THE PIANIST

directed by ROMAN POLANSKI, 2002
The Dukes, Moor Lane, Lancaster
Tuesday 25 January 2005

A harrowing, finely-made and vitally important film

Many words have been written about so many aspects of The Pianist by Roman Polanski, so anything I write can hardly add to the many resources in books and magazines and on the internet. Like Polanski himself, I can only respond to what I saw.

Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski was born Raimund Liebling to a Polish heritage in Paris in 1933, but the family was forced to flee France three years later on account of the rising tide of anti-Semitism. They returned to his father's native Krakow. Roman's mother, Bula Katz, was half Jewish and died, heavily pregnant, in the gas chambers at Auschwitz during WWII. The young Roman was later educated at the Lodz Film School in Poland from 1954 to 1959. Roman Polanski left Poland in 1963.

As a Pole by birth and heritage, Polanski would have been very closely involved with the subject-matter and background of the Nazis' treatment of the Jews in Poland. It was only as he approached his seventieth year that he elected to address the issues which would become central to this late, masterly work.

True to life
The film, then, is an adaptation of a true-life story, the autobiography of concert pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, who was in his late twenties as World War II broke out. We see him, his family and their home, their ordinary, middle-class way of life in the city, as slowly but inexorably the heightening political tensions make things more and more difficult for the city's Jewish community.

We see the minor brawls and beatings-up in the city, and then, as the political pressures mount, the Ghetto is created. From this point onwards the descent towards hell and the moves to the death camps gain momentum. But young Wladyslaw is a remarkable man – quite apart from his musical ability which buys him and his family some time with the Nazis and the collaborators. He somehow manages to get himself out of the way of the oppressors' ruthless onslaughts, sometimes with luck, sometimes with assistance - and from some unlikely quarters.

It is often said that one makes ones own destiny. That is true for many but, helped along they way, it is clear that Wladyslaw never for one moment gave up, lost hope, or let his courage sap away. He was beaten and hounded like the rest, some of whom ‘turned the other cheek', but his own spirit was never broken. Maybe he derived some strength from his commitment to his art – or maybe his faith or family; it is hard to know.

The story follows Wladyslaw's escapades – no, that is too light a term - his ability to survive on the bombed streets and in ruined buildings on barely a crust and with puddle-water. These extreme experiences test and push his physical and mental resources to the utmost, way beyond what most of us will ever know. Or ever wish to know.

There is resolution and catharsis as the Russians finally liberate Warsaw in 1944, five years after the Nazi invasion of Poland, and after Wladyslaw had spent two and a half years on the run and living rough. Wladyslaw is once again free – to live, to play the piano and of course, to write. His life story followed in 1946, though it was not translated into English until 1999. He died aged 88, in July 2000, in Warsaw.

Tension and drama – without mawkishness
The tension, fear and dramatic narrative never let up during the film's two and a half hours - it didn't seem that long at the time. The film is realistically and vividly shot, and with a convincing eye for and sense of contemporary period detail. The viewer is quickly taken right into the heart and mind of the young hero, his family, his race and into the beleaguered city as its destruction proceeds relentlessly apace.

Polanski is a past master with the camera, and well renowned for his clear and lucid shots. Intimate close-up, descriptive and reflective pan shots, distance and panorama all contributing to the visual narrative. Colour was, as colour is in many parts of Poland even today, used sparingly.

Another important facet of the film is the total absence of any cheap sentimentality. The story is told coolly, objectively and clearly – a rare achievement with subject-matter of this nature.

Music, screenplay and casting
But Polanski, having worked in cinema for almost fifty years, is a master of his craft, and knows how to tell a story, make it look well and all the usual techniques of a master director. The film has all that and more; not least the wonderful music.

For this, the choice of Chopin was obvious. Along with the present Pope, Frydryk Chopin (1810 – 1849) is a national hero and his music is all but inescapable in the Polish media. I have rarely been as moved by music in a film as I was by this (Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice is perhaps one parallel), and masterly handling of sound is a rare skill these days when nearly every churned-out movie one sees has far too much music.

Screenplay was by British veteran Ronald Harwood. Casting, too was excellent. Maureen Lipman and Albert Finney were among a largely Polish cast headed by the excellent Adrien Brody, who not only looked but moved, spoke and played the piano as if he were Szpilman himself. This achievement was honoured by the Oscar for Best Lead Actor in 2003.

Honoured by Oscars, BAFTAs and more
And if Brody's fine performance was driven from the heart, some have further said that Polanski's direction was inspired by his own personal, family and national-cultural experiences. Be that as it may, at the same ceremony, Polanski collected the Oscar for Best Director, and Ronald Harwood that for Best Adapted Screenplay.

That was not the only honour the film has notched up: The Pianist won the 2003 BAFTA Award for Best Film and Polanski took the Best Director Award too. Before that, recognition had come from the Cannes Film Festival, where the film took the Palme d'Or in 2002. The Jewish community also honoured the film with the Jewish Image Awards in Film and Television 2003: Feature Film Award.

An essay in evil?
"It is possible that one of Polanski's greatest gifts as a filmmaker has been to convincingly investigate evil on screen. He is one of the great directors of horror but the power of his films comes from essaying evil as psychological and as existing in the everyday.' So says Christos Tsiolkas in "The Atheist's Shoah – Roman Polanski's The Pianist' (Shoah is a term from secular Judaism for ‘Holocaust'). This is a fair comment about Polanski's mastery of the medium, and the director himself evidently feels similarly about Wladyslaw Szpilman.

Or a message of hope?
"Szpilman was objective, not sentimental,' said Polanski about his author. "He showed Poles who were good and those who were wicked, Jews good and wicked, Germans good and wicked ... What is most important is that the book is very positive. After having read it, one is not depressed because it is full of hope. At the end we are convinced that human nature, despite everything, is good.'

So whilst the taste and the power of evil are sensitively described and powerfully illustrated in this film, I left feeling as Polanski described. Despite the tears, I also felt that hope, that humankind is capable of good as well, and that that good will win through in the end.

Which is, I believe, the ultimate message of the film – and also the book – for today.

Copyright © 31 January 2005 Michael Nunn

Click here for a clear and balanced analysis of the film, its subject and its political significance

Click here for the film's official site