The Pianist - Television Tropes & Idioms

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.

Adapted from the memoirs of Władysław Szpilman, the 2002 film The Pianist was directed by Roman Polanski and stared Adrien Brody. Both star and director won Oscars, as did screenwriter Ronald Harwood. Basically, the film follows Szpilman's struggles in Nazi-occupied Poland as 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.

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

This film features examples of:

Audible Sharpness: Heard when an SS officer yanks a bayonet out of a scabbard to slice open a sack of grain.
Based on a True Story: A highly faithful adaptation of Szpilman's memoir, down to quotes and small details, like the woman who is shot in the back and falls down and dies in an odd kneeling position.
- Subverted somewhat in the character of Hosenfeld. Although the graphic at the end correctly identifies him as a captain, in the film he appears to be a senior combat officer; the men in headquarters stand at attention when he enters and he signs written orders. The real Hosenfeld was in fact only a captain, and served as a "sports and culture officer".
Bilingual Bonus: While most of the spoken German has subtitles, there's a lot of information that you can pick up from the dialogue that isn't translated.
- The Nazis address Jews by the familiar you "du", an insult in German when addressing strangers. (This is most notable in a couple of scenes where Nazis are picking Jews out of a line: "du!...du!...du!".) When the Good German, Capt. Hosenfeld, speaks to Szpilman he adresses him with the respectful formal "you", "Sie".
- Towards the end, Szpilman tells Hosenfeld his name, and Hosenfeld says it's "a good name for a pianist". The Polish name "Szpilman" is pronounced almost exactly the same as the German word "spielmann", meaning a minstrel/entertainer.
Bittersweet Ending: Szpilman survives and resumes his career as a pianist. But his whole family was gassed in Treblinka.
Book Ends: The film begins and ends with Szpilman playing piano.
Creator Cameo: That's Polanski complaining about a Gentile street running through the Jewish ghetto.
Description Cut: A dark example of what is usually a humorous trope. The family hears the declaration that Britain and France have declared war against Germany. They toast, and Father says "All will be well". Cut to a shot of the Wehrmacht marching through Warsaw as Father, Władysław and Henryk look on in dismay.
Desolation Shot: The Warsaw ghetto, post-uprising.
Dressing as the Enemy: Accidentally, and at the worst possible time. Szpilman receives a coat from Hosenfeld, which causes the Russian soldiers arriving later to mistake him for German. Szpilman barely escapes being shot.
Dyeing for Your Art: 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 camps.
- He also sold his car, his apartment and much of what he owned in order to truly understand the feelings of loss the character endured. His Oscar win was very much earned.
Earn Your Happy Ending: If it can even be called that.
Fake Nationality: New York native Adrien Brody as the Polish Wladyslaw.
Go Karting with Bowser: Early in the film, a Jewish entertainer amuses two Nazi officers and manages to bum a cigarette off them. And then there's Hosenfeld, at the end.
Greedy Jew: Alluded to in-universe by an SS officer who enlists the Jews in a black market scheme.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Szpilman's brother suggests doing this with the family bankroll to keep it from the Nazis. The rest of the family instantly dismisses this as a crazy idea.
Hey, You!: See Bilingual Bonus above.
It Got Worse: Very much a recurring motif in Holocaust movies, considering the Holocaust itself was very much a long string of things getting very, very worse for the Jews and anyone else the Nazis hated.
Kick the Dog: Used extensively by the Nazis.
- Brought to new extremes when a Nazi lines up workers on Their faces and shoots Them all in the head, even reloading when his magazine runs out. No reason beyond amusement can be understood for this. Other actions include beating up an old man for not saluting and for walking on the pavement.
La Résistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. And then the later Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
Les Collaborateurs: The Jewish ghetto police. Szpilman's brother scornfully refuses to join them; one saves Szpilman's life later. In Real Life they were eventually gassed along with the rest of the ghetto.
Madness Mantra / Broken Record: Why did I do it? Why did I do it? Why did I do it? WHY DID I DO IT?
- Most Annoying Sound: Invoked; her whining gets on Aleena's nerves, before she realizes just why she's been repeating that. The woman had tried to hide her baby from the Germans, but in doing so smothered it and subsequently killed her own baby.
Mood Lighting: Many of the scenes (such as those in the ghetto and in Szpilman's apartment near the German hospital) are tinted blue.
Nazi Germany: Obviously. Just about every Nazi in the movie is a bastard, no surprises there, except for Hosenfeld, who was a good man both in the movie and IRL (he felt ashamed at his country's actions, and in Warsaw, he used his position to refuge people, and made an effort to learn Polish so he could converse with those he befriended).
Never Got To Say Goodbye: Happens with almost all of Szpilman's family, save for his sister, to whom he says moments before being separated:
"I wish I knew you better."
Oh Crap: The look on Szpilman's face when he meets Hosenfeld.
- Also, when poor Szpilman is trying to get an object off the top shelf in one of his better homes, the shelves collapse and all the plates break, leading a neighbor to find out he's hiding there. The look on his face is simultaneously a Tearjerker.
Oscar Bait
The Piano Player: Well, yeah. Although he's a classical concert pianist, once the Nazis move in Szpilman must take cheap gigs in restaurants. (Until It Gets Worse.)
Plummet Perspective: During the aftermath of the Polish uprising, when Szpilman is shot at by Nazis and ends up dangling from a rooftop, slate falling to the streets far below him.
Shout Out to To Shakespeare: The Merchant Of Venice, which deals, of course, with Christians persecuting Jews.
Slice of Life: It's mostly just about Szpilman and his family trying to live a normal life in Warsaw.
Talent Double: Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak, who also performed much of the soundtrack, appears as Adrien Brody's piano-playing hands.
Tearjerker: And how!
Translation Convention: Used with all the Polish characters, but averted with the Germans, who speak German.
Truth in Television: Sadly enough. Polanski supplemented Szpilman's memoirs with some details from his own experience as a Holocaust survivor.
Where Are They Now: At the end of the film, the viewer is told what ultimately happens to Szpilman and Hosenfeld.
World War II
Your Days Are Numbered: Discussed by the three old men in Umschlagplatz before they are herded off to the cattle cars to Treblinka.