Trujillo, The Pianist

Szpilman, The Pianist


Coming from a musical background and having spent most of my life studying the musical arts, I can't help but feel that this book and film do turn heads to the long stated thought that music tugs at hearts and minds.

There are some unsettling differences though, between the book and the film. We know that literature, when converted into film, usually changes and adapts to a select time frame and audience. Unfortunately there were quite a few moments that the film failed to capture.

In the book, we read a small tidbit about a man that they called the Old Doctor. A man, a pediatrician, who devoted his life to children, especially marginalized children. The Old Doctor, while he could've escaped the ghettos and ultimately saved his life, joined a dozen orphaned Jewish children that he adopted. The book mentions a small boy with an incredible talent for the violin and how he had captured the heart of the Old Doctor. It is this boy who unknowingly leads the procession of children to their deaths in a gas chamber while giving them a last moment of happiness with music.
This moment is not shared in the film.

I must say that in the film, Wladyslaw Szpilman is ultimately saved because of his musical abilities. His ability to perform a flawless Chopin piece attracted the attention of a German soldier who clothed him, fed him and gave him shelter. 'For love of the music' wouldn't you say?
This assumption though, that it was only the German soldier's love and admiration of music is infinitely wrong. While it may have played a small part, the film fails to mention what the book says clearly: that the German Soldier was a devout Catholic, opposed to everything the Nazis said and ultimately looking for ways to protect others. When the German soldier says "Don't thank me, thank God. It's His will that we should survive" the soldier doesn't mean that Szpilman should survive because of his talent, but because he his a child of God who shouldn't die by any hand of man. I believe we see here a Catholic's true perspective.

"Love your neighbor as I have loved you."