The Pianist 2002 A zongorista / Directed by Roman Polanski / Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski / Based on The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman

UPC 5998133149930

MADE IN HUNGARY

AUDIO: Hungarian 5.1, English 5.1

SUBTITLES: Hungarian

Runtime: 142 minutes + extras

English Summary:

The Pianist is a 2002 World War II biographical drama film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, the script was written by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist, 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.

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.

On 16 August 1942, Szpilman and his family are transported to Treblinka extermination camp as part of Operation Reinhard. But a friend in the Jewish Ghetto Police recognizes Władysław at the Umschlagplatz, and separates him from his family. He becomes a slave labourer, and learns of a coming Jewish revolt. He helps the resistance by smuggling weapons into the ghetto, on one occasion narrowly avoiding a suspicious guard. Szpilman eventually manages to escape, and goes into hiding with help from a non-Jewish friend, Andrzej Bogucki, and his wife, Janina.

Hungarian Summary:

1939, Varsó. Wladyslaw Szpilman zongoraművész egy lemezstúdióban dolgozik, amikor bombázni kezdik a várost. A felvétel félbeszakad, Wladyslaw hazatér. Otthon zsidó szülei és testvérei megpróbálják eldönteni, mit vigyenek magukkal, ha a növekvő náci fenyegetés miatt menekülniük kell Varsóból. Wladyslaw nem akarja elhagyni a várost, mivel szereti, s legalább annyira rajong Dorotáért, a fiatal csellistáért. A nő nagyon aggódik a növekvő antiszemitizmus miatt. Családja nem sokkal azelőtt költözött be a fallal körülvett gettóba, és megpróbálnak alkalmazkodni az ottani élethez. A zsidó Itzak Heller kollaborál a nácikkal, és azt akarja, hogy Wladyslaw és Henryk csatlakozzon a zsidó rendőrséghez, de a fivérek visszautasítják az ajánlatot. Miközben megpróbálnak pénzt keresni, hogy eltartsák a családot, a körülmények egyre rosszabbra fordulnak.

Cast / Szereplők: