but it was a fact, and it's treated here matter of factly. Had this been made by an American director, this aspect would have never surfaced at all. Yet, Mr. Polanski and Mr. Harewood show us that all was not as noble and dignified as some other films have treated this ugly side of war.

Wladyslaw Szpilman, as played by Adrien Brody, is puzzling sometimes, in that we never get to know what's in his mind. He's a man intent in not dying, but he's not a fighter. He accepts the kindness extended to him. He never offers to do anything other than keep on hiding, which is a human instinct. He will never fight side by side with the real heroes of the ghetto uprising. His role is simply to witness the battle from his vantage point in one of the safe houses across the street from where the action takes place.

Adrien Brody is an interesting actor to watch. As the pianist of the story he exudes intelligence. There is a scene where Szpilman, in one of the safe houses he is taken, discovers an upright piano. One can see the music in his head and he can't contain himself in moving his fingers outside the closed instrument playing the glorious music from which he can only imagine what it will sound in his mind.

The supporting cast is excellent. Frank Findlay, a magnificent English actor is the father of the pianist and Maureen Lipman, another veteran of the stage, plays the mother with refined dignity.

In watching this film one can only shudder at the thought of another conflict that is currently brewing in front of our eyes. We wonder if the leaders of the different factions could be made to sit through a showing of The Pianist to make them realize that war is hell.