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| Wladyslaw Szpilman and his art. |
As is evident in reading both the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman and the movie The Pianist, based on Szpilman's story, there are various reasons to expose yourself to both accounts of the story. Not only is the perspective a bit different in both mediums, but the way in which both of these stories are portrayed have different effects on your point of view, most likely, of what Szpilman experienced. It is helpful to first look at the text to get a better understanding of Szpilman's first hand perspective of being a Jew during the war. Towards the beginning of the text where we learn about his experience working at the cafe, Szpilman discusses how much he is unimpressed and disgusted by the indifferent and unsympathetic wealthy he sees at work. He states, "The cafe was frequented by the rich, who went there hung about with gold jewelry and dripping with diamonds... I lost two illusions here: my belief in our general solidarity and in the musicality of the Jews (pg 13)." Curiously enough, solidarity obviously becomes a big theme for the Jews in the autobiography and film, and Szpilman seems to be suggesting that a loss of musicality could be among the things that have been most greatly destroyed through the Holocaust.
As a pianist, we already begin to see how Szpilman is not only just a great musical artist, but that it greatly helps to shape and define how he views the world around him. In talking about Korczak, Szpilman states, "True value was not in what he wrote but in the fact that he lived as he wrote (pg 15)." We already have a good sense of the kind of genuine individual that Szpilman is, which does not come across as evidently in the beginning of the film, The Pianist. Later in the novel as Szpilman is discussing how he views his art he states, “After coffee, we were about to get on with our performances. I sat down at the piano, a crowd of sensitive listeners around me, people who could appreciate the pleasure I intended to give both to them and to myself. The violinist stood on my right, and to my left sat a charming young friend of Regina’s who was going to turn the pages for me. What more could I ask to complete my happiness just then (pg 57)?” In a moment where Szpilman realizes that his situation is getting worse and worse as the rise of the Nazis continues, he still manages to find comfort in his art. He believes in the power and passion behind his music, and there does not seem to be a time when he would ever not be dedicated to it. From the Polish Radio all the way until the end of both the autobiography and The Pianist, he continues to play his music. Overall, it seems important to note the amount of resolve that Szpilman maintained throughout the book, which is another aspect I thought didn't show as much in the film. In the movie, we see that he obviously suffers from hunger, the constant uncertainty of whether or not he would be found once he is in hiding, battling the elements, etc., however, the text (most likely because it is, after all, a first hand account) shows him more "humanized" in my opinion. We see more of his struggles and doubts. One example in the text is when he is discussing what it is like to be barred within the walls of the ghetto. He states,
"The streets of the ghetto-- and those streets alone-- ended in walls. I very often went out walking at random, following my nose, and unexpectedly came up against one of these walls. They barred my way when I wanted to walk on and there was no logical reason to stop me. Then the part of the street on the other side of the wall would suddenly seem to be a place I loved and needed most in all the world... I would turn back, crushed, and I went on like this day after day, always with the same sense of despair (pg 63)."
In this part of the chapter, I felt as though we get the most honest and sincere sense of desperation that Szpilman is feeling while the war is going on. In the text above, we see that he recognizes he is no longer free-- that his sense of lost freedom is what is most on his mind-- which, arguably, is most torturous to him because it decompresses his ability to be artistic. Losing his sense of art is what seems to be most emphasized in The Pianist. We see him experience heartbreak and devastation, such as the scene when he watched his family be taken away to the death camps. Another scene that shows the genuine side of Szpilman is when he watches another family's grandfather get thrown from out of his wheelchair onto the street of the fourth or so story of a building. Yet I think it is most critical to look at the last scene of the movie where he is asked to play a song on the piano for the German soldier. As observing it from a third person account, we see everything that Spzilman expresses in his autobiography. We are able to see him, once more, find the love and joy in his music. We see him push aside his doubts and concerns for the German soldiers presence in order to focus on the song. While it does seem that the only reason he is spared his life is because he is a Jew, which the soldier finds out, one can't help but wander that his music did also. As he mentions in his autobiography but we see in the film, the true value of his art comes around full circle for him by the end of the movie. We, as the viewer, ultimately feel the utmost sympathy for such a great man.
As a pianist, we already begin to see how Szpilman is not only just a great musical artist, but that it greatly helps to shape and define how he views the world around him. In talking about Korczak, Szpilman states, "True value was not in what he wrote but in the fact that he lived as he wrote (pg 15)." We already have a good sense of the kind of genuine individual that Szpilman is, which does not come across as evidently in the beginning of the film, The Pianist. Later in the novel as Szpilman is discussing how he views his art he states, “After coffee, we were about to get on with our performances. I sat down at the piano, a crowd of sensitive listeners around me, people who could appreciate the pleasure I intended to give both to them and to myself. The violinist stood on my right, and to my left sat a charming young friend of Regina’s who was going to turn the pages for me. What more could I ask to complete my happiness just then (pg 57)?” In a moment where Szpilman realizes that his situation is getting worse and worse as the rise of the Nazis continues, he still manages to find comfort in his art. He believes in the power and passion behind his music, and there does not seem to be a time when he would ever not be dedicated to it. From the Polish Radio all the way until the end of both the autobiography and The Pianist, he continues to play his music. Overall, it seems important to note the amount of resolve that Szpilman maintained throughout the book, which is another aspect I thought didn't show as much in the film. In the movie, we see that he obviously suffers from hunger, the constant uncertainty of whether or not he would be found once he is in hiding, battling the elements, etc., however, the text (most likely because it is, after all, a first hand account) shows him more "humanized" in my opinion. We see more of his struggles and doubts. One example in the text is when he is discussing what it is like to be barred within the walls of the ghetto. He states,
"The streets of the ghetto-- and those streets alone-- ended in walls. I very often went out walking at random, following my nose, and unexpectedly came up against one of these walls. They barred my way when I wanted to walk on and there was no logical reason to stop me. Then the part of the street on the other side of the wall would suddenly seem to be a place I loved and needed most in all the world... I would turn back, crushed, and I went on like this day after day, always with the same sense of despair (pg 63)."
In this part of the chapter, I felt as though we get the most honest and sincere sense of desperation that Szpilman is feeling while the war is going on. In the text above, we see that he recognizes he is no longer free-- that his sense of lost freedom is what is most on his mind-- which, arguably, is most torturous to him because it decompresses his ability to be artistic. Losing his sense of art is what seems to be most emphasized in The Pianist. We see him experience heartbreak and devastation, such as the scene when he watched his family be taken away to the death camps. Another scene that shows the genuine side of Szpilman is when he watches another family's grandfather get thrown from out of his wheelchair onto the street of the fourth or so story of a building. Yet I think it is most critical to look at the last scene of the movie where he is asked to play a song on the piano for the German soldier. As observing it from a third person account, we see everything that Spzilman expresses in his autobiography. We are able to see him, once more, find the love and joy in his music. We see him push aside his doubts and concerns for the German soldiers presence in order to focus on the song. While it does seem that the only reason he is spared his life is because he is a Jew, which the soldier finds out, one can't help but wander that his music did also. As he mentions in his autobiography but we see in the film, the true value of his art comes around full circle for him by the end of the movie. We, as the viewer, ultimately feel the utmost sympathy for such a great man.
Lauren, When you say, " As a pianist, we see..." You are actually saying that we, the readers are the pianist. That is a dangling modifier--check it in a grammar book. Good example of the cafe where Szpilman works. Jews themselves do not necessarily behave heroically or even sympathetically to poor Jews.
ReplyDeleteLauren, a point McCay made is that even though there is an illusion that Spzilman was saved because he was a Jew and great at the piano, she said that it was in fact because the German hated the Nazis. Although I thought the same thing, I guess it is a reality check that this story is not one that is supposed to be happy. I wanted to read a Holocaust story where it was romanticized that Spzilman was saved by using his talent, however, this story is an autobiography. It contains the facts and with such a tragedy like this, I do not believe there were any overall happy endings without some type of great loss involved.
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