Review of "The Pianist"
A cynical way of looking at "The Pianist" is that its a clever and sureshot attempt by Roman Polanski to put himself in contention for Oscars. Given the odds against Polanski winning awards in America this looks plausible. Witness the success achieved by Spielberg with Schindler's List in bagging the Best Director award that he craved so much. However The Pianist is no cheap attempt to sidestep Polanski's legal troubles nor was it made with awards in mind. Rather it is based on a true account of Wladyslaw Szpilman's life during Nazi occupation of Poland. While Schindler's List deals mainly with the Krakow ghetto, The Pianist is based in Warsaw where the Jews actually mounted an ultimately unsuccessful armed struggle against the Germans.

The fate of Jews under Nazis and the horrors of holocaust are subjects that have been dealt with ad nauseum. But The Pianist is different in its own way and needs to be told. Szpilman is a silent witness to the destruction wrought not just on Warsaw's Jewish community but also on the city in five years of Nazi occupation. Szpilman and his family go through the horrors of ghettoisation and then Szpilman is separated from his family when they are deported (almost certainly to their deaths). Szpilman slips into the ghetto again and plays a part in helping Jews who are arming themselves and then slips out and is constantly on the run. Almost the entire story is told through the eyes of Szpilman. However it is doubtful whether the movie would have succeeded so much if Polanski had stuck rigidly to Szpilman's account which is essentially a journal. Polanski embellishes the story with his own experiences and this elevates the movie to a different level. Several scenes stand out:

Early in the movie when the city is already under occupation but the Jews have not yet been ghettoised, Szpilman is witness to a man trying to grab a can of soup from an old lady. The can falls down and soup spills onto the road. The man falls on all fours and starts licking the soup. Along with Szpilman, the audience feels a momentary twinge of pity mixed with disgust that a human being can be reduced to such desperation. By the end of the movie Szpilman is reduced to a similar state of mind and we are left feeling helpless.

When Szpilman escapes from deportation to concentration camp, he starts running away from the railway yard. The Jewish guard (who is helping him) snaps at him "Don't run" and Szpilman walks out of the yard as nonchalantly as possible. This is so realistic and so beautifully done

The initial scenes, particularly Szpilman's brief encounters with Dorota are refreshing and radiate a picture of happiness and health. This provides such a stark contrast to later scenes when Szpilman is alone and is constantly on the run and emaciated.

Music plays an important part throughout the film and is the motivation behind Szpilman's quest for survival. Szpilman's passion for music saves him during the final days of the war. One of the most touching scenes is where Szpilman plays in front of the German officer (Captain Hosenfeld) to convince him that he (Szpilman) is a pianist. But it also helps Szpilman reconnect with his past and keep alive his hope that once the war was over, things would return to normal.

One of the chief virtues of the film is that Szpilman is alone during much of the film but we hardly feel it. Poalnski has also avoided typecasting - there are good and bad Jews and good and bad Poles. Germans with the exception of Captain Hosenfeld are pure evil.

Adrien Brody has done a wondeful job. His is a subtle, nuanced performance and captures the spirit of the role more by changes in appearance than by theatrics. Brody lost about 30 lbs for the part and his commitment shows till the very end.

The Pianist is a wonderful story about humanism and the power of the human spirit and music. Szpilman's determination to survive in the face of dauning odds and great personal loss shows the value of human life and why we should never fritter it away nor underestimate human will.