The Pianist 2002

The Pianist 2002
By Peter Tonguette

I’ve heard about this film for long time ago but haven’t watched until tonight. Struggling with finding the topic to write on blogger, I have finally ended up watching this film. The movie was illustrating the disgusting and horrible thing that Nazi Germany did on Jews. The film was about a Polish pianist’s utterly miserable life to overcome the Holocaust, and finally be able to return to play piano as the thing her love the most. Wladyslaw Szpilman was a Polish Jew and was born in the middle of World War II. It was slightly similar to Schindler’s List, but more musical and does have some joyfulness. The Polish pianist started playing piano over the radio and in some restaurants, then the radio station got bombed and there the war came. He and his family were separated to escape the Germany’s destructive slaughter. They constantly witnessed the killings and time-to-time got scared to death. Fortunately, he was helped by a friend, and from then he began to help the rebellion of Warsaw Jews by providing guns over the walls of the ghetto. However, the rebellion was terribly failed and he felt he had no hope left but to survive. And again, he was provided and aided by another friend; he was hiding in a small room, and living quietly to get away from Germany’s notice. He survived more than 3 years, and after all devastating series happened in his life, he finally backed to play Piano in an orchestra.
The movie was touching and tearful. I found myself very engrossed in the film. The film was successfully made by constantly drawing the viewer along the series of the tragedies. For example, I was immersing in the curiosity of how the pianist would survive. The film also was made based on the true story of Polish pianist and scripted by Ronald Harwood. Yet I don’t know exactly that the antagonist was fictional or non-fictional. In addition, I also think that the historic events, character’s development, and thematic meanings in the movie were explicitly presented. Of course, what really happened in reality was more dramatic, brutal, and fiercely than in the movie. For as much, the Pianist was considered as the finest narrative film ever made “about” the Holocaust.
In comparison, Gloomy Sunday was also another Drama Romance during Holocaust, but it was gone way out of line, and too far away from the truth, which I disliked about. I found that the Pianist was distinctive emotional dark drama, but still based on real life.
The film has good and bad ethnically, and so the most shocking humanizing image input in the movie, which I believe that it wasn’t based on the truth, is that during the final weeks of the war, Szpilman was fed and housed and protected by a decent Nazi officer. Ouch, it totally destroyed the movie as soon as I seen it, that Polanski tempted to reduce the most monstrous villain in the world, and soften the Nazi’s immorality and evil. I didn’t appreciate what Polanski did betray the history by putting this fictional events. And, by all means, I find that it is so obvious that the Pianist was characterized and idealized as protagonist, hence the movie followed Hollywood narrative form, meaning HAPPY ENDING.
Overall, I was so into Hollywood’s movies before taking this class; and I find that it is really hard to ignore to see Hollywood’s theme. And, after reading the book, I felt that I was so fed up with the Hollywood’s dreams.