the pianist review

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Value for Money	8/10
Overall rating	9/10

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By adicos on 3rd Nov 2004

adicos's Ratings

Starring Actor/Actress	Adrien Brody
Where Did You See It?	DVD
Value for money	8/10
Overall value	9/10
adicos's recommendation

Good Points

Great acting, great direction

Bad Points

Too real, too brutal

General Comments

***WARNING: SPOILER INFORMATION IN REVIEW*** The Pianist - This is one of the most powerful war movie I've ever seen. It is powerful not because of extraordinary special effects, not because of exhilarating battles, but because it just tells the history as it was: brutal, murderous, unbelievably cruel.

The movie narrates the story of a very talented polish pianist, his name being Wladyslaw Szpilman, in Warsaw, before the World War II, during the German regime and it stops just after the Russian liberation of the city.

The movie is quite long, about two and a half hours, but hey, this is Roman Polanski. There is a lot of attention to detail, everything is grey and dark in the movie, is just a grim feeling about what happens there, in the movie.

Ok, now about the story:

Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family were living a peaceful life until the German invades Poland. Their pride soon becomes a burden: they were Jews! And therefore, consequently to the German way of thinking, they need to be punished: first, they are not allowed to have more than 2000 zlots. Then, they are not allowed in cafes, restaurants and parks. Then they are forced to wear armbands with the star of David on them. So everyone can see them and the German soldiers can bully them.

Then in comes another blow: they are forced to leave their home and move into a ghetto, a separate part of Warsaw surrounded by a tall fence. 360,000 Jews were moved into this ghetto. Due to the precarious living conditions, their condition starts deteriorating very quickly: people are starving, dying due to epidemics, they are begging for a piece of bread. Szpilman's family and himself accept all this with sort of a sad acceptance, there's nothing they can do. Szpilman plays piano in a caf so he can earn some money for the family, for the so necessary food. They are asked to join the Jews police, and therefore live a better life, but they refuse, they cannot turn against their own people.

Soon, shocking scenes can be witnessed in the ghetto: people thrown away from the windows, only because they couldn't move, being in a wheelchair or people shot in the street. At some point, a child, returning from the German part via a hole under the fence, dies in Szpilman's hands due to injuries.

In 1942, the Germans decide it's time to start exterminating the Jews methodically, not only by putting them in a ghetto. Therefore, they gather all the children, old people and those not able to work and start sending them via trains to so-called labour camps. Where the trains were going full and coming back empty. And where no food was delivered Luckily for Szpilman, he is saved by a Jewish police man who pulls him out of those being sent to Treblinka. This is the last time he sees his family.

Now Szpilman goes back in the ghetto and starts working for the German. Being all the time exposed to the risk of being shot randomly, as we are shown in a horrific scene, when a German officer lines them up and then pulls every other from the line, orders them to lie down and shoots them in the head. Without any explanation, without any remorse. Actually, the movie doesn't give any explanation, the movie just narrates the war's horrors as seen through the eyes of the Jews.

Szpilman starts helping the Jewish Resistance, but finally understands this is no life for him and asks his friends to help him seak out of the ghetto, for good. Being helped by several people and moving from house to house, he finally goes to a safe house, overlooking the ghetto he came from. He is locked in this flat and people bring him food. From this flat he sees the uprising in the ghetto and the brutal German repression. And in the flat he finds a piano, but he is not allowed to play it due to the fear of being heard by neighbours. What a torture for a great pianist, to live close to a piano and not being able to play it

When the flat is no longer safe, he moves to another and then to another house, being sick for a while due to starvation.

By now, it is already 1944 and the Russians are very close to the city. Feeling the liberation time close, the Polish start an uprising. But the Germans are still quite powerful and kill everybody who are not on their side. The city, Warsaw, is a wreck. Szpilman walks from house to house looking for food, now a scarce resource.
In one of the houses, he finds a can of marrow and as he tries to open it, he finds himself being looked by a German officer, a captain who, when finds Szpilman was a pianist, asks him to play something. The sound of someone playing piano in a hose surrounded only by death is almost surreal. Moved by Szpilman's talent (or maybe only being a nice person), the German officer lets Szpilman hide in the roof and even brings him food. Just before leaving the city for good, the German officer brings Szpilman a last packet with food and he even gives him his own coat, to keep him warm.

Finally, the city is liberated by the Russians and the movie ends with Szpilman playing his favourite Chopin play.

Now, my impression about the movie:

I will start by telling the bad parts (which are not too many, to be honest). The first is the moment when Szpilman's father is reading a Polish newspaper (you can see that is written in Polish), but when he reads it loud to the other, he speaks in English!! How weird is that. And the Germans speak German, only the Polish speak English. And Russians, of course. Which brings me to the other bad bit. When found by the Russians, Szpilman was wearing a German uniform coat and one of the Russians asks him, with the most pure English accent: "So why the f**king coat". This replica shouldn't be there in English. Is just sort of wrong.

Apart from that, the movie is directed and acted brilliantly. Adrien Brody is just amazing in portraying the Polish pianist, revealing his emotions, his fight for survival. Little was known about Adrien Brody before this movie, but his acting was absolutely brilliant, one of the best I have ever seen. You can see he's almost one of those method actors (like de Niro and Pacino) who identify themselves with their role.

The movie is a tough one. It is rated 15, but I think it should have been rated 18, due to the killing scenes, killing of innocent people, of children!! By the way, I have seen recently something quite unbelievable: in the previous years, there were no scenes with people killed in movies, but recently, there are a lot of them. Yes there were children killed before, but only suggested, but being shown killed or laying on pavement with blood spilling out of their body. I don't know why this trend, but it is not a good one !!

The movie is the story of a normal person put in an extraordinary situation, where the white is not white and black is always black. You can't help thinking what would you do in his shoes, how would you react, would you leave your whole family and try to survive? Would you join the real fight against the Germans or hide in a flat? Would you help others or only help yourself? Whatever answers you find, in this extraordinary complex situation, there isn't only one correct answer. Yes, maybe Szipilman is a little bit selfish in only asking help from others, without helping any, but can you blame him? Of course not


This movie shows the German soldiers in a very bad way. They are cruel, fanatics and with nothing human in them. Unfortunately this was the truth for most of them. The movie suggests to us that actually not all of them were so bad because that German officer helps our talented pianist. But we need to know how were they in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Even though the movie is long, I don't think about anything to be cut from it, everything has its own place. It is not a film to be enjoyed, more likely you can see it as documentary about the horrors of the war. Actually, it can be considered a documentary, as it's based on Szpilman's book.

It is a movie we should learn from, a movie which makes us think about what the Jews endured no more than 50 years ago, a movie which makes us think that our own problems can't compare with what they've suffered because of what? Of their religion, of their belief

I wondered only why the movie didn't get an Oscar for "Best movie" ? But for me, this is one of the best movies in years. Even someone could say it is too brutal. But life is brutal and history is brutal. And the movie has a happy end after all

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