A mirror to our own conscience

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2003)

Generally, I skim through the user comments on IMDB taking great pleasure in seeing what others have to say about the film I've just seen. Today, though, I feel astonished and disappointed by some of the things I've read.

The holocaust occurred for many reasons; social, economic and political. However, what fuelled it was a colossal failure of the basic human qualities of compassion, empathy and understanding. It's a nauseating paradox, repeated throughout human history, that when people are regarded as fit only for slavery and destruction it is their persecutors who are made truly subhuman by their actions.
I'm not attempting to label the authors of some of the posts here as Nazis or fascists but I am deeply concerned that a film dealing with this issue can provoke such truly thoughtless comments. Of course, it's possible to accuse The Pianist of failing in its ambitions if it cannot convey to every viewer at least a fleeting sympathy with the characters. Perhaps, though, it succeeds by highlighting the lack of comprehension that makes obscenities like the Holocaust possible even today.
Maybe some people viewed the film as simply entertainment, in which case I can see why the plot or characterisation might not be to their liking. The Nazis just keep on behaving like thugs, the Jews sit there and take it and the central character doesn't finally go on a revenge killing-spree, liberating Warsaw single-handed. And getting the girl, of course. If you want formulaic movies with sympathetic heroes and a nice, untaxing storyline there are plenty to choose from. I just don't see how anyone could watch this film without understanding that it's about as close to the truth as it could be without passing into the realm of dramatised documentary. Yes, it is based on a true story and sorry - real life has a habit of occasionally deviating from the popcorn norm.
So, sorry to pick on the following. Genuinely, it's not personal - your comments are simply the most recent.
musidora - If you found it hard to relate to the selfishness of Szpilman perhaps you might consider that many, many Holocaust survivors report an ineradicable guilt, even in the face of all they endured, because they owed their own survival to putting themselves first. For example theft of food in concentration camps was common. What do you think you would do in the same situation if the price of your life, or your child's, were a crust of stolen bread?
kylan-1 - You wrote: `He just stands there with a dumb look on his face and fumbles around' `So whats the big survival story here?'

Seriously, if you were malnourished, cold and being used for slave labour do you think you'd be feeling chipper enough to be a modern-day Spartacus?
jmrex - You wrote: `How can anybody enjoy watching a chronicle of how lacking in spirit these people were? It sickens me.'
It really is hard to understand how a whole people can sometimes kneel before its oppressor, seemingly without putting up a fight. How can people be so passive in such extreme circumstances? How can they just stand by while their neighbour is murdered and quietly wait their turn? Well, the same thing happens every time the human race decides to turn on itself. From Poland to Cambodia to Rwanda you can see it repeated. Plainly, it's something that happens when a society is reduced to its component individuals and the moment of rebellion seems to each an impossibility. If anything is sickening here, it's your comment, jmrex. If you truly find the concept of human despair something inferior to you in some way then let's put another point on the scoreboard for the Nazis. If all you want to do is simply enjoy a film and leave it feeling better than when you entered the cinema then look for something different next time. The audience leaving the screening I saw were subdued and said their goodbyes to one another with choked voices. That doesn't make any of them better people than you but I think it shows a maturity that you haven't yet reached. I wish you well on your journey there - you'll find the view much better.

Bhagwan Thadani - You wrote: `The entire movie was so "outre" that I actually laughed when a German officer pulled out his Luger and shot a Jewess to death for asking "Where are we going?" How ridiculous can this myth of the Jew suffering at the hands of persecutors become?'

Please tell me you're not serious. That you know this really went on. I simply cannot understand how anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Holocaust could really think this an exaggeration or regard it as a `myth.' Perhaps you should find the time to talk to some of the people whose families were reduced to a handful of individuals or even just a sole survivor. Maybe if you heard from someone who was there, still carrying the tattoo on their arm used to mark them like cattle, how their mothers, fathers, siblings and children were murdered you might begin to understand how woundingly misinformed you are. The Jews, gypsies, gays, dissidents and other victims of the Nazis were slaughtered both systematically and capriciously. If your life is worthless to someone with power over you then it is a matter of no consequence all to them to end it for the slightest reason.
While blindness to the suffering of others, whoever and wherever they may be, remains a part of the human condition the subjects of movies like The Pianist will be not only moving but a salutary warning. It could happen to any of us unless we appreciate the lessons history offers.