The Pianist: Movie & DVD Review (2002)
8/31/2007 Posted by Admin
A blunt, unflinching masterwork(Originally published 2002)
Perhaps only Roman Polanski could have pulled off "The Pianist," 2002's best film, a blunt, unflinching masterwork from the director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" that exposes a harrowing corner of the Holocaust, strips it bare of sentiment and offers an unnerving meditation on the horror of war and on one man's fight for survival.
As our own troops are deployed for the possibility of another war, the film stands as a gift and a timely reminder from the 69-year-old Polanski, a Polish Jew who experienced the Holocaust firsthand as a 7-year-old boy in the Krakow ghetto.
Indeed, it was there that Polanski's parents were ripped from him by the Germans, divided and taken to separate concentration camps (his father survived but his mother was gassed at Auschwitz), and where Polanski himself learned the terror of dodging German gunfire as he made his own daring escape through a barbed-wire fence and into a ruined world he no longer knew.
If surviving that experience gave Polanski the crucial insight necessary to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), one of Poland's premiere composers and pianists who died in 2000 at the age of 89, then it's the unique worldview and human perspective he culled from that experience that makes "The Pianist" so utterly personal and, at the same time, so coldly detached.
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, the film is based on Szpilman's 1946 memoirs, which were published only two years after his ordeal and--not unlike some of the poetry, music and literature written in the weeks and months following the events of Sept. 11--have a rawness that the passing of time may have muted.
Using that edge--but not seduced or distracted by it--Polanski bears witness to the five most defining years of Szpilman's life, recounting atrocities the director himself likely endured while never once losing his unshakable focus.
Shot in Polanski's native Poland, a location the director has avoided using in a movie since his first film, 1962's "Knife in the Water," "The Pianist" opens in 1939 with the 27-year-old Szpilman playing a Chopin nocturne for a Polish radio station when Nazi bombs blow the hell out of the studio at which he's performing.
Around him, chaos unfolds as the Nazis dig in for the long haul. But Szpilman, innocently believing that all of this will soon pass, initially seems less interested in the threat of war and more interested in the pretty blond cellist (Emilia Fox) he meets on the stairwell during his flight from the building.
His family also believes the Germans will fail, particularly when it's announced via radio that France and Britain have declared war on Hitler. The collective sigh of relief that rises up from the tight-knit Szpilmans is eventually strangled from each as the Jews of Warsaw are herded from their homes by the hundreds of thousands and the film's real horrors begin.
Horror has always been Polanski’s forte, a major thread that carries through much of his work. And so, for the rest of the movie, he holds back nothing, letting loose with a wrenching, often brutal series of images delivered with a matter-of-fact frankness that gives the film such power, it's often humbling and difficult to watch.
Through all the rubble, death, senseless murder and devastation, Polanski never loses sight of Szpilman's journey, which is at once physical as he fights for survival in a world where finding some crumbs or a can of pickles can mean the difference between life or death, and also spiritual as his faith--tested time and again by the Nazis--is sustained by the beauty and truth he finds in music.
In the film's best scene--an instant classic that comes near the end of the movie--all of Szpilman's rage, exhaustion, frustration and long-repressed passion are sprung free when a German officer (Thoman Kretschmann) asks him to play the piano at the house in which Szpilman is hiding.
It is the most poignant, life-affirming moment I’ve seen at the movies in years and Brody, whose genius performance stands as the best of 2002, stumbles a bit before giving it his all, throwing himself into the sublime release of music and allowing us into the internal life of the artist as the artist himself hurls everything he has—everything that’s right with the world and everything that’s left in his soul--straight into the face of madness.
Grade: A+
October 26, 2008 at 12:38 AM
Never saw this movie, but I am glad I find the words
October 26, 2008 at 12:09 PM
did not see it but it will be on my list
October 26, 2008 at 1:12 PM
would love to see the movie thanks for the review
October 26, 2008 at 1:32 PM
I saw the movie and it gave a blunt view of the Holocaust and the way these brilliant people were treated as slaves and worse. I was horrified and ashamed that we allowed it to go on as long as it did and for those poor people to have to endure what they did. Everyone should see this movie.
October 29, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Great review. Thanks!
October 29, 2008 at 10:56 PM
found it
November 6, 2008 at 10:57 PM
found it
November 18, 2008 at 9:17 PM
I'm so glad the Ipod Touch clue answer was here!! I love The Pianist!!! One of my all time favorite movies. We just recently rewatched it and were just as charmed as the first time.
November 24, 2008 at 3:39 PM
I can't wait to see and get it!
December 12, 2009 at 1:15 AM
Hello !.
might , perhaps curious to know how one can make real money .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may start to get income with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you thought of all the time
The firm incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
Its head office is in Panama with affiliates around the world.
Do you want to become an affluent person?
That`s your chance That`s what you desire!
I`m happy and lucky, I began to take up income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to choose a proper partner utilizes your money in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and my first deposit was 1 grand only!
It`s easy to join , just click this link http://azozutykev.lookseekpages.com/yvukoni.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money
December 12, 2009 at 3:28 AM
Good day !.
You re, I guess , perhaps curious to know how one can reach 2000 per day of income .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you need
The firm incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
It is based in Panama with structures everywhere: In USA, Canada, Cyprus.
Do you want to become a happy investor?
That`s your chance That`s what you desire!
I`m happy and lucky, I began to get income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a correct partner who uses your funds in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
I make 2G daily, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://cipemyzi.virtue.nu/azinolu.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money
December 14, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Hello !.
You may , perhaps curious to know how one can make real money .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may begin earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.
AimTrust is what you need
AimTrust represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.
It is based in Panama with offices around the world.
Do you want to become really rich in short time?
That`s your choice That`s what you desire!
I`m happy and lucky, I began to take up income with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a proper partner utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s it!.
I make 2G daily, and my first deposit was 1 grand only!
It`s easy to start , just click this link http://nawusalu.maddsites.com/lojorofu.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take this option together to feel the smell of real money
January 26, 2010 at 6:47 PM
Good day, sun shines!
There have were times of hardship when I didn't know about opportunities of getting high yields on investments. I was a dump and downright pessimistic person.
I have never imagined that there weren't any need in big initial investment.
Nowadays, I feel good, I begin take up real money.
It gets down to choose a proper partner who uses your funds in a right way - that is incorporate it in real business, and shares the profit with me.
You can get interested, if there are such firms? I have to answer the truth, YES, there are. Please be informed of one of them:
http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]
March 23, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Hey amazing post about The Pianist: Movie & DVD Review (2002) thanks for sharing this information is very useful
August 23, 2010 at 10:23 PM
This website is the most beneficial I enjoyed it a lot
October 4, 2010 at 10:09 AM
albendazole
October 6, 2010 at 9:47 AM
generic avandia
January 8, 2011 at 8:59 PM
mfnqi rlinks
January 14, 2011 at 9:44 PM
I loved your blog. Thank you.
January 25, 2011 at 8:29 PM
Service : Client support was indeed fine. Lady on the telephone had a pleasant approach and furthermore My partner and i was given hard cash speedy.
Value :We have been given a good value since cash advance percentage rates had been very competitively priced.
AAA Vancouver Payday Loans 310-4088 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2X8 (778) 785-2087 payday loans vancouver
AAA Calgary Payday Loans 1014 Macleod Trail Southeast, Calgary, AB T2G 2M7 (403) 614-4637 payday loans calgary
AAA Ottawa Payday Loans 503 Avenue Gladstone, Ottawa, ON K1R 5N9 (343) 883-1422 payday loans ottawa
AAA Edmonton Payday Loans 10223 97 Street Northwest, Edmonton, AB T5J 0L5 (780) 669-1284 payday loans edmonton