Name: The Pianist
Genre: Drama, War
Released: 2003-03-28
Duration: 150 min
Rating: 8.4
Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox

The Pianist

Financial Strain in Difficult Times

FATHER Five thousand and three.

MOTHER Is that all?

FATHER Yes, five thousand and three zlotys, that's all we've got left.

REGINA It's three thousand and three zlotys too much,

MOTHER What are we supposed to do with the rest?

HALINA Deposit it in a bank. Blocked account.

HENRYK Banks? Who'd be stupid enough to deposit money in a German bank?

HALINA We could hide the money. Look here. Can hide the money in flowerpot.

FATHER No, no, no. I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll use tried and tested methods. You know what we did in the last war? We made a hole in the table leg and we hid the money in there.

HENRYK And suppose they take the table away?

MOTHER What d'you mean, take the table away?

HENRYK The Germans go into Jewish homes and they just take what they want, furniture, valuables, anything.

MOTHER Do they?

FATHER Idiot! What would they want with a table?

MOTHER What on earth are you doing?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

Desire to Capture Historical Accuracy in Film

Production team and cast I always wanted to make a film about that period and I had a very hard time finding the proper material. When I read "The Pianist", I knew right away that, that's something I wanted to.. to do. And the reason was that the description of the events was extremely accurate. And that's because it was written immediately after the war. I don't think that somebody who writes a book about the events 20 or 30 years later can have the same type of recollections, the same type of detail which was vividly true to me, a child of the same period.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

Behind the Scenes of The Pianist

Production team and cast * Roman Polanski, A Story of Survival Behind the Scenes of The Pianist

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

Resilience and Legacy in Adversity

Production team and cast From what I can deduct from his memoirs at the point where the story takes place, he was just a.. a very outgoing kind of good-hearted young man. Everything was taken from him and everyone else. But what I learned about Szpilman after surviving all this is that he grew to have a very long life with a lovely wife who l've met and he had a family and continued to compose and contribute all kinds of wonderful things. And Roman had a lot of similarities. So I got to envision Szpilman like Roman.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

A Dinner Conversation Amidst Tension

MOTHER Please, tonight, for once, I don't want anything bad talked about. Let's enjoy our meal.

HENRYK Fine, then I'll tell you something funny. You know who I mean by Dr. Raszeja?

REGINA The surgeon?

HENRYK The surgeon. Well, for some reason, don't ask me why, the Germans allowed him into the ghetto to perform an operation...

HALINA On a Jew? They allowed a Pole to come in to operate on a Jew?

HENRYK Who's complaining? He got a pass, that's all I know. Anyway, he puts the patient to sleep and starts the operation. He'd just made the first incision when the SS burst in, shoot the patient lying on the table, and then shoot Dr. Raszeja and everybody else who was there. Isn't that a laugh? The patient didn't feel a thing, he was anaesthetised.

MOTHER I said nothing bad, Henryk.

HENRYK What's the matter with you all? Have you lost your sense of humour?

SZPILMAN It's not funny.

HENRYK Well, you know what's funny? You're funny with that ridiculous tie.

SZPILMAN What are you talking about, my tie? What's my tie got to do with anything? I need the tie for my work.

HENRYK Your work? Yes, yes, work. Playing the piano for all the parasites in the ghetto.

SZPILMAN Parasites...

HENRYK Parasites.

MOTHER Boys, boys

HENRYK They don't give a damn about people's suffering.

SZPILMAN You blame me for their apathy, right?

HENRYK I do, because I see it every day. They don't even notice what's going on around them.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

The Challenge of Portraying Harsh Realities

Production team and cast It's a dreadful of historical event and you can't start glamorizing it. You can't start trying to soften it. You have to tell it as you believe it is. I mean there is no ultimate truth of it because nobody can really we can't explain it in anyway. So the truth is very difficult to get to. But whatever the truth is in you of that subject in one you have to be true to that truth.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

Survival and Artistry in The Pianist's Creation

Production team and cast * Ronald Harwood, A Story of Survival Behind the Scenes of The Pianist

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Pianist

Survival Story Behind The Pianist's Production

Production team and cast * Adrien Brody, A Story of Survival Behind the Scenes of The Pianist

The Pianist

Optimism Amidst Horror in The Pianist

Production team and cast The book is written with astonished and called objectivity. There are good Jews and bad Jews in the film. And that's how it was. There are good Germans and bad Germans. There are good Poles and bad Poles. And above all the book is tremendously optimistic. The victim survives. Survives thanks to his passion for the.. for the art and for the music in particular. Thanks to his willpower. It's an optimistic and uplifting book in spite of the horrors that it describes.

The Pianist

Survival Through Art: The Pianist's Journey

Production team and cast * Roman Polanski, A Story of Survival Behind the Scenes of The Pianist

The Pianist

A Family Gathering and Unexpected Guests

MOTHER Good, they're here. Yitzchak Heller's been waiting for you, Henryk.

HENRYK What's this about?

MOTHER Sit down, have tea, I'll start lunch when the girls get back.

HENRYK So, what are you doing here?

FATHER He brought cakes. His father's back in the jewellery business and doing well, isn't that so, Yitzchak? Amazing. Jewellery.

HELLER We're recruiting.

HENRYK Who's recruiting?

HELLER Don't be clever with me, Henryk. I've come here as a friend. They're bringing Jews in from all over the country. Soon there'll be half a million people in the ghetto. We need more Jewish police...

HENRYK Oh? More Jewish police? You mean you want me to wear a cap like yours, beat up Jews with my truncheon and catch the Gestapo spirit. I see!

HELLER Someone's got to do it, Henryk.

HENRYK But why me? I thought you only recruited boys with rich fathers. Look at my father, look at us, I mean...

HELLER Yes, I'm looking at you and that's why I'm here. Your whole family can have a better life. You want to go on struggling for survival, selling books on the street?

HENRYK Yes, please.

HELLER I'm doing you people a favour. And what about you, Wladek? You're a great pianist. And we've got an excellent police jazz band. They'd welcome you with open arms. Join us. You've got no work!

SZPILMAN Thank you. But I've got work.