Escaping War is Easy, Survival isn't. Review on The Pianist Movie

’’One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.’’

-- Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976), Autobiography (1977)

At one point in the movie, the pianist asks his friend to help him out of the prison. The friend replies him back escaping from the prison was easy, but it was survival which would be tougher. This just about sums up the whole movie – Survival. The movie is a brilliant rendition of one man’s quest for survival, his sole determination to survive the holocaust and go about his life. Yet, the movie is not without its flaws, and these are the flaws which make the movie a very good movie, but not a masterpiece.

THE PIANIST

The Pianist is the true story about Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous pianist of Poland. The movie takes place in Warsaw, the Jew district of Poland and the proceedings from the beginning of the world war II in 1939 at Warsaw. The Pianist tells the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who is a Jew and undergoes the horror of the holocaust. Slowly after the Nazi invasion, their family is reduced to utter misery. The are sent to the infamous Warsaw ghetto where around 360000 Jewish people were held under one area. Things go worse then on, and the family is forced to go to the concentration camp. However with his misfortune or luck (whatever you call it), his friend from the German camp pulls him out and spares his life.

From then on, the movie focuses entirely on his desire to see it through. His desire to see through the war and survive. I wouldn’t really divulge more than this of the movie because it would spoil the effect of the movie. The pianist does survive to tell his story.

DIRECTION, ACTING

Roman Polanski is often considered one of the best directors in Hollywood. He was offered “Schindler’s List to direct, which he refused. His choice of making this movie was more of trying to show what he went through as a child. He is himself a victim of the holocaust and survived the Nazi camps. His mother died in the camps, and his father fled from the war. His wife was also murdered by some cult group. Why am I telling you this? - Because, I think for this very reason, he is able to direct the movie brilliantly. He shows the utter inhumane treatment given to Jews by the Nazis and Germans. He is able to convey the horrors of war in its fullest extent and present it to the audience to sink it in. The lack of music in the movie itself allows the audience to sink the horrifying effects of war on him. He really deserved the Oscar for the best director for the movie. He gets the best from Adrian Brody as well – he completely deserved the best actor for the simple reason that his competitors this year were not as strong. The cinematography is simply first rate and gives full justice in brining out the horrifying times of the war.

Some Brilliant Scenes

There are couple of amazing scenes in this movie. Here are just a few of them. I have tried not to give away the context or where they come in the movie.

• The Pianist First performance and the scene afterward. Well lets say, it’s the first scene of the movie!

• The Pianist’s family sitting on the platform waiting for the train.

• The Pianist’s family witnessing the killing of another Jew by Nazis from a building window – amazing direction.

• The Pianist’s confrontation with a German Officer and the scenes afterwards.

• The scene where a German Officers chooses Jews at random and shoots them.

• The scene where the camera moves from the wall to show the destruction of the ghetto.

• Pianist’s survival with a disease in front of a hospital which he cannot go into because it’s a German hospital.

THE FLAWS

The Pianist for all its brilliance is a film with flaws – That too with big flaws. Now the big question is – was this how the true story too went or is it just in the movie. Throughout the movie, we see the pianist just trying to survive. Why? We don’t know. Just for survival? Eventually towards the end, I started pitying the pianist and hoped that he would die instead of living such a miserable life. His life constantly deteriorates and why he ever chooses to survive such humiliation and disgrace is something which I didn’t understand at all.

Secondly, the pianist never really acknowledges anybody’s help in him surviving. His surviving the holocaust had a lot to do with his friends and friend’s friends help to hide and make him live. Yet throughout the movie, he never seems to reciprocate them with any kind words at all. Instead, the pianist’s just simple aim of survival goes on and on. The pianist’s let go of his parents at the station is all too simple. He makes a feeble attempt to contact his family and then leaves them off at their own will. He never even makes an attempt to find out what happened to his family.

Thirdly, the Pianist never really feels anything for anyone. His is never effected by any other horror surrounding him. Probably that is what the director tried to convey in telling that his life was a misery enough for him to even think about others. However I did wish that at least somewhere the pianist tries to show emotions to his surroundings – sadly it never happens in the movie. The movie gets too involved in trying to show his loneliness and desperation and thus leaves out the emotion of the surroundings.

FINALLY…

Irrespective of the flaws which I thought of above, The Pianist is a deeply moving, brilliantly made, and partly disturbing movie. The movie has lots of gross and harsh scenes, but the matter requires him to show such disturbing scenes in the movie. Those very scenes signify the true horror of war – something our poor Iraqi friends too must be feeling right now. Its not about escaping the war that is difficult, its about surviving the war that is even more difficult. Roman Polanski delivers a strong film, though not quite in genre of “life is beautiful” or “Schindler’s List”. The movie’s message in today’s times about the horror of war is very effective. Every person in favor of ''liberation'' and ''war'' should give this movie a look and realize what wars can do. Rather, how much wars can do.

”Escaping War is Easy, Surviving it isn’t”