The Pianist (Polanski, 2002)

The Pianist (Polanski, 2002) - TSPDT #1338

A jewish pianist gets dragged into the horrific events of the Warsaw ghetto.

Extremely well structured in the sense that there is the "one good" Nazi in the end which gives some hope for humanity and bizarrely makes quite an optimistic piece.

Comparing this to Schindler's List there is an interesting difference in the choice the directors made how time progresses. Polanski's leaps in time seem rougher and he just touches certain events that were more drawn out in Spielberg's interpretation. In the Pianist there is a "rough" quality to the jumps, which helped to make the middle more interesting to watch - I remember I had some trouble in Schindler feeling slightly bored, maybe because I feel that Spielberg overexplains certain characters (mass audience vs mass audience europe?)

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