Morally ambiguous

Rating: 4/10 (11 August 2003)

Seeing the Pianist movie really bothered me, partly because 10 years after Schindler's List, it seems like so much less of a movie. It's not groundbreaking. The production quality isn't better. The leading man acts with a deer-in-headlights expression.
But I was mostly bothered by the anti-hero Szpilman. He's a selfish person, concerned only with his own survival. Other people give him a lot of assistance, not because he deserves it, but because he's talented. Is this good? I don't know. It seems good that the people of Poland risked and sacrificed much to protect a gifted musician through the Holocaust. But I don't find Szpilman likable. Especially after reading "1952" at the close of the movie -- I just wanted to bop him in the nose what a jerk.
It also bothers me that Hollywood -- or rather, the Academy -- seems to overreward piano playing characters. Look at the movies the pianist, the piano, shine. You want to win an oscar...play the piano!