Wednesday, December 16, 2009
"The Pianist" - Period 5
The motion picture, The Pianist is the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who was the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland, if not Europe, in the 1930s. This film does an excellent job of explaining why it became impossible for the Jewish people living in Europe to escape the Nazis and what happened to them during the Holocaust. Post a reflective comment about the film and respond to at least one other student’s comment. Post is due at the end of the day.
24 comments:
Watching the film "The Pianist" has opened my eyes completely. I've heard the stories and read the textbooks about what had happened to the Jewish people, but this movie showed me what books and stories cannot. It showed me the everyday struggle that the Jewish people were put through, and the terrible conditions in which they were forced live in. The constand fear that they had to live with, and the unpredictability of the Nazi soldiers. I was shocked when the Nazi soldiers intruded into a families home and asked them all to stand. When the elderly man in the wheelchair didn't stand the Nazi soldiers picked him out of the chair and threw him off the balcony multiple stories high. Just seeing that image in my mind makes me feel terrified about how someone can treat another human being. Another upsetting image was in the market place, Wladyslaw walked past a boy who held his deceased father in arms. If an image is worth one thousand words, than a video is worth one-hundred thousand. These images have reaffirmed my belief that a holocaust must not happen ever again.
I've seen "The Pianist" a couple of times before watching it in class and it is still hard to watch. Like Garret, the scene with the man in the wheelchair has always stood out for me and I still close my eyes when it comes on. This movie always reminds me about what the Nazis did but on a more personal level. Being able to follow one person through their holocaust experience is different from following millions at a time.
What I saw in "The Pianist" today was horrifying. Like Garrett and Alecia, I have heard stories and read books on the Holocaust but watching this movie was completely different. I always knew that the Holocaust was a terrible event but seeing this film just made everythting we have learned much more real. I could not believe when the Nazis came into the apartments, took an old man in a wheelchair and then threw him over the balcony because he was physically incapable of standing. For one human being to do that to another is immoral and for them to be able to live with themselves after all the damage they have caused is disgusting.
the scene that also stood out most was when the women asked were are u taking use and he just shoot her in the face. for no resson. i agrre with garret the guy in the wheelchar that was throw out the window that was pretty messed up i mean just throwing him out a window in the middle of the street thats not cool.
\lukas
I agree with Garrrett, so ofter we do not feel the full impact of historical events because they are less personal in the history books. This moveie was very eye opening and upsetting. I still find it so hard to believe that humans were capable of there horrible things. I think this movie really emphasized the emotions of the people, how priority's changed from sucess to survival. I also thik this movie was interesting because it showed differt ways that people handled what was happening. Some did whatever they could to not cause trouble, while other fought against what was happening. I also agree that this movie made me realize that this must never be allowed to happen ever again.
I, like Garrett, had my eyes opened by this film. The books do a good job at explaining the holocaust's events, but not why the Jews didn't leave. That has been a question on my mind for a long time. It just didn't make sense to me. I mean if you know something bad is going to happen or something bad is happening, then why not leave. I agree with Alecia and Mel in that the movie is hard to watch. It does a great job of showing the terror. And although it answered many questions for me, there are still some remaining but I think the rest of this course will answer them for me. Overall, this movie, even the little bit we saw, hit me hard, as it should.
I agree with Garrett as well about this movie becoming an eye opener. I have seen anything like that before. It was so hard to watch the jews being mistreated for no reason at all. Like when the old man could not stand, so they decided to throw him over the balcony. And when the woman asked a simple question he just shot her in the face. It's weird to come to the realization that the soldiers were not bothered by killing the jews. Some of them just killed them because they felt like it. It was so sad to see the poor conditions that the Jews lived in when they all were forced to live in the "ghetto". This film proves how awful the holocaust was.
I agree with Mackenzie when she says, "It's weird to come to the realization that the soldiers were not bothered by killing the jews.” I can not believe the way the Jews were treated. This movie put it in pictures what I have heard about, but never seen. I was shocked when the elderly man was thrown out the window because he could not stand up. The ways these Jews were treated and tricked into doing things is terrible. Before watching this movie I often wondered why didn’t the Jews just leave? Now I know that they couldn’t. They were treated terribly and I feel terrible for everyone that had to go through this.
The movie "The Pianist" Shows a great understanding of why the jews couldnt just pack up and leave town. It was almost as significant as a prisoner trying to escape jail. There were brick walls barbwire attached to the tops to prevent climbing over. There were guards armed with guns to. The jews basically were prisoners. And any jew who retaliated at all would be shot n killed
I have never seen the movie "The pianist". I cant imagine what it was like for jewish familys. Having a member of there family being dropped off a balcony has got to be traumatizing for the youth. Hearing gun shots through out the night wondering when your door is going to be knocked on. The suspense would be unbearable, and the thought of death is so near.
The film the "Pianist" has opened my eyes to what really has happened during the time of the war. The jewish people were really abused and treated horribly. They could be shot and killed on the spot and they made Jewish people dance and sing and do things whenever they wanted. Seeing the Nazi's dump that old man from his wheel chair over the balcony was rediculous then taking the family and having them run then shooting them as they pleased was rediculous. I felt this movie was very interesting and showed me a ton of things that I didn't know before and opened my eyes to many new things.
Nate Montgomery commented above mastros
I also agree with Mackenzie when she says, "It's weird to come to the realization that the soldiers were not bothered by killing the Jews.” This film is also an eye opener and shows you what life was like for Jewish people at this time. What surprised me the most was the fact that the Nazi soldiers don’t have any problem killing a Jew. The fear that they had to live in must have been unbearable. This was a good alternative to textbooks and the internet. Nonetheless this film has showed me a lot of things I didn’t know, and it has opened up my eyes in many different ways.
This was by far the most interesting and intense movie I have ever seen inside of school because of the truth behind it. Seening what the Germans actually did portrayed in this movie was a huge eye opener to me. The Jews were treated ridculously. I noticed how the woman stood on the sidewalk as the Jews were marching down the street. She was a perfect example of people should never be bystanders. Everyone should see this film to make sure something like this wil never happen again. People who forget their past are condemned to repeat it.
I never seen such a powerful film before. I honestly hope we get to finish it. This movie strikes me with full force. The Jews were treated like farm animals, and sometimes I tell myself they were treated as if they were nothing at all. The Nazis stripped the Jews of their humanity. The film is full of disturbing images, but it is for a reason. We, with our own eyes get to wittness a very accurate potryal of the horrible and evil ways of the Nazis. There were a few scenes that struck my heart the most. I liked it when the main character refused to stop playing the piano in the beggning of the film when the building was being attacked. I couldn't believe it when I saw the old man trying to steal the woman's food, and he spilled it and ate off the ground. The child being beaten to death made me very angry. Dead bodies were on the ground, as if it were no big deal. They made the Jews dance and laugh at them. I remember the scene where they take the Jews outside and line them up. The woman asks "Are you talking to us?" and the solider turns around and shoots her in the head. But the scene that got to me more than anything, was when the Nazi Soilders picked the poor old man out of his wheel chair and tossed him over the railing and fell to his death and seeing the woman scream in horror,that scene disturbed me so much!! The part that scares me the most? Its all true. It all happened. It was real. Evil exists, no matter how much you try to dress it up or disguise it. After watching this, I hope when this class is over, I will come to find out that Hitler and the Nazis truely paid for their evil crimes.
It was difficult watching the film "The Pianist." I've never truly understood why the Jewish people couldn't escape the Nazi's until I watched the film. I agree with Garrett when he said one of the most disturbing images in the movie was when the Nazi's took the man in the wheel chair and threw him over the balcony. Then making everyone go outside to try and make a run so the Nazi's could make a game of killing them. The film gives the emotions that a text book, an image or a tape player can't give. I'm horrified of the way the Nazi's treated the Jewish people.
For me the movie "The Pianist" put a face on the victims of the holocaust and it made the Holocaust alot more personal. I couldn't bear seeing an intire family get shot down by the natiz in the middle of the night. It's terrible to see how the natiz didnt even feel bad for killing inocent people. Its puzzling to see how people are capable of commiting such horrible acts and then laughing. What happend to the Jews durring the holocaust is absolutly disgusting.
The movie "The Pianist" really suprised me how the Jewish people were treated. It really suprised me to see how the Nazi's wouldn't care how they treated the Jewish people. They would just do whatever they felt like to them. I was so shocked to see the horrible conditions that they lived in and how little food they had. I was very surpised to see the Nazi's push the elderly man off of the balcony just because he wouldn't stand up. When he couldn't because he was in a wheelchair. It's very hard to hear these stories how the Jewish people were treated. I feel so bad for them and all of things that they went through.
Although I was absent for the first part of the movie, I was deeply moved by the part I did see. As Garrett said, watching it is very different from reading it. It's much worse than I could ever internally visualize. As I have never experienced many of the things they did, I am unable to imagine it on my own. My mind can't really comprehend living in constant fear of death. It's disturbing how easily the Nazi's would just kill someone as if they weren't a person. I had a lot of trouble watching such blunt cruelty.
This film is incredibly well done. It keeps the viewer interested and informed by using factual events and information. The acting in the movie is also very well done. You can really begin to feel the pain and suffering that the Jewish people in the holocaust were feeling. It is a great portrayal of the brutality and the inhuman way that the Nazi's treated those of the Jewish faith.
I agree with Nick when he says that he could not believe that the German soldiers could kill Jews so easily. Throughout the movie I was wondering how the killing of innocent people could go on without any sense of wrongdoing. The film also made me feel terribly for the poor Jewish communities who were completely separated and killed like animals. They were not treated liked human beings, and this film really showed this well. It was truly an amazing story though because of one man's determination and will to live. Overall, I thought the Pianist showed me a lot about how Jews were handled during World War II.
The Pianst made it clear to me exactly how trapped and defenseless the jews were. for some reason, it never really occured tyo me that there was literally no place for them to run. i was thoroughly shocked at the unflinching, unremorseful manner in which the nazis killed. Nick also raised a point that i never realized. Jews were humiliated by nazis. they were forced to do demeaning and insulting things for entertainment. it literally disgusted me. it terrifies me that humans are capable of such hatred and evil.
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