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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The terrors of history and war should never be forgotten. One of those points in human history that shouldn’t be forgotten is the Holocaust. An extremely evil and despicable time in history from 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews, around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population.
Directed by Roman Polanski, The Pianist is a film that shows some of the Holocaust’s evils. Wladyslaw Szpilman, an accomplished Polish-Jewish piano player in Poland, was imprisoned and forced into labor when the Nazi army invaded Poland at the beginning of World War II. A story of survival and the horrors of one man and his army.
The Pianist is the true story of the horrific events that happened to Wladyslaw Szpilman. In the 1930s, Szpilman was a well-known and accomplished piano player in Poland and most throughout Europe. When the outbreak of World War II happens, Szpilman and his family believe nothing will happen, and the war would be over in a few months. The Nazi army invades Poland and takes over the city that Szpilman and his family live in. The Nazis impose anti-Jewish laws, and life becomes more and more troubling with the conquering army. The story progresses with Szpilman and his family being forced into the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw. Life becomes hell as the ghetto is beyond terrible as the Nazi seemed to kill the citizens for sport and at will. Things continue to spiral into hell as Szpilman watches his family deported to a German concentration camp. At the same time, Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. With no hope in sight, Szpilman decides to escape and go into hiding while witnessing other horrors.
After watching The Pianist, I will admit this film was a HUGE punch in my stomach. I physically became sick at the horrors that I just have seen. How could anyone or even a group of people be so evil to a particular group of people? This is another film that should be shown in all schools and needs to be discussed. Learning about the Holocaust in school is one thing, but to actually see it is another. This film sheds light, but we also need to know that it was much worse.
Roman Polanski holds back just a little but also shows some of the horrors and pain one group went through in the beginning and mostly throughout the war with some gut-wrenching scenes. Just thinking about some of the scenes makes my stomach curl. First, the whole scene where the Nazis move Szpilman and his family are forced from their home into the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto. First, they must wear a band of the Star of David, then before they are moved and sitting in the hot sun, they buy a single, overpriced caramel. The next scene shows the Szpilman family watching men build a wall to separate the Jews from the rest of the world. Conditions inside the ghetto are some of the worse anyone should see. People are literally dying on the street, and no one can do anything. One deplorable scene is when the Nazis make a group of people start dancing. It is cringe-worthy and repulsing.
Polanski just keeps the horrors coming. One scene is with the family across the street. One night the Szpilman family watch as the SS rolls up into a house and arrests a family who is having a nice dinner. The SS orders everyone to stand, but the eldest in the family can’t stand because he is in a wheelchair. In a horrifying scene, the SS picks the elderly man up while in his wheelchair and throws him off the balcony to his death. The other family members are marched out and gunned down in the street and then ran over by the SS truck if they managed to survived.
On top of all of that, the journey that Władysław Szpilman had to go through to just survive is truly something to watch. It is one of actual survival and not giving up when everything seems lost. It is nice to see that other people really wanted to help him survive. The man went through hell and back. First, one of his friends saves him from going on the train to the extermination camp. When forced into slave labor, he is worked to the bone, and the scene where the Nazi soldier has some of the men lay down and put a bullet in their head is crazy. After escaping that area and moving around from place to place, dude finally ended up in a house. While trying to open up a can of food, runs into a Wehrmacht officer by the name of Wilm Hosenfeld. Right here, I threw up my hands and said, “AWWWWWW S**T! My man is done for, and all he wanted was some food.” Yet, Wilm let homeboy live and provided food. The craziest scene was after the war was over, and he went and hugged that woman. She screamed because she thought he was a German soldier, and this militia started firing at him. That would be some messed up s**t! To make it all the way to the finish line, and then you die. That would be an AWWWWW HELL NAW moment.
Adrien Brody gave one of the best performances and portrayal of Władysław Szpilman. Brody MUST be praised for the role he took on. This wasn’t an easy role with the subject, and Brody made you feel for the character. I will say this, Brody was looking like a straight caveman towards the end of the film. Straight up looked like he needed a bath and then some.
Roman Polanski must be praised for his work and direction in this film. This probably wasn’t an easy film to make. Polanski showed the world the horrors that occurred during this time. As a person who survived during that time, he should be applauded and praised.
The Pianist is one of the best movies ever made, dealing with one of the worst periods in World History. One of the many stories of the survivors that saw the horrors of this time and Polanski told it with passion and care. Brody gave such a powerful and strong performance. The courage, faith, and survival of one man should be taught in school.
