Le pianiste, Roman Polanski

Le pianiste, de Roman Polanski

Warsaw, in 1939. While Szpilman plays the piano on Polish state radio, a German bomb falls near the studio and destroys the transmitter. Later the Germans enter the city. discriminatory measures against Jews multiplied, until it was decided to stack them in a ghetto. Szpilman and his family struggle to survive and witness the actions of the SS militias. Soon massive deportation operations are organized.

Szpilman is rescued by a Jewish police officer, but the rest of his family are sent to camp. Szpilman is now working in construction and continues to suffer persecution from the Germans. He manages to reconnect with an old acquaintance, outside the ghetto, who helps him to escape and finds him an apartment to hide. He witnesses from his window the revolt of the ghetto and the crushing of this same revolt.

Then, he is spotted by a neighbor and must flee. Wandering hungry in the destroyed city, he ends up failing in a deserted building. He was discovered there by a German officer, who asked him to play the piano. Moved by his talent, he hid Szpilman until the liberation of Warsaw. When the war was over, the German officer was caught and disappeared without a trace.

I found this film interesting, due to the depth of the main character. As the film progresses, we put ourselves in the place of this pianist, we feel what he feels. We also see a certain exaggeration of the cruelty of the Nazis (example when he throws an old man from the balcony). But this highlights the extreme generosity of the German officer. This is what I think makes this film an extraordinary film.

I found that this film does not show all the suffering of the Jews during the Second World War, indeed the main character is far too lucky. When he is about to be deported; he is saved, when he works in a ghetto he succeeds in escaping and in the end when he hides he is discovered by the only nice Nazi officer. This excess of luck of the main character spoils the realism of the work.

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