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THE PIANIST |
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Year: 2002
Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Ronald Harwood, Wladyslaw Szpilman
Cast:
Adrien Brody .... Wladyslaw Szpilman
Emilia Fox .... Dorota
Michal Zebrowski .... Jurek
Ed Stoppard (I) .... Henryk
Maureen Lipman .... Mother
Frank Finlay .... Father
Joachim Paul Assböck .... Schutzpolizei
Thomas Kretschmann .... Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
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The heart-wrenching, true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman's desperate struggle to stay alive in the Warsaw Ghetto is the kind of project that would scare many filmmakers away. For Roman Polanski, however, the story was of deep personal significance. He himself was imprisoned in another Polish "ghetto" and had wanted for some time to make a film about the Nazi occupation of his home country. Steven Spielberg had asked him to direct Schindler's List, but Roman turned the offer down because that story took place in Krakow, where he had been held. The project, he said, was simply too close to his own experience.
When he read Szpilman's harrowing autobiography, which he describes as "very dry, without sentimentalism or embellishments", he knew the moment had come. Telling himself "it's either now or never," he set about making arrangements. It wasn't just the historical setting that made this story resonate with Roman. His preference for a life of solitude is well-known, and this theme also lies at the heart of the piece. In essence, the protagonist's survival depended on his almost complete isolation.
The finished work, lauded as a masterpiece by many critics, also gives actor Adrien Brody his long-overdue status as a leading man. His sensitive treatment of the character proves beyond doubt the depth of his talent. It is also the result of exhaustive preparation. The 6ft 1in actor slimmed down to just nine stone and admits that is took him six months to recover from the emotional and physical ordeal of making the film.
Click on photos below to enlarge
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