The Pianist

                   The Pianist is based on a true story about a Polish-Jewish pianist who, along with his family, gets forced out of his home and into the Warsaw Ghetto. The movie covers the story of life in the Ghetto, his escape from the Ghetto, and the struggles to survive after he has escaped.

 

Theme One: Torn Identity

                  Throughout The Pianist, Szpilman suffers from a torn identity. He struggles to keep his identity as a Jew because he needs to hide that part of him in order to survive. One time when this is shown is towards the end of the film, when the German soldier gives Szpilman his Nazi jacket. Szpilman wears the jacket and the Russian soldiers who came to liberate Warsaw try to kill him because he appears to be a German. The jacket shows his confusion over how to remain Jewish when he is supposed to be acting like he is on the German’s side. In the end of Szpilman’s story, he is able to regain his identity as a Jew and as a Pole because the war ends.

 

Theme Two: Risk Taking

                  In The Pianist, Szpilman takes a series of risks in order to survive. One major risk he takes is when he trusts the men and women who hide him from the Nazis in several apartments. The men and women could easily turn him in to the Nazis, but Szpilman believes he has a better chance of surviving if he takes the risk. Another great risk that he takes is living in an apartment next to the German apartments because someone could come investigate his apartment and force him back to the Ghetto.

 

Theme Three: The Piano represents hope

                  In The Pianist, the piano represents hope. When Szpilman is forced into the Ghetto, he gets a job in a restaurant to play the piano. Whenever he plays the piano at the restaurant, he gains a little hope and he persists to live another day. When he is hiding in one of his apartments, there is a piano. When he imaginarily plays it, he has hope that the war will end soon and he will survive. He plays it when he is running out of food and he survives until he is brought more food. When the Nazi, Hosenfeld, finds out that Szpilman is a pianist, he decides to help him. The piano helped give Szpilman more hope of survival. If he had not ever played the piano, Hosenfeld would have killed him.

According to the movie, what was the nature of life in London during WWII?

                  The Pianist is actually set in Poland. It shows the constant fear that Polish-Jews had and the hopelessness they had when they were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto.  

 

What was your favorite scene? Why or why not?

                  My favorite scene is the scene where Szpilman arrives at a new apartment to hide. He is told to be as quiet as possible, but when he is left alone, he sees an old, dusty piano. He sits in the chair and you hear piano music playing, but when the camera pans down to his fingers, they are hovering above the right keys to make the music. I like how the music is just playing inside his mind because it shows his desperateness for playing the piano, but the fear and knowing that he will be caught if he actually plays.

 

Do you recommend the film to others? Why or why not? What did you like about the film? What did you not like about the film?

            I would recommend this film to others. The scenes in the Ghetto are really realistic because the director, Roman Polanski, lived in the Kraków Ghetto as a child. The movie doesn’t pretty up the number of deaths. They show people dying from hunger, illness, gunshot, or being taken and never seen again. One thing that was realistic about this movie was that Szpilman wasn’t a hero. Often in WWII movies, the characters are depicted as heroes, but in The Pianist, Szpilman focused on surviving and relied on others for support.