Music was his passion, survival his masterpiece (The Pianist (DVD))

Member Name: steerpyke

Product:	The Pianist (DVD)
Date:	06/02/05 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: moving, Brody is magnificent, important piece of history

Disadvantages: brutal and horricic in places

Films such as Roman Polanski's The Pianist are a rare breed that fall into many categories and at the same time sit comfortably in none. Like Shindlers List, and a handful of other wartime portrayals, it is part entertainment, though the subject matter is often makes for uncomfortable viewing, part biographical, though how close to the actual events is known only to a dwindling few. At the end of the day it works best as a warning from history, though Im sure that is not its only intention, but it is on this level that the film is truly important, and as such should be viewed by as many people as possible. The book is based on the autobiography of the main character and Polanski makes an obvious choice of director, having witnessed similar events as a boy in the early 1940's.

The film is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a young jewish concert pianist living in Warsaw, Poland, through the German occupation of the Second World War, and follows his five year ordeal. Although it shows the times through the eyes of one man only, the background events of those times are well illustrated by a survivor who managed through luck, friendship and skill to avoid the worst of the atrocities, though his story is horrific enough. The film opens in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, the event that flung Europe and eventually the world into the all out war that had been brewing for many years. Warsaw is segregated into Jewish and non-Jewish quarters, and to begin with there is hope that the resident Jews will be able to live a reasonable existence, much like their Christian counterparts on the other side of the wall. Slowly the realisation of what is in store dawns upon them, first the Jews are used as slave labour and later the horrors of the extermination camps becomes common knowledge as the population of the jewish quarter dwindles to a fraction of its former self, leaving only a young male work force to serve the needs of the occupiers. Szpilman realises that he must escape the ghetto and manages to find sanctuary in the non-Jewish sector, moving from safe house to hiding hole and always just one step ahead of the authorities.

As conditions for all in Poland become unbearable, the resistance on both sides if the wall moves in to action and no place remains safe. Szpilman realises that one place may hold sanctuary for him and he breaks back into the ghetto to find it virtually deserted. His life becomes a struggle just to stay alive and eventually he runs into a German officer who knows that the war will soon be over and offers him some hope that he will make it through alive, and for the first time since the start of the war gives him the chance to play his beloved piano once more. The film holds no big surprises in its plot, its not about the conclusion of the story line, its about the journey their. The events themselves are morbidly spellbinding enough without Polanski having to resort to any great shock tactics or plot device. The matter of fact way that the German occupiers go about their cold bloodied mission is enough to send the message home.

On its entertainment level, though the word seems somehow inappropriate when applied, the film works well. The direction and cinematography will keep you glued to the film, and although the film has to cover over five years in Szpilmans life, it never suffers from a lack of continuity. Adrien Brody is magnificent in the main role, a soft and cultured man who is pitted to overcome the most horrific set of events in European history. He plays an understated role that like the rest of the film just lets the story do the work, though his portrayal is faultless. He is supported by a fantastic cast including Frank Finlay, Ed Stoppard and Maureen Lipman, but the bulk of the work is done by Brody as this is an autobiographical account.

On a higher level the film is also a success, portraying the madness and horror in such a casual and underplayed fashion as to make it seem even more extreme. It is on this level that the film gains the title, in my mind, of a masterpiece of modern cinema. It would have been so easy to try to sensationalise the story, make heroes and villains out of the characters, but to just stick to the facts and let the events do the work is what moves this film into the highest echelons. It must be said that the acts of brutality portrayed will not make this everyone's cup of tea, it is disturbing, brutal, cold and unnerving, but to avoid watching it on the grounds that its upsetting, is almost to turn your back on the events of the past. Many will want to, but to those who wish to be informed as to the nature of the Nazi final solution and its treatment of the Warsaw ghetto, should watch this film. Films like this should be shown as part of the history curriculum in schools. Watch this not as entertainment but as an essential warning from history.

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