Review : After watching illogical melodramas like MPKDH and other miserable movies like CHALTE CHALTE and SAATHIYA which claimed to show us the problems that a couple faces after marriage, THE PIANIST was heavenly, with its realistic and challanging problems that a pianist faces during a war! I felt I could do with this rather than watching mundane lives and problems of the ordinary upper middle class society which is what movies like CC offered! What makes THE PIANIST so special is that it was a real life story and that too shown with least amount of exaggration, brilliant execution of a strong script and opting for a fantastic actor who played the protagonist!
THE STORY...
The film shows us how a jew pianist struggles to survive when Germany attacks Poland!..this is what the story is all about. The different incidents that are shown like getting the jews out of the city and making them wear tag-belts while outside their house, killing them well, simply because they are jews etc etc create the foundation of the script!...it basically deals with the illtreatment that the jews had to go through during the war time and how this guy survives through the war when hundreds and thousands are dying day andd night! It shows his passion for life and music and his will power to live even in the most difficult and adverse circumstances, and this passion that is shown is what makes you watch this brilliant narration of a real life drama! The film also, softly and with a lot of subtelty leaves behind a message that not all jews and germans were villians!..They way they show the German solider’s sympathy and help for Waldy the pianist when he is in the hiding, makes u sympathise with the Germans too and insted of hating the Germans you hate the concept of War, not a perticular race of humanity!
THE DIRECTION, TECHNECALETIES...
The director has done a marvalous job and needs a big applause because, not once has he lost the grip of the story and makes you glued to the screen! His execution of certain scenes is absolutely fantastic and there is no trace of confusion in thaught! The Music, sets, costumes camera work etc are all brilliant, actually perfect!
SOME MEMORABLE SCENES...
This is the most shocking scene...once a few German soliders enter the jew boundries and order everyone to stand up, a old man can apparantly coz he is in a wheel chair and thus they take him to the gallery and throw him down 3 floors with the wheel chair! The way this scene is taken SHOCKS you out of your wits!
When the older lot of jews are made to sleep and are shot one by one in their heads! When he gets to the last one and does not shoot for a while you can see the vulnerability, tension and mixed emotions of ’is he gonna spare me?’ question mark on his face!...this scene makes you cry!
When Waldy goes to his formar girlfriend’s house to hide and asks her if he can have a piece of bread because he has not eaten for days!
Waldy is hiding in a flat where there is a piano. He has been strictly instructed to make the least possible noise in order to not cause suspicion and thus he cannot play the piano but he cant resist and thus plays it without touching the keys..this scene was fantastic.
The confrontation between Waldy and the German solider in the end and the latter helping him by giving him food when he sees how hungry he is.
THE PERFORMANCES..
ADRIAN BROODY: All words of praise in all the languages are not going to be enough to applaud his performance.He was absolutely stupendous! He gave right expressions at the right time and has the most versatile body language one can ever have! He has a sensitive face and does look like an artist, a pianist! He gave a maginficant performance and I am glad he got that well deserved oscar! The rest of the cast were superb too!
Cheers!
Comments are welcome!