The Pianist
Finally saw Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama, mainly just to see what all the fuss was about. It’s beautifully shot, and Adrien Brody is great. It does give you at least a little bit of a sense what it was like for hundreds of thousands of Jews crammed into the Warsaw ghetto – the day-to-day horror of it. But the bulk of the movie is Brody’s character alone, locked in safe houses or wandering through burned- and bombed-out ghetto buildings, looking for food and shelter. Technically it’s a beautiful film, but I guess I was expecting to be more emotionally affected by it. It’s hard to expect one actor to communicate all the emotions a movie like this involves, with almost no one to interact with and even fewer words to say.
What I was affected by, especially in the first part of the movie, was the idea that these horrible events took place just 60 years ago. My grandmother was about my age when this was happening. This is not ancient history. Movies and history books can only remind us of the horrors we visit upon our fellow men; they can’t stop us from repeating them.
Yes- sweet friend- it is so difficult to even imagine a world where these types of things have taken place… but it seems history has recorded such horror time and time again. It is a good sign that we can’t imagine… and it is wonderful that film makers are making certain we do not forget what humans are capable of. My own mother-in-law is a child of survivers. The holocaust is very much a reality- and spoken about often in our family.
how about something light?
I hope we haven’t forgotten, but everyday I see people fooled by the exact same tactics of fearused by Hitler.
I saw the film lastnight too, and it was very disturbing. It was well-made. Having taken some German, I noticed somethings I interpreted as subtle screenwriting moments. I had nightmares about piles of corpses being set on fire.
The founding of the United States isn’t ancient history. Idealistic dreams of freedom and democracy don’t have much of a half life.
(flaming begins)
P.S.: “how about something light?”
Why don’t you get your own damn web site and just post smiley faces every day? What is your problem? It’s his site, let him talk about what he damn well pleases. Someone should show you a picture of a frowning clown until you just wither up and die.
(flaming ends)
I’m thinking I fell in love with the movie because I was greatly affected by it emotionally.
For my history class, we get extra credit if we go to lectures on the Holocaust. They were boring, and usually consisted of words being spoken from someone trying to sell their book or a slideshow of artwork from the Holocaust (not necessarily depicting the Holocaust). Anyhow, these lectures did nothing for me–intellectually nor emotionally.
The movie, though, made me cry at least three times. In a nation like this where most people are jaded, I consider it a good thing if I can feel something so much to the point where I’m crying over not my personal suffering, but suffering of others–or maybe I’m just too sensitive when it comes to people dying.
Anyhow, I really like how you ended this post. I’m going to quote and link you.