The Pianist (2002)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Ronald Harwood (screenplay)
Wladyslaw Szpilman (based on the book by)

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
Emilia Fox	...	Dorota
Michal Zebrowski	...	Jurek
Ed Stoppard	...	Henryk
Maureen Lipman	...	Mother
Frank Finlay	...	Father
Jessica Kate Meyer	...	Halina
Julia Rayner	...	Regina
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
Ben Harlan	...	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 | Poland | Germany | UK

Language:

English | German | Russian

Colour:

Black and White (archive footage) | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | USA:TV-MA (TV 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:

The scene in which Wladyslaw Szpilman is saved from going to the concentration camps and is told "Don't run!" is inspired by a similar event in director Roman Polanski's life.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The infamous Sports Palace speech by Josef Goebbels (18th February 1943) is heard on the radio in 1939.

Quotes:

Wladyslaw Szpilman: You've got to give me something to do.
Yehuda: You're an artist, Wladek. You do enough.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: I want to help. I want to do something.
Yehuda: You're too well known, Wladek. And you know what? You musicians don't make good conspirators. You're too... too... musical!
[laughs]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chinatown: The Legacy (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tantz, Tantz Yidelekh

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.