Name a good movie, and I havn't watched it. I'm definitely not a movie buff but a frequent victim of what i would like to call the "Stockholm Syndrome" of moviewatching. Initial reluctance that eventually develops into a really strong liking for that movie taking me to the depths of studying and appreciating it.
CTC!! Watched "The Pianist" a couple of months back. Hit upon the movie accidently having watched The Band of Brothers series over and over again (especially the "Why we fight" episode) followed by Scindler's List and spiced with literature on concentration camps and the holocaust in general.
The life of Vladyslaw Spielzmann draws parallels with the life of the director Roman Polanski. While, Vladyslaw escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto, Polanski as a child escaped from the Krakow Ghetto. Vladyslaw's family was exterminated in the Treblinca camp, while Polanski's mother and sister were gassed at Auschwitz.
One remarkable aspect about "The Pianist" was that Frank Finlay, who plays Vladyslaw's father (a Jew) in the movie, played the role of Adolf Hitler in the 1973 movie "The Death Of Adolf Hitler", which I had watched when I was in my early teens. Amazing!!
It is needless to say anything about Adrian Brodie's brilliance as an actor. That scene in the restaurant, just before the scene where Vladyslaw's sister informs him about their brother being taken into custody by the Jewish Police.. He was feeling every note he was pretending to play. The scene in the hospital, where emotions transform into "air piano" and that scene in which he plays chopin (?) for the German Captain...the expressions on his face and the effort on his fingers to bring out a lifetime of sorrow and frustration... simply brilliant!
One scene that touched me was that when Vladyslaw samples some jam that the German Captain gave him. The look on his face when he tastes something as sweet as jam after having "scavenged" for food for so long... sheer bliss!!!
Talking about "sheer bliss"- That drop of cool water trickling down your throat after a hot days running around in the heat of North India during summer...SHEER BLISS!! Realised that during my summer internship.
