The Pianist (2002)

Nominee

This was a very striking and very brutal depiction of the Holocaust, and it is my belief that you can't have enough movies or literature about this genocide because no amount of discussion will ever be enough to atone for the atrocities that occurred during World War II. It was truly one of the greatest sins the human race ever allowed to happen.  That being said although this was a movie worthy of nomination, I could not help to compare to the others that have been made, namely and most notably Schindler's List. I feel it went for a less artist approach, which I think came off as less emotional. That would have been fine but I really felt that disconnect and it almost made some of these deaths come off as shock stunts, brutality for the sake of entertainment, instead of the homage for the suffering of the people involved. Also I hate to say it but toward the middle it got repetitive, these dramatic scenes just weren't pulling anything for me anymore because there wasn't enough variation of shooting. THAT BEING SAID...

I always do a little bit of research before making these posts and I realized I really knew nothing about Roman Polanski. Out of his work I had only seen Chinatown, and the only information I remembered about him was some scandals a couple years ago in the news. So I wandered my way over to Wikipedia, and I was surprised to find that Polanski actually experienced living in the ghetto and then hiding from the Nazis. He was a small child at the time but I think now I understand why he tried to show these events like he did. He, like Spillzman, lived through this event, they were survivors, and that is what he really connected with about this story. So he filmed this through the lens of someone trying to thrive. So I think the emotional disconnect was an attempt to show us that you had to do that in order to come out the other end. You could not let these horrific events effect you every time, you would not make it.

So how do I rectify these two ideas? I think the story and the point of view provide something different than its fellow Holocaust era films, but I think some of the cinematography fell flat, they did not show us something new every time, they did not change the experience, like I said it was repetitive. I think great movies allow the shooting to do some of the talking...the shots did not tell me anything.

Now you may have noticed that I have not actually said anything about a piano yet. That is because surprisingly it is an extremely minor part of this movie. It is still important, his music saves him from time to time. And I like that idea, that it is his music that lets him keep his humanity. Yet don't be surprised that there is limited focus on the musical aspect of this movie.

Also I would be amiss if I did not quickly mention Adrien Brody. He did a respectable job, and I don't know who else was nominated that year but he did win Best Actor. So it is worth watching just for that.

Overall: Watch this film, and appreciate why it is different than the others of its genre. If you get a little bored around the middle just keep at it. Films like these are what makes the industry important to our history, they tell stories that should never be forgotten. Like Spillzman's music, they help us remember our humanity.