The Pianist (2002)
Coming Out at 25 September 2002 in theaters.
Biography, Drama, Music
The Pianist is biographical war drama film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, with a script by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist (1946), a Holocaust memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor. The film was a co-production of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland.
The Pianist met with significant critical praise, and received multiple awards and nominations. It was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. At the 75th Academy Awards, the film won for Best Director (Polanski), Best Adapted Screenplay (Harwood), and Best Actor (Brody), and was nominated for four others, including the Best Picture. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film and BAFTA Award for Best Direction in 2003, and seven French Césars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Brody. It was included in BBC’s 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century in 2016.
In September 1939, Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, is playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is bombed during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland. Hoping for a quick victory, Szpilman rejoices with his family at home when learning that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. But the promised aid does not come. Fighting lasts for just over a month, with both the German and Soviet armies invading Poland at the same time on different fronts. Warsaw becomes part of the Nazi-controlled General Government. Jews are soon prevented from working or owning businesses, and are also made to wear blue Star of David armbands.
By November 1940, Szpilman and his family are forced from their home into the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto, where conditions only get worse. People starve, the guards are brutal, and starving children are abandoned in the streets. On one occasion, the Szpilmans witness the SS kill an entire family in an apartment across the street during a round-up.
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Ronald Harwood, Wladyslaw Szpilman (book)
Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, Michal Zebrowski, Ed Stoppard, Maureen Lipman, Jessica Kate Meyer
Cast:
| Adrien Brody | … | Wladyslaw Szpilman |
| Emilia Fox | … | Dorota |
| Michal Zebrowski | … | Jurek |
| Ed Stoppard | … | Henryk |
| Maureen Lipman | … | Mother |
| Frank Finlay | … | Father |
| Jessica Kate Meyer | … | Halina |
| Julia Rayner | … | Regina |
| Wanja Mues | … | SS Slapping Father |
| Richard Ridings | … | Mr. Lipa |
| Nomi Sharron | … | Feather Woman |
| Anthony Milner | … | Man Waiting to Cross |
| Lucy Skeaping | … | Street Musician |
| Roddy Skeaping | … | Street Musician |
| Ben Harlan | … | Street Musician |
| Thomas Lawinky | … | Schutzpolizei |
| Joachim Paul Assböck | … | Schutzpolizei |
| Roy Smiles | … | Itzak Heller |
| Paul Bradley | … | Yehuda |
| Daniel Caltagirone | … | Majorek |
| Andrzej Blumenfeld | … | Benek |
| Darian Wawer | … | Child at the Wall |
| Zbigniew Zamachowski | … | Customer with Coins |
| Lejb Fogelman | … | Customer with Coins |
| Detlev von Wangenheim | … | SS Officer |
| Popeck | … | Rubenstein |
| Zofia Czerwinska | … | Woman with Soup |
| Emilio Fernandez | … | The Soup Snatcher |
| Udo Kroschwald | … | Schultz |
| Uwe Rathsam | … | SS Shooting the Woman |
| Joanna Brodzik | … | Woman Shot in the Head |
| Katarzyna Bargielowska | … | Wailing Woman |
| Maja Ostaszewska | … | Woman with Child |
| John Bennett | … | Dr. Ehrlich |
| Cyril Shaps | … | Mr. Grün |
| Wojciech Smolarz | … | Boy with Sweets |
| Lech Mackiewicz | … | Fellow Worker |
| Ruth Platt | … | Janina |
| Frank-Michael Köbe | … | SS Shooting Benek |
| Torsten Flach | … | Zig Zag |
| Peter Rappenglück | … | SS Making a Speech |
| Ronan Vibert | … | Janina’s Husband |
| Krzysztof Pieczynski | … | Gebczynski |
| Katarzyna Figura | … | Neighbour |
| Valentine Pelka | … | Dorota’s Husband |
| Andrew Tiernan | … | Szalas |
| Tom Strauss | … | Dr. Luczak |
| Thomas Kretschmann | … | Captain Wilm Hosenfeld |
| Cezary Kosinski | … | Lednicki |
| Grzegorz Artman | ||
| Adam Bauman | ||
| Pawel Burczyk | … | Polish Workman |
| Zbigniew Dziduch | ||
| Marian Dziedziel | ||
| Nina Franoszek | … | Polish Woman |
| Jerzy Góralczyk | … | |
| John Keogh | … | Polish Officer |
| Jaroslaw Kopaczewski | ||
| Patrick Lanagan | ||
| Dmitri Leshchenko | … | Russian Soldier |
| Dorota Liliental | ||
| Rafal Mohr | … | Schutzpolizei |
| Andrzej Pieczynski | … | Prisoner |
| Morgane Polanski | … | Girl |
| Norbert Rakowski | ||
| Piotr Siejka | ||
| Viola Szen | … | |
| Andrzej Szenajch | ||
| Tomasz Tyndyk | ||
| Andrzej Walden | ||
| Zbigniew Walerys | ||
| Maciej Winkler | ||
| Tadeusz Wojtych | ||
| Andrzej Zielinski | ||
| Maurycy Zylber | … | German Film Crew |
| Xawery Zylber | ||
| Tomasz Ciszewski | … | Jew |
| Rafal Dajbor | … | Soldier |
| Roman Garbowski | … | |
| Anna Gryszka | … | Woman in Ghetto |
| Adrian Hood | … | Piano Buyer |
| Ryszard Kluge | … | Jew Working on the Bulding Site |
| Maciej Kowalewski | … | SS Officer |
| Ireneusz Machnicki | … | SS Officer |
| Pawel Malaszynski | … | Man in Ghetto |
| Adam Malecki | … | German Soldier in the Ghetto |
| Arnold Montey | … | SS Officer |
| Aleksandra Nizynska | … | Girl |
| Axel Prahl | … | German Soldier – Rummage Bags |
| Dagmara Sieminska | … | Women in Ghetto |
| Izabella Szolc | … | Women in Ghetto |
| Dawid Szurmiej | … | Man in Ghetto |
| Borys Szyc | … | Young Gestapo |
| Jacek Wolszczak | … | Man in Ghetto |
| Pawel Zdun | … |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia