The Pianist Discussion

[mecha superior]

I consider SCHINDLER'S LIST a masterpiece. Part of that legendary untouchable list which makes up the cream of the crop in the beard's oeuvre. As perfect at what it is trying to do as Raiders, Jaws, Close Encounters, E.T. That shot of mothers realizing their singing children are being taken to the gas chamber, still haunts me to this very day. What a lyrical image of pure evil. Even the controversal end of the film, tears me up every time. It's a great film.

IMHO, THE PIANIST is a better and more harrowing Holocaust picture. It ups the ante, so to speak. There were moments here, where I began to quite literally lose it. A true out-of-body experience, at times this film overwhelmed me with terrible feelings of despair. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it really was like I was gasping for air, being smothered by the horrifying reality that was Polish Jewry during the 1930s,40s. The verisimilitude Polanski accomplished in his staging of the Holocaust is equal to Spielberg's best efforts, and than some. And this time, it's in (desaturated) color, which only adds to the horror of it all. Polanski actually experienced a German occupied Poland as a youth, and every little detail rings true in that sickening it must have happened just like that way.

But isn't that what Spielberg accomplished in Schindler's List as well? Yes, Spielberg crafted "fly on the wall", documentary-like set-pieces, that really put you squarely in some of the most horrifying events in human history. But there really was no jewish audience surrogate in that film. No Jewish character we could relate to, comparable in dramatic heft to an Oskar Schindler or Amon Goeth (The composite Ben Kingsley character was a plot device, so he doesn't count).

The key to "The Pianist" is that it stays on one man....one family. And that makes all the difference. The events in "Schindler's List" are incredibly visceral, but there is also a mild distance, due to the narrative focus shifting from a German opportunist, to a satanic German commandant, to finally, occasional glimpses of the "schindler juden". The "victims" of the story don't truly come alive as full bodied characters. But it's actually understandable why Spielberg decided to go this route, as it serves his method to avoid as much melodrama or T.V. miniseries cliches, as he could. One might easily fall into that kind of trap with this material, which would be a disservice to the subject matter. By structuring his film in this methodical way, Spielberg never got too specific, which allowed the powerful and encompassing "true" event to come alive in all of it's horrifying enormity. Basically, Spielberg wanted to preserve the hugeness of this crime against humanity. He wasn't just making a singular Holocaust story. He was designing it to be The Holocaust story.

In THE PIANIST, you get to know Adrian Brody and his family (all wonderfully cast) as the nightmare begins. As it get's worse......and worse....and even worse, you stay with their point of view the whole time. This makes for a much more agonizing experience for an audience, because Brody becomes YOU. His family is YOUR family. The empathy level is quite staggering. We experience everything from the banal bickering among family members to some of the most evil acts known to mankind. When these detailed nightmare episodes start happening, and accelerating in their horrible intensity, every little detail stings you like it's all happening in real time. You completely empathize with how Brody experiences every detail of the Holocaust. And Polanski's mojo is so "on" (he has really never been better), you begin to react just as Brody reacts in the film. There is no barrier between you and the events in the film.

And I haven't even talked about the film's subtle meditation on artists and their muse. Powerful, affecting stuff which I will not ruin for any of you.

But the piano playing.............<sigh>


BTW, Adrien Brody is heartbreaking in a largely non-verbal role. His battered face will be etched in your psyche forever. I can't imagine him not getting a Best actor nomination for this.

[voltes5]

I'm really looking forward to this film and thank you for that review, mecha. So Brody doesn't have a lot of dialogue? I wasn't expecting that.

[mecha superior]

You'll see what I mean. I mean it's not like he's a mute in the film, but there is some powerful non-verbal acting going on here.

Definitely have to see it again. I think this film could win BEST PICTURE. It's that powerful.

And what about Polanski? Pushing 70, and he's still got it.

[Gandalf´s Father]

That is great Mecha! Can´t wait to see this film. Harry Knowles also loved the film.

[Michael Rabattino]

The trailer for this film....<a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/the_pianist/large.html" target="_blank">this</a> one....I know the opening is Chopin, but after that, what score is that from? From The Pianist itself, or somewhere else?

[Michael Rabattino]

Sad, beautiful, brilliant.

Tied with TTT for #1 of 2002 for me.

I couldn't hold back tears on more than one occasion. Brody deserves an Oscar for this. He won't get it, but he deserves it.

Best picture? Not sure. A nomination, definitely, but i'd be surprised if it won.

More affecting than Schindler's List? Nah. They are both equally affecting, I think. Although, no one story of any person in Schindler's List was as poignant and wrenching as Szpilman's. The fact that this was, at all times, seen through HIS eyes and was HIS struggle makes it even more heartbreaking. The look on his face when he's separated from his family, seeing them for the last time. The scene after he drops the bricks. Going from place to place to survive. The can of pickles.

And at least this didn't have heavy-handed sentimentality, which I love in some instances....most instances....but ultimately, is not always needed. This is one of those times.

All I know is, more people need to see this...right now.

[mecha superior]

Verbal The Brave:
All I know is, more people need to see this...right now.Most definitely.

[DimitriL]

Saw it today...it's just...astonishing. I mean, besides the fact that it's a very noble subject, it's CLEARLY the work of a true grand master. I'm just astonished in the way practically every shot advances the story, tells the story, the way a true master of film should do. Heartbreaking, mesmerizing, and the end with the German...my God. I was weeping like a friggin' baby.

A must see for anyone who says they love film.

[Kevin Matchstick]

This was a good movie, but certainly not a great one. I started to get very tired of the over the shoulder shots. Meaning, since Brody's Szpilman( a character that he plays very well, by the way) is hiding for most of the movie, Polanski has to resort to watching Szpilman watch events transpire way too many times.

[Michael Rabattino]

DimitriL:

A must see for anyone who says they love film.How well-put can a sentence be? Good job. And glad you liked the film.

[Andre Dellamorte]

What I love about this film is how Polanski is able to convey hunger. It seems like a simple thing, but it isn't, and he portrays Brody's struggle for every day things brilliantly. It's also brilliant in how it suckjs you into to the drama, so you never feel like you're getting a condensed history lesson, or a morality play (which is often the problem with this genre).

I loved this film, and not just so Mecha and I could at least agree about one film.

[Michael Rabattino]

I find the most drama in his carrying around of the pickles, even after he drops them and the juice leaks out.

[walter-konkrete]

I have to disagree with some things in the fisrt post. if any film is a fly-on-the wall style portrayal it is the pianist, where the aesthetics and content of the film never allow sentiment or the contrivances of a director trying to put his signature into the movie to seep in.

In this way it is on the opposite spectrum from schindler's list, where spielberg used a lot of very concious techniques to incite emotion in his viewer and a lot of theatrical, cinematic characters and dialogue.

Pianist never tries to convince, it simply displays szpilman's story. The camera is there to show not to tell, the editing is pretty straightforward as are the compositions. dialogue is not "hollywood' or theatric dialogue, in fact it is almost non-existent for large chunks of the film. Music is also sparse and usually form a source within the story.

There's no "oscar moment" speeches, no theatric moment were all szpilman's intimate landscape is spilled out for our benefi, there are only moments of terror and small hope and fear and longing.

This is cinema without manipulation, quite the opposite of Schindler' list, a film which hit me more emotionally than Pianist, but The Pianist is a great work for that very reason, it is the work of a strong visonary (polanski) but it never becomes "his" story it is always szpilman's story.

oh yeah, the art direction and cinematography was iincredible. Brody's performance was magnificent in a physically and mentally arduous rrole...holding so much screen time with no dialogue and conveying unimaginable senstaions of hunger and fear and pain.
this is probaly at #2 0r 3 for the year for me

[DimitriL]

Verbal Awaits Spring Training:
I find the most drama in his carrying around of the pickles, even after he drops them and the juice leaks out.Oh yeah, truly poignant and sad, just a perfect illustration of his state of mind and the horror his world's become.

What's stayed with me the most - besides the encounter with the German officer - is the scene when the father cuts up the caramels for the family, each sliver almost like a final communion. Looking back, it's one of the saddest death knells I've ever seen.

[voltes5]

I saw this film a few days ago, and it has affected me deeply and profoundly.

It's an extremely compelling film that almost felt like a documentary. There's a brutal realism and frank honesty that just managed to weaken me.

I have a strange feeling for this film. It's too much sometimes and I just can't believe that people can be that monstrous and evil. And the way the film explored such themes, it was just painful to watch.

SPOILERS
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Adrien Brody gave a heart-wrenching and commanding performance. He deserves a nomination for his role. You could really feel what it was like in his shoes. He may have escaped the concentration camps, but was his fate any better than his family's? The way he started out as a gentlemanly pianist to a ravished and hungry primal caveman really paralleled the situation his family was in. We didn't have a picture of what had happened to Szpilman's family, but we pretty much saw it in Szpilman's suffering (as well as the kindness of others -- even the kindness of a German -- and good fortune).

After the film, I had felt what it was to have suffered and survived. It's also really painful to realize that this was based on a true account. Brody really presented to us the triumph of the human spirit. He showed us what we will do to survive.

And I can't even put into words the feeling I got when he played that piano in a ravaged home in Warsaw.....
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SPOILERS

I do think that this is a well-made film. The filmmaking is so detached that you do forget that it's only a film. Polanski truly made a very personal and powerful film that I will never ever forget.

[Rex Hudler]

Fantastic movie. Polanski actually succeeded in making a non-sentimental Holocaust movie that isn't one bit less powerful despite not having any horror scenes at Auschwitz or Treblinka. I don't think he really gives a single occasion to cry. It simply is what it is.

I appreciate that there's very little music in this apart from the diegetic piano music. A few cues, but not much more. Long takes, incredible set design. The story's limited point-of-view gives it a really vibrant, personal perspective.

This is turning out to be a pretty great year for movies.

[Tony Ryan]

Amazing.

Powerful.

One shot sums up how fucking great a director can be, how powerful one man can make a film. You see a polish woman run from the Nazis from Brody's window. She gets shot. A few minutes later after Brody plays dead to save himself, we see her again, in the same spot. Polanski lingers for a second.

That's it. That shot right there sealed it for me. He made an extra have a story and a purpose in the simplest way.

This is the best movie of the year (2002, of course). A powerful piece that sticks with you. The focus being on Brody's character makes the film a ride. An experience. He becomes you. It was the most frightening movie I have seen in theaters in a long time. It was Closter phobic. It made me hungry. It made me feel. It was something that I think has been missing from cinema for a while, it was an experience. I came out of the theater with an energy, a feeling that I've never had. It sucked me in for that two and a half hours and made me part of that world.

I guess in the end Polanski made me feel something, and that makes this a masterpiece. As simple as that statement is, it is true.

[shadowrat]

i just saw this movie this weekend, kind of cool to see that it was sold out over in passadena, it was a great film and needs to be seen by a wide audience. it surpasses schinedlers list (which i loved alot) but it didn't affect me the way that life is beautiful did.

but fuck, polanksi is the man. a total head case in real life but his movies rock. the way he made you experiance everything szpilman does as if you were him, the hungar, the issolation, and the powerlessness (don't even know if thats a word.. oh well)

see this movie all of its nominations are well diserved

[ferriferous foodi]

i agree
great film, and flawlessly directed.. masterfully subtle

but what i came away with more than anything was the horrific realization that what happened to the jews of the warsaw ghetto back then is exactly what is happening all over again to the palestinian people today... and that makes me really angry

[Gandalf´s Father]

I finally got to see this. I´m out of words. I have really nothing to add but this movie is a masterpiece. The best WW2 movie ever, better than Schindler´s List, Come and See, Saving Private Ryan, Cross of Iron, Stalingrad and every other I have seen. Definitely the best movie of 2002.

Adrien Brody is phenomenal. Best acting I have seen in years.

***Spoilers***

I cried during one scene. A man in a wheelchair was thrown out through a window. It just broke my heart. Then his family was shot.

[Gist]

This really was an excellent film, although I agree with Walter in that I was underwhelmed emotionally. Sure, the shit going on is heartbreaking stuff, but I was never really driven to tears, which actually disappointed me. There's just this kind of austere, detached feeling that doesn't get to your heartstrings in the way that Schindler's List did...I realize that this was intentional, but the style, although remarkable, wasn't as effective as it could have been. I was looking for a good cathartic cry with The Pianist, and never really got it. Although the scene near the end where Brody's character plays for his unexpected guest was incredibly powerful, poignant stuff.

Brody's slow-burn performance was a double-edged sword for me, though. Maybe a little too understated, perhaps. His perf worked perfectly with the overall vibe of the film, but I wanted to see him emote a little more...Christ knows I would be emoting like a mothertrucker if I were in the situations that our ivory-tickling protagonist were in. For anybody who's seen About Schmidt, you know how moving a simple outburst of emotion can be. Sometimes I just wanted to grab Brody, slap him around a little, and then shake him, screaming "CRY OR SCREAM OR BREAK SOMETHING OR TEAR YOUR HAIR OUT OR SOMETHING, YOU GODDAMN AUTOMATON!".

Bottom line though, is that The Pianist is certainly worthy of its Best Pic nom, although it left my tear ducts with blue balls.

[Gandalf´s Father]

The_Gistmeister:

Brody's slow-burn performance was a double-edged sword for me, though. Maybe a little too understated, perhaps. His perf worked perfectly with the overall vibe of the film, but I wanted to see him emote a little more...Christ knows I would be emoting like a mothertrucker if I were in the situations that our ivory-tickling protagonist were in. For anybody who's seen About Schmidt, you know how moving a simple outburst of emotion can be. Sometimes I just wanted to grab Brody, slap him around a little, and then shake him, screaming "CRY OR SCREAM OR BREAK SOMETHING OR TEAR YOUR HAIR OUT OR SOMETHING, YOU GODDAMN AUTOMATON!".
I know what you mean but this is why Brody worked for me. It was like he was dead mentally. Heartbreaking stuff.

The more I think about this film the more I understand what a great masterpiece it is. The last 70 minutes are just Brody moving from building to building and looking out of the window waiting for the Russians. It never became boring and that is unbelivable. Not many directors could do this. When you watch the film you become Brody. You feel terrible.

What was the budget of this film? The city felt so real and the cinematography is amazing.

And why are there so few replies in this thread. Hasn´t this film gone wide in USA?

[Gist]

Most of my friends and people I know have never even heard of this flick...imagine that. People don't even know it exists, which is a damn shame.

[billz]

Finally this is playing near me. I'm going tomorrow.

[NERV Personnel]

And why are there so few replies in this thread. Hasn´t this film gone wide in USA?

Sadly, while a movie like Bringing Down The House opens on thousands of screens, The Pianist has not been given a wide release. So many people, such as myself, have not been given the chance to see The Pianist yet, and probably wont until it is released on dvd.

[Living Dead Milkman]

The_Gistmeister:
Brody's slow-burn performance was a double-edged sword for me, though. Maybe a little too understated, perhaps. His perf worked perfectly with the overall vibe of the film, but I wanted to see him emote a little more...Sounds to me as if Brody's performance offers a refreshing change of pace from the usual "Look at me!" histrionics today's stars typically resort to to suggest profound emotional turmoil (or what passes for it in the market-tested and -approved "tragedies" churned out of the studio system today).

I'm looking forward to this one probably more than any other major release of the last half-decade.

[Gandalf´s Father]

Movie Geek:
And why are there so few replies in this thread. Hasn´t this film gone wide in USA?

Sadly, while a movie like Bringing Down The House opens on thousands of screens, The Pianist has not been given a wide release. So many people, such as myself, have not been given the chance to see The Pianist yet, and probably wont until it is released on dvd.That is a shame. The Pianist has become one of my favourite movies of all time.

[DrNO]

I thought it was very well done, a rare holocaust film that just shows what happened to the guy, no heavy emotional soundtrack or anything of the like. It seemed kind of scientific, showed everything he went through and didnt throw any metaphors in or anything. Brody's character wasnt glorified at all either he was just a man trying to survive.

[billz]

I saw it tonight:

:confused:

:(

:mad:

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:)

When words just won't do it.