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The Pianist
THEATRICAL RELEASE Dec
27, 2002 (LA/NY)
Starring: Adrien Brody, Emilia
Fox, Maureen Lipman, Frank Finlay, Jessica Kate Meyer, Ed Stoppard,
Michal Zebrowski, Thomas Kretschmann
Book: Wladyslaw Szpliman
Rated: R for violence and brief strong language
Screenplay: Ronald Harwood
Director: Roman Polanski
Reviewed by Peter Veugelaers Ó
2003
- See it or die!
The 21st century brings war with it
following 100 years of tumultuous horror stories around the killing
fields of earth; it is appropriate that "The Pianist" is
hot on the heels of the latest military war effort in the Middle
East.
War is often depicted in cinema: the miseries
accompanying force and the heroics of (usually American) soldiers
mix up the war genre, from the good old patriot films of John Wayne,
the pacifist anti-war sentiments of All Quiet on the Western
Front (1930), and to the hefty drama of Apocalypse Now
and Saving Private Ryan.
The subject of war, of course, is not limited to
time periods and the range of material testifies to diverse
ideologies and historical periods, and more recently a desire to
communicate war’s travesty and uselessness. "The
Pianist" tells its story from the Jewish perspective and
subsequently makes an equally, perhaps greater, statement than Schindler’s
List about the suffering of the Jews during World War II.
Its strength lies in the power and portrait of a
Jewish family’s plight in the Warsaw ghetto during the early war
years, and when they separate the uncanny survival of a professional
pianist, Wladyslaw Szpliman, played intensely by Adrien Brody. He is
true to his identity as a Jew when others defect to join the Germans
in order to survive, whereas Szpliman is sustained despite the
hardship of being himself in an utterly horrendous time to be known
as a Jew.
We see the unfolding events through the window of
the ghetto, making the view more personal and therefore to be
perceived with empathy. Director Polanski pulls no punches in simply
and realistically portraying the ghetto with its poverty, fear, and
violence, providing some touching and horrifying scenes where Jews
suffer under the humiliating oppression of the angry and merciless
Nazi occupation of Poland.
As Szpliman averts the tactics of soldiers,
extermination camps, and usually inevitable death during sickness
and poverty he is assisted by trusted non-Jewish friends, who put
their lives in danger.
Unlike All Quiet on the Western Front,
which depicted the German soldiers as human, the Nazis in "The
Pianist" may seem sensationalist in their delight in Jewish
suffering when one has not the historical record to compare (it has
been said to me that the Nazis were mere pawns at Hitler’s whims).
Nazi demonism, albeit rightly symbolised in this film, is strongly
offset by Szpliman’s encounter with a German captain. Polanski’s
vision is birthed out of personal experience and so is appropriately
slanted to the end of conveying that out of depravity, so evilly
portrayed in the Nazis, comes a hope for those under their dominion,
which profoundly resonates.
Szpliman’s escape from dangerous and
threatening situations is drawn-out over the time span of the war
years, which is remarkably authentic, feeling like his survival was
torturously ironed through and thorough in the most of unrelenting
ways. When seemingly at the end of the road an ironic turn of
providence turns the situation around to make for an unspeakable act
of mercy through German Captain Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann).
It is the beauty of Szpliman’s piano playing
and the captain’s ironic view that God offered Szpilman certainty
to live that turns a possibly cruel end into redemption for Szpilman.
What is unspoken is the transaction that took place between enemies
who shared humanity’s higher aspirations despite the
circumstances. Art acted as a mediator to bridge the gap.
This is a rare and important piece of filmmaking
among regrettably the brain-dead assortment of commercially driven
product that says audiences want more flash and less substance, or
in other words just give them entertainment. "The Pianist"
is more demanding viewing requiring more sensitive appreciation of
the touches and nuances that are evoked therein.
Making a strong impact and impression it is head
and shoulders above many films of 2002, deservedly took home the
Palme d’Or award at Cannes last year, and should stand proudly
among the last several years releases, not only for Brody’s
pivotal performance, or the technical accomplishment, or the
brilliant writing and acting, or powerful, poignant scenes, or the
finely made historical documentation, but that it is compelling, at
times painful, haunting and true, a work from the heart that shares
out of deep horror and sorrow – with shocking war realism –
comes predestined moments and revelations of hope.
Come Oscar time it is my guess the entertaining escapism of Chicago
will win out, and when warfare shares the paper’s headlines then
Hollywood may come to the fore with that "razzle, dazzle"
to avert the gaze on reality, yet "The Pianist" is
destined for remembrance decades from now, and is surely going to be
honoured in word or statue on March 23 to the tune of mainly
anti-war sentiment. Just maybe current events could change Academy
voters to pick against the obvious winner of Best Picture to vote in
line with their social conscience - that of a political, moral and
philosophical agenda. Whatever the result, "The Pianist"
resonates in any year.
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