History Film / ThePianist

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film ''The Pianist'' was directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and starred Creator/AdrienBrody. Both star and director won Oscars (with Brody being the youngest ever Best Actor winner at age 29), as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as [[WorldWarII hell breaks loose around him]]. As his family is deported to the German Death camps, Szpilman himself must find it in him to survive.

* DyeingForYourArt: Adrien Brody lost a significant percentage of body weight for the role, an amount daunting enough to make him look nearly as starved as the Jews in the ghetto.
** He also sold his car, his apartment and much of what he owned and even broke up with his girlfriend in order to truly understand the feelings of loss the character endured. His Oscar win was very much earned.

* FakeNationality: New York native Adrien Brody as the Polish Wladyslaw. Other Polish characters are played by British actors.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A closeup of a headshot is seen midway through the film. The victim gains a tiny hole on their cranium, out which there flows a little trickle of blood.

* OscarBait: But still well regarded despite this. [[{{ComicBook/Maus}} Art Spiegelman]], who has been critical of "Holokitsch" films, praised ''The Pianist'' as admirable.

* ThePianoPlayer: Well, [[CaptainObvious yeah]]. Although he's a classical concert pianist, once the Nazis move in Szpilman must take cheap gigs in restaurants. (Until it gets worse.)

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The movie doesn't quite make it clear what happened to Szpilman's family after they were deported, though the audience would know that their chances weren't good. In RealLife, Szpilman's entire family died almost immediately in Treblinka (as was true of almost every Warsaw Jew that didn't die in the ghetto).

** MostAnnoyingSound: {{Invoked}}; her whining gets on Aleena's nerves, before she realizes just why she's been repeating that. [[spoiler: The woman had tried to hide her baby from the Germans, but in doing so smothered it and subsequently killed her own baby. The Germans heard the death rattle, and they were found.]]

* FakeNationality: New York native Adrien Brody as the Polish Wladyslaw.

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film ''The Pianist'' was directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and starred Creator/AdrienBrody. Both star and director won Oscars, as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as [[WorldWarII hell breaks loose around him]]. As his family is deported to the German Death camps, Szpilman himself must find it in him to survive.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The movie doesn't quite make it clear what happened to Szpilman's family after they were deported, though the audience would know that their chances weren't good. In RealLife, Szpilman's entire family died in Treblinka (as was true of almost every Warsaw Jew that didn't die in the ghetto).

* SliceOfLife: It's mostly just about Szpilman and his family trying to live a normal life in Warsaw.

** Possibly the most shocking of these moments (also a RealLife instance, is when Nazis enter a Jewish house and demand the family stand to attention. An old Jew who is wheelchair-bound cannot, so the Nazis throw him off a balcony. The sheer pointless callousness of this action is astounding.

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film ''The Pianist'' was directed by RomanPolanski and starred AdrienBrody. Both star and director won Oscars, as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as [[WorldWarII hell breaks loose around him]]. As his family is deported to the German Death camps, Szpilman himself must find it in him to survive.

->'''Władysław Szpilman''': I don't know how to thank you.
->'''Captain Wilm Hosenfeld''': Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.

--> '''Szpilman''': Stop! I'm Polish!
--> '''Polish Soldier''': He is Polish! ...Why the fucking coat?
--> '''Szpilman''': I'm cold.

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film ''The Pianist'' was directed by RomanPolanski and starred AdrienBrody. Both star and director won Oscars, as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as [[WorldWarII hell breaks loose around him]]. Even as his family is deported to the German Concentration camps, Szpilman himself must find it in him to survive.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pianist_5988.jpg]]

Not to be confused with the Holly Hunter movie ''The Piano''.

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film ''The Pianist'' was directed by RomanPolanski and stared AdrienBrody. Both star and director won Oscars, as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as [[WorldWarII hell breaks loose around him]]. Even as his family is deported to the German Concentration camps, Szpilman himself must find it in him to survive.

* [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare Shout Out to To Shakespeare]]: ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', which deals, of course, with Christians persecuting Jews.

* TranslationConvention: Used with all the Polish characters, but averted with the Germans, who speak German.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The movie doesn't quite make it clear what happened to Szpilman's family after they were deported to Treblinka, though the audience would know that their chances weren't good. In RealLife, Szpilman's entire family died in the camps.

* OscarBait

* HeyYou: See BilingualBonus above.

* BittersweetEnding: Szpilman survives and resumes his career as a pianist. But his whole family was gassed in Treblinka.