The Pianist (2002/HD-DVD)
Picture: B+ Sound: B Extras: B Film: B
Jean
Luc-Godard once pointed out how many films about the Holocaust had been made
and how most of them had been forgotten.
Though he may have his reasons why, including the possible
trivialization of the event, few films can make the big statement and make it
stick when so many well intended projects try.
Is Spielberg’s Schindler’s List
remembered because of its content, director or both? In any case, whatever it takes to make the
point of how horrible it was and still is.
Roman
Polanski had survived the events of the Nazi Occupation of Poland, but never
dealt with it explicitly in a film, though it informs his best work (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Death & The
Maiden) and the circumstances of the two horrific events that ruined part
of his personal life, then drove him, to a criminal act that had him fleeing
the U.S. forever. As inexcusable as the
latter is, he can still direct films well and The Pianist (2002) was considered a major comeback for him as a
figure of world cinema after being dormant and stuck in lesser film works for
years, though I thought Death & The
Maiden was grossly underrated.
Adrian
Brody is Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish piano player who hangs in there with his
family in Poland until he is separated from them and has to find a way to stay
alive as WWII goes into high gear. He
has to negotiate endless situations that could have got him killed and are
based on the autobiography of Szpilman as adapted very well into a screenplay
by Ronald Harwood. Running 2.5 hours,
the film never lets up, does not seem long and really is one of the few films
that gets it right about the Holocaust, WWII, the way people acted and human
nature. As a result, it stands out from
most films on the subject and is one of the most personal films Polanski will
ever make.
Then
there is Brody’s remarkable performance, learning how to play piano for the
role well enough to convince us he is a world class pianist, then playing a man
who is a world class humanitarian just trying to survive one of the ugliest
genocide campaigns ever. The Holocaust
is such a dark, complex, deep subject and no matter how many films may be
historically accurate, few are so dense that you feel like you are there and The Pianist will remain such a film for
decades and centuries to come. It
becomes a vital record of a past so easily forgotten, especially at a time when
anti-Semitism and hatred in general are on the rise. No matter Polanski’s personal issues, he
pulls off one of the ultimate anti-Fascist films and one you will never forget.
The 1080p
VC-1 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is very good, with nice depth and
detail throughout with few limits. Pawel
Edelman’s cinematography is impressive and Polanski has found another great
partner writing in motion. For the
money, costumes and production design are remarkable and this disc brings out
the beauty and horror of the film in HD a lower def source never could. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is pretty good,
though Polanski uses silence and subtle sounds effectively, so the surrounds
are not in use all the time. However,
there are some moments where the sound kicks in, including for the piano music,
and it impresses in those moments.
Extras include Szpilman playing piano from archive footage, behind the
scenes in the making of the film, a featurette on making the film as authentic
as possible and Polanski’s reflections on surviving the Nazi Occupation. The HDi function makes all this easier.
If you
have not seen it, do so as soon as you can.
- Nicholas Sheffo
