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The middle is drawn out, but we have Polanski at his best with a strong narrative, impeccable casting and a powerful screenplay, writes Ervell E. Menezes
Wladislaw Szpilman (Brody) is the pianist who is the focal point of the film but the earlier footage deals with how his family, father, mother, one brother and two sisters face the wrath of the Nazi torture mechanism as they deal lethal blows to these hapless individuals. A study in contrast, his siblings react to the scant torment and ridicule in different ways, especially his brother Henrik but they are all grist for the torture mill and their fate seems inevitable. "You are an artiste, you keep people’s spirits high," Szpilman is told by one of the Nazis and because of that he comes upon some benefits. Dorota (Emilia Fox) is another musician to whom Szpilman is attracted to but the ravages of war prevent them from getting any closer. That they meet later on is purely academic but this physically weak and mentally na`EFve artiste has to endure much before the war ends. The sets are beautifully recreated, the bombing and devastation pulsatingly put across and the anecdotes of grief spine chilling. A mother keeps wailing "I don’t know why I did it," and we later realise that she muffled her child to death to prevent her from screaming. Jews shot without compunction or gravely humiliated are the order of the day but the sequences pierce the soul like an iron. True one may argue that the Jews despite this holocaust are known to commit even worse atrocities against the Palestinians after that but still one cannot condone the dastardly deeds of the Nazis who did not fail to rub in the Jewish penchant for usury. May be the middle is rather drawn out, but we have Polish-born filmmaker Polanski at his best with his strong narrative, his impeccable casting and powerful screenplay. Adrien Brody is brilliant in the lead role living every moment of it. It is a part that could have been ruined by overacting but he rightly restrains himself. The power of music comes across strongly. Based on a book by Wladislav Szpilman, it is the painstaking detail that is so graphically recorded. It may be depressing, but then war is just that, and it is in depicting man’s utter inhumanity to his fellow men that is its strongest asset. Good cameos by Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman and Emilia Fox makes The Pianist a truly unforgettable experience.
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SET
in Warsaw during the height of the Nazi occupation and atrocities of
World War II, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist is a
heart-wrenching story of that monster called war and how one
individual fights against overpowering odds to keep his body and soul
together hiding in the ruins of Warsaw. It won the Golden Palm and a
handful of Oscars including Best Director (Polanski) and Best Actor (Adrien
Brody).