The film The Pianist is really a masterpiece. The music is marvelous. The story is as follows, and was inspired by a true story. A talented Polish Jewish pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, remarkably played by Adrien Brody , lives in Warsaw on the eve of the Second World War, with his family. The explosions devastate the city. Germany threatens
Poland. When the Szpilmans hear on the radio that the English and French go to war against the Nazis, Szpilman’s parents, sisters end brother commemorate. But the viewer knows that is not finished- it’s a long way to finish. German troops invade
Poland. Many things are forbidden for the Jews: enter in the parks or in the restaurants and sit on the benches, for instance, or walk on the sidewalk. They must wear an emblem on the right sleeve, representing a Star of David; and are mistreat. They are evicted from their houses and forced to move to the ghetto. Finally, after weeks of hunger and bad treatment, they are gathered in a court, and wait until the trains arrive. They don’t know it, but theses trains will take them directly to death camps. The pianist, saved by the policeman he knew, is separated from his family. He wanders about the ghetto, desperate, and, thanks to a friend of him that was hidden in the ghetto, manages to get a job as worker on a construction site. Then, he managed to escape from the ghetto and his hidden by one of his friends who is not Jewish. He sees from the room where he is the rebellion of the ghetto of Warsaw, and the revolt of
Warsaw. A woman discovers Wladyslaw and tries to denounce him, but he escape and meet another friend, who offers him shelter. When the building where he is hidden is attacked, he has to run away, and he finally ends up in a destroyed house, where he survives with difficulty, trying desperately to find food. This is where a German officer (Wild Hosenfeld, played by Thomas Kretschmann) discovers him. But, fascinated by Szpilman ability as a pianist, he spares his life and brings him food. When the Russian penetrate in Warsaw, the officer leaves the city. For Szpilman the life becomes normal again, he plays again the piano on the Polish radio. The german officer is captured by the Russian, and dies in a soviet prisoner-of-war camp.There is a scene I found particularly atrocious. Some SS soldiers, wanting to have fun, go to the ghetto and enter in an apartment at the third floor. They ask the occupants to stand up, and as the grandfather can’t (because he is in a wheelchair), they throw him from the window. Then, they go downstairs and, when they arrive in the road they force the poor people to run. They take potshots at them, killing the dozen of persons they entered the flat. After the “entertainment”, they leave, running over the ones that survived.Another film about the Second World War and the holocaust that I liked and that I recommend is Schindler’s List.
