Making it real

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2003)

The Pianist is a masterpiece film--not only because it brilliantly depicts the stark reality of war--a particular war--and the persecution, specifically, of Jews in Warsaw. For me, this film attains the universal by way of the particular. It continually pulled me into its present moment and the challenges confronting the characters, making me question myself--who would I be in these circumstances--the brave one? the broken one? Would I steal food from my neighbours, ask another to her risk her life for me, fight back, give up?
The Pianist reminded me of my essential sadness about the kind of world we've made. It torqued up the tension I, and perhaps most people, possess but effectively evade, much of the time. That tension comes from hoping for something better, wishing that the best of who we are will pull through the worst circumstances--just as we hope for Szpilman to survive. I don't particularly like being made to bleed a little, but I am grateful to Polanski for rendering me a little more real and awake.