The Pianist is a 2002 film that received the Golden Palm Branch at the Cannes Film Festival. Also, three Oscars were awarded to this amazing film, including for the best directing, as well as the best actor.
The film is based on real events. It describes the story of pianist Vladislav Shpilman.
A plot close to the heart
The fate of the great man during the Second World War is narrated by The Pianist (film). Critics say that at first glance the film directed by Roman Polansky seems impassive and cold. However, it is not. The story told in the film is as objective as a person who personally experienced the horrors of war and the Holocaust could do. This also applies to the main character, who is the Polish musician Vladislav Shpilman, and Roman Polansky himself. This director, who achieved world-class fame, being at a respectable age, decided to tell the world about what he himself knew firsthand. He by the same miracle escaped the tragic path of his parents, who died in a concentration camp. Polanski managed to get out of the Krakow ghetto and was hiding from the Germans in the village.
Book of a Polish musician
The film “The Pianist”, reviews of which testify to the keen interest of the audience in the narrated plot, tells the story of the life of Vladislav Shpilman in Warsaw during the period 1939-1945. It was the time of the German occupation of Poland.
Director Roman Polanski made his film based on the memoirs of a famous composer and musician. The main character, played by Adrien Brody, had a hard time. His parents, brother and two sisters died at the hands of the Nazis. Lucky only Vladislav. At first, a Jewish policeman saved him from death, then a Polish woman, and at the very end of the war a German captain.
After Warsaw was liberated, Spielman was still under stress for a long time. Guilt for the death of loved ones did not leave him. To somehow recover, Vladislav, on the advice of friends, began to write a book. In it, he talked about all the events experienced. The musician’s memoirs were written almost immediately after the defeat of the Nazi Germany and published in 1946. In those years, the book was called “City Death”.
Vladislav Shpilman managed to return to his musical work. He gave concerts, was the head of the music editorial office of state radio, and created the famous Warsaw Quintet. On his initiative, music festivals began to be organized in Sopot. Spielman spent all the post-war years in Warsaw. In this city, at the age of 88, he died.
In 1998, the second edition of Spielmann's memoirs was published in Germany. The book was called The Pianist. A year later, these memoirs were published in the United States, and after - translated into eight languages. This allowed the memoirs to arouse great interest of readers around the world, from Spain to Japan, and become a real bestseller. According to this book, the famous film director Roman Polansky also shot the film “The Pianist”.
The everydayness of the narrative
What reviews does the film “Pianist” receive? Many viewers expected something nervous, exciting, disturbing and frightening from the famous director of mystical films, thrillers and horror films. However, the film “The Pianist” receives reviews of a completely different plan. The beginning of the plot seems ordinary and routine. It is deprived not only of expression, but also of exaggeration.
The director decided to shoot his picture in color. Thus, he violated the tradition of chronicled black-and-white cinema. But, despite this artistic device, Polanski managed to achieve the everydayness of the story, which was given to him seemingly without much effort. And the Pianist film amazes the audience. Reviews from critics indicate that it was everyday life that turned out to be the most terrible in the tape. Indeed, a plot unfolds on the screen in which daily, in a hurry, without giving any explanations to anyone and, as it were, between things, some people in a German uniform or a special uniform beat, humiliate, and even shoot others. And the main reason for such cruelty lies in the fact that they come across the eyes of Jews. This excites the soul of “The Pianist” (film, 2002). Reviews of critics say that the everydayness of the tape affects the minds of the audience much more than a demonstration of pathos of passion for the total extermination of unhappy Jews.
Film realities
The well-known film directed by Roman Polansky tells about one of the best Polish pianists of the thirties of the 20th century. Vladek - the main character of the film, was doing his favorite thing until the time when the Nazis did not occupy the territory of his country. Since that time, the life of Spielmann and all Polish Jews has changed.
They were placed in the Warsaw ghetto, forbidden to work, constantly humiliated and forced to wear special distinctive bandages. All these scenes were very vividly reflected by The Pianist (film, 2002). Reviews of critics say that the director did everything without embellishment and without busting. He showed quite accurately the attitude of the Germans towards the Jews and the way the Nazis treated them. Such a reflection of reality was not yet in any film about the war.
Wonderful salvation
After some time, the Jews began to be sent to a concentration camp, from which there was no return. Vladislav Shpilman at the last moment managed to save his old friend. Film critics note the astounding frame of the film. In it, a sobbing musician leaves the train, which takes his family to a camp, from where people will never get out alive.
Spielman returned to the deserted Warsaw ghetto. For several hours he had to hide under the stage of a restaurant, in which he had recently earned a living. Together with a friend Shpilman gets to the construction site. Here, under the supervision of the Nazis, the musician had to work as a laborer. Once on the street, Vladislav saw a familiar woman. Being a fan of his talent, she and her husband helped Shpilman to escape from the construction site.
Apartment wandering
The woman who saved Vladislav rented an apartment for him in the German district, whose windows overlooked the Warsaw ghetto. Here Shpilman observed the course of the uprising taking place in him. Once a man came to the apartment and told that the friends who rented him a house were arrested. He advised the musician to change his location. However, Spielman did not do this. He remained in the apartment, but there was no one to come to him and bring food. In search of edible Vladislav began to rummage around the cabinets and accidentally dropped a lot of dishes on the floor. This sound attracted the attention of a neighbor. After all, she believed that the apartment was empty. Vladislav collected his things and in the evening he slowly went out into the street. He miraculously managed to escape from the neighbor who was waiting for him, screaming loudly, “Zhid! Jew!"
Thanks to the fact that Shpilman is a national celebrity, fans again rent him an apartment. This accommodation is located opposite the German commandant’s office and the hospital.
However, fame did not protect the musician from betrayal. Vladislav’s friends raised money for him, but a man escaped with them, who was supposed to bring him food.
Unexpected help
Vladislav fell ill with jaundice and was left in an empty apartment without medicine and help. In a half-dead state, a woman with her husband discovers it. The couple hastily called a doctor, but they themselves were forced to leave the country. A few days later, the German commandant's office was attacked by partisans. To suppress the uprising, the Nazis brought in tanks, one of which fired a shell into the house where the musician was. Shpilman miraculously escaped death and hid in one of the buildings of the empty ghetto. There he found a can of canned cucumbers, but could not open it because of weakness.
Vladislav decided to look for a tool and, wandering around the building, accidentally stumbled upon a German. He was peacefully disposed and, having learned that the person he met was a pianist, asked him to play a piece of music. Spielman played Chopin.
In the building where the musician was hiding, the Germans set up a new headquarters. Vladislav had to hide in the attic. Here the German began to bring bread and jam. He brought a can opener.
Later the headquarters was evacuated. The German came to say goodbye. He handed the musician a bag of food and, already turning to the door, looked at the frozen Vladislav, wrapped in dirty rags. He felt sorry for the pianist and gave Spielman his overcoat.
Death of the savior
At the very end of the film, the Warsaw ghetto was liberated by Soviet troops. At the same time, soldiers captured the Germans remaining in it. The officer who helped Shpilman also got behind the barbed wire. The battered German tried to speak with one of the Poles. He shouted out his surname, but the interlocutor did not hear her. The Pole conveyed the conversation with the German Shpilman. He arrived at the camp, but already found no one there. Unfortunately, Vladislav did not know the name of his savior, and therefore could not help him.
At the end of the film, viewers learned that the German Wilhelm Hosenfeld, thanks to whom the Polish musician survived, died in a Soviet camp in 1952.
The behavior of the protagonist
Many critics note that in the film “The Pianist” the main character is presented not so much as a direct participant in the events, but as a witness. Shpilman watches all the events taking place a little from the side. According to the director, he is a kind of authorial intermediary. Here, some film critics draw an analogy of the protagonist with a camera that captures everything that gets into its lens on the film. And this is not once emphasized by the director in the foreshortenings he chooses. So, for example, shots when Vladislav observes what is happening “ordinary” horror through the silk in the window or through a narrow opening. This is especially pronounced in scenes where Shpilman has to hide in illegal apartments.
In the last third of the film, the pianist is almost alone. And contrary to the seemingly quite reasonable arguments that he is no longer a tenant, he nevertheless strives to survive. He is like Robinson Crusoe, located on a desert island. Vladislav clings to his life with all his might, believing that he does not have the right to leave this world ahead of time. And this faith is given to him by music. It is the art from which the pianist was excommunicated that fills him with vitality.
Music
The protagonist of the film “The Pianist” goes through a kind of torture. It is expressed in weaning him from music. This is especially pronounced in the scene, when after a long break Shpilman, finally, was near the piano. However, he cannot play for reasons of conspiracy. The pianist has to finger through the air without touching the keys. But in his imagination (and behind the scenes) the works of Frederic Chopin sound. According to viewers and film critics, the rescue of Vladislav did not come at a time when Warsaw was occupied by Soviet troops. This happened a little earlier. The musician felt life when a German officer asked to play for him.
The music from the film “The Pianist” helps the director Roman Polansky to emphasize the idea that staying in this world in extreme situations is very difficult, but possible if a person has a high mission in his work. The film "The Pianist" is not about the art of survival. She talks about survival through art.
Cast
Not only thanks to the work of a talented director, he received numerous awards “The Pianist” (film, 2002). The actors who played in it clearly reflected the main idea of ​​Roman Polyansky. Especially viewers and critics celebrate the game of Adrien Brody. He talentedly walked Shpilman’s entire military path, perfectly transforming in 2.5 hours from a fatal, fashionably dressed musician to a ragged woman, who was run wild with fear and trembling from the cold, trying to open a jar of cucumbers accidentally found with dirty nails.
No less talented was the game of other actors who starred in the film: Thomas Kretschman (captain Hosenfeld), Frank Finlay (father of Shpilman), Maureen Lipman (mother of Shpilman),
Emilia Fox and many others.
Beautiful story of an Italian director
The 1998 film “The Pianist” is also associated with the world of music. In his story, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore spoke about the amazing story of a man who was found as a baby on the first day of the twentieth century in a box of lemons on the Virginia steamboat. The boy spent his life at sea. He grew up on an ocean liner flying between Europe and America.
The director named his film Legend of the Pianist. After all, its plot tells the viewer about how the main character, who had never been ashore, somehow learned to masterfully play the piano and began to entertain the audience by participating in a restaurant orchestra. His life and related amazing stories turned into a beautiful fairy tale.
A very interesting tape is The Legend of the Pianist. Reviews of the critics' film suggest that the plot literally shakes the audience and attracts their attention to a person who has never stepped ashore in his life. The main character found his calling in music, which is dictated by the sound of waves. Already in early childhood, he began to produce such virtuoso parts on the piano that the people on the ship applauded his talent. The guy has such amazing hearing, musical memory and a sense of rhythm that it more than compensates for his ignorance of notes and lack of musical education.
Judging by the reviews of the audience, the film does not leave anyone indifferent. It surprises and inspires, and also makes you smile. Cinema is unusual and breaks our established stereotypes. So everyone should see it.