The Pianist (2002)

A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Ronald Harwood (screenplay), Wladyslaw Szpilman (based on the book by)

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, Frank Finlay

Top 250 #48 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 48 wins & 47 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Wladyslaw Szpilman
Emilia Fox	...	Dorota
Michal Zebrowski	...	Jurek
Ed Stoppard	...	Henryk
Maureen Lipman	...	Mother
Frank Finlay	...	Father
Jessica Kate Meyer	...	Halina
Julia Rayner	...	Regina
Wanja Mues	...	SS Slapping Father
Richard Ridings	...	Mr. Lipa
Nomi Sharron	...	Feather Woman
Anthony Milner	...	Man Waiting to Cross
Lucy Skeaping	...	Street Musician (as Lucie Skeaping)
Roddy Skeaping	...	Street Musician
Ben Harlan	...	Street Musician

Storyline

A brilliant pianist, a Polish Jew, witnesses the restrictions Nazis place on Jews in the Polish capital, from restricted access to the building of the Warsaw ghetto. As his family is rounded up to be shipped off to the Nazi labor camps, he escapes deportation and eludes capture by living in the ruins of Warsaw.

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Plot Keywords:

warsaw ghetto | jewish | piano | nazi | pianist | 

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Taglines:

Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and brief strong language

Details

Country:

France Poland Germany UK

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

El pianista

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$115,690 (Hong Kong) (21 March 2003)

Gross:

$32,519,322 (USA) (30 May 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min 142 min (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in which Wladyslaw Szpilman is saved from going to the concentration camps and is told "Don't run!" is inspired by a similar event in director Roman Polanski's life.

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Goofs

When Wladyslaw Szpilman is forced to leave his first hiding place after breaking the dishes, he has significant stubble on his face. However, when he reached Dorota's apartment in the next scene, he's clean shaven.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dorota: [running from bombing] Mr. Szpilman?
Wladyslaw Szpilman: Hello.
Dorota: Oh, I came specially to meet you. I love your playing.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: Who are you?
Dorota: My name is Dorota. I, I'm Jurek's sister... You're bleeding.

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Crazy Credits

Aside from the Universal and Focus Features credits, there are no opening credits. All credits, including the title, appear at the end of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tracy Morgan (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Nocturne in C# Minor, Posthumous"
(1830)
Written by Frédéric Chopin (as Fryderyk Chopin)

User Reviews

Adrien Brody's Minimalist Acting Packs Maximum Emotional Punch

This wrenching yet ultimately uplifting fact-based drama won Adrien Brody his Academy Award and finally made him a star (along with his gracious yet heartfelt Oscar speech and That Kiss :-) -- rightly so, since title character Wladyslaw Szpilman is a challenging role in so many ways! It's not easy to command the screen when your character often has to be passive, deliberately trying not to draw attention to himself to keep from falling into Nazi hands in war-torn Poland, but Brody pulls it off. It helps that Brody is absolutely stellar at acting with his eyes, plus his body language speaks volumes; these fill in the emotional cracks, especially in scenes where Szpilman, alone and in hiding, can't speak or even move around much for fear of giving himself away. (Brody is the youngest actor to date to win the Best Actor Oscar, BTW, having gotten his little gold man only a month before his 30th birthday.) While there's no lack of haunting scenes, thanks to the deservedly Oscar-winning work of director Roman Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood, the one that always gets me is the one where Szpilman discovers the apartment serving as his latest `safe house' has a piano. We see Szpilman sit at the piano; we see him in a head-and-shoulders shot, shoulders moving; we hear piano music and gasp as we fear his love and longing for music is about to give him away -- and then we see his hands moving in the air just above the keyboard and realize, with both relief and a pang of regret, that the music is only in Szpilman's head. Terrific as the other 2002 Best Actor nominees were, now that I've seen THE PIANIST (as well as the fascinating making-of documentary on the DVD's flip side, showing what a physically and emotionally grueling experience Brody's job often was), I'd be really p***ed off if anybody but Adrien Brody had won! (Besides, the rest of the 2002 Best Actor nominees already won Oscars -- this time it was dark horse Brody's turn! :-)