I am a Roman Polanski fan. I feel his style of directing is superb. If you have ever watched Rosemary’s Baby, The Ninth Gate, and Chinatown you know that he is versatile in his stories but he also lets one sympathize so well with his characters. The camera angles and the effects he uses in his films only add to the emotions one feels when seeing a Polanski film. The Pianist is the best film he has made to date. He is a Holocaust survivor himself, so I am sure this picture was part of his own healing process as well as paying homage to Wladyslaw Szpilman.
Casting: Adrien Brody is Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish man who happens to be an international celebrity playing the piano. He is the main character. There are others that play supporting roles, but the entire film centers around him. Adrien does an excellent job in his role. He is a great actor with delivering his lines, as well as having one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen. When you look into his eyes, it is as if you are seeing into his soul. He deserved his Academy Award.
Plot:The plot was simple, yet so rich. Living during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw was once thing. Surviving it was another. First, Wladyslaw loses his family. He is spared getting on the train to the concentration camps by his connections. Then he has to survive the Warsaw Ghetto. He makes connections with people who can get him put and hide him, but he is always on the run. He can never rest. He must do so many things just to survive. At first he has a network of people to help him. Toward the end, it is his own survival skills and instincts that he must rely upon.
The viewer is entranced by such horrific images. The treatment of other human beings not just by the Nazis, but even among fellow Poles and other Jews shows you human nature, and how animal instincts to survive and turn on one another can happen when faced with such atrocities.
Conclusion:I feel that this film was unique to other films about the atrocities committed among human beings. Polanski showed images that I feel were more shocking than in Schindler’s List because he made you care about the characters. You could almost feel what they were feeling when loved ones were killed or when Wladyslaw Szpilman had to again be on the run. There were no ’’goodies’’ or ’’baddies’’ in this film. Even some of the the Nazi soldiers were humanized in this film. People lost hope on both sides. Toward then end of the film it was evident. You must admire, however, Wladyslaw Szpilman’s will to live and his bravery. I recommend this film with the highest regard for Roman Polanski for making this film and to Wladyslaw Szpilman for having such a strong will to survive.