The Pianist, a good film about the Second World War

Rating: Null/10 (14 May 2004)

There are a lot of Second World War survival films which show the experience of Jews, but The Pianist is different. The Pianist tells the story of how Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew pianist and composer, survived the Holocaust by hiding in Warsaw, with help from the Polish resistance. Although Szpilman does all he can to save himself, he is not a hero because he would have died without good luck and the kindness of a few non-Jews (Remember the unexpected assistance he receives from a German officer, a Nazi music lover, in the final days of the German occupation). So much of the film concerns this character alone, so it seems emotionally distanced. However, we are reminded of the war, the brutality of the Nazis and a lot of atrocities, and we also learn something new from the perspective of a unique survivor. The horrors of that experience contrasts with the delicacy of the music which performs the pianist.
I like realistic films, and I think The Pianist is an important one because it put us in the Warsaw Ghetto, presenting a devastating moment in history that we, fortunately, did not live in. This film makes you think about war and its consequences. The fact that Wladyslaw Szpilman survived is not a victory when all his loved ones died. Please, just think about the suffering, the impotence and the grief of this man. Everybody could be a pianist.