Pauli - The Pianist

The Pianist, originally titled, The Death of a City is an autobiography by Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish musician. The memoir recounts Szpilman's journey to survival in Warsaw. Szpilman was an accomplished pianist who played for a radio show. However, the musicians days of playing on the air were put to a hault when the Nazi's begin their extermination of the Jewish community. Szpilman is eventually separated from his family and put to work. Once he is able to escape the brutal work force, Szpilman is forced to rely on non-jewish people for survival. 

There are many pros and cons to film versus literature. 

The book is a memoir which is told from the first-person perspective. This view allows the reader to "understand" and connect with the author. The reader is allowed inside of Szpilman's head and can "hear" his thoughts about suicide (which he cannot bring himself to commit) unlike the film, The Pianist (2002) directed by Roman Polanski. 

The adapted film is from a third person perspective which puts the audience further away from the protagonist. Unlike the novel, the viewer is not able to hear Szpilman's thoughts. However, the movie allows one to hear an important aspect, which the novel cannot translate, the music. In the film, I was able to feel a deep connection with the scene where Szpilman plays for the German officer, Wilm Hosenfeld. Being able to hear the music definitely intensified the impact, more so than the novel reporting the music. However, the film does not focus on the music the way Szpilman's memoir does. In the novel, the reader understands how important music is to the author, much more than the film portrays. In the book, the author is mainly concerned with playing the piano. It is as if playing the piano is his reason to live. Szpilman is constantly concerned with his hands. In the film, Adrien Brody, who plays Szpilman does not have this overwhelming passion to live because he wishes to play the piano. Instead, Brody almost seems to being living just to survive. Both mediums have a detached quality about them, which I'm sure stems from the war "turning a heart to stone" (21).  Even though the novel was written shortly after the events had taken placed, Szpilman writes "clearly" without emotion over powering the story. I found a similar quality in the film. Brody, never gets extremely emotional about having to let go of his family, the dead children in the street, or in the end, being confronted by a German officer. Another difference between the film and novel is the absence of Dorota, played by Emilia Fox. 

Even though I usually prefer novels over film, I did enjoy both mediums. I think the film did a good job of remaining close to the book. The film and the novel seemed to compliment each other. In the film, one was able to see events taking place and hear the music. In the novel, the reader was able to be closer to the author and "hear" the personal thoughts of Szpilman. 

Interesting observation: In his book, Szpilman says, "I played in front of the microphone for the last time on 23 September. I have no idea how I reached the broadcasting center that day. I ran from the entrance of one building to the entrance of another." 

I felt like this foreshadowed the rest of the novel. Szpilman hid in different places trying to avoid being caught by the Germans. It is amazing he was able to survive.