Film Analysis Of The Pianist

1943 Words8 Pages
In the film “The Pianist”, director Roman Polanski utilizes the five formal axes to reveal to the audience the extreme persecution and mistreatment of Jewish, homosexual, handicapped, and perceivably “imperfect” people during the Holocaust. The film is set in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, where the Jewish community at the time made up a staggering thirty percent of the total population (300,000 people). In early fall of 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the onset of many tragic events which shook the country to its core. In the next six years, under Nazi reign and invasion, the population of Jewish citizens dwindled down to about only 11,500, proving the destructive consequences of racism. In the movie, many graphic but accurate scenes were necessary for the development of pathos with the audience. Through the use of literary design, visual design, cinematography, editing, and sound design, Polanski accurately exposes the devastating effects of prejudice and the dehumanization of a race or minority group by society. A young Jewish man by the name of Wladyslaw Szpilman lives a normal life with his family in Poland. Popular in the broadcasting and music community alike, he is never short of friends and contacts. Life seems to be on the upward side for him, considering he was a Jew living in Poland which was virtually unaffected by the Holocaust at the time. But then everything changes when the Nazis invade Poland in 1939. Not only are Wladyslaw and his family greatly affected, but the entire Jewish population in Poland, and in Europe at large. After realizing that they only have each other to rely on for survival, they do whatever is necessary to be together. The Story line is written out right in order to establish restricted narration with Szpilman, which allows the audience to experience his personal battle for survival. In a sense, the audience gains an

More about Film Analysis Of The Pianist

Open Document