The motion picture,
The Pianist is the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who was the most accomplished piano player in Poland, if not all of 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 the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Warsaw. Post a reflective comment about the film and respond to at least one other student’s comment.
17 comments:
This movie was really disturbing and many scenes made my heart drop to my stomach. At some points I almost blurted out a what the (f-bomb). Even though the holocaust for sure did happened, I still have a hard time believing that people would really have the nerve to treat others the way that they did, how could they live with themselves and not be so emotionally scared that they would just stop. The scene where they drop the old man out of his wheel chair off the balcony was inhumane and absurd, these nazi's were not people, they were demons.
The film was really interesting to watch and learn about how the Nazis treated the Jews in Poland. The movie helped me understand how difficult it would have been for the Jews to try and make an escape as none them had sufficient money to do so or wanted to risk leaving their family or loved ones behind. Some scenes were incredibly graphic and difficult to watch such as the Nazis pushing the man in the wheel chair off a balcony. Although this is a horrific act, I disagree with Annie calling them demons. Instead, I think this shows how weak the human mind can be as many people will let one powerful leader, Hitler, brainwash them and kill anyone who doesn't follow his orders.
I was absent for the second half of this movie, but from what I saw the Jews, in many cases, did not escape from the Nazis. This was because many of the Jewish people struggled financially. The Pianist's family was only allowed to keep a certain amount of money in their house at all times. Also, the family seemed to hold out hope that everything would be alright despite the horrific treatment that they were subject to. I agree with Pat. The Nazis were not, as Annie said, demons. They were brainwashed by the ideas of an overally powerful leader. As much as we love to think that the Nazis were horrible people, most of our class would have become members of the Hitler Youth and SS if we had lived in this time. It wasn't that they were individually bad people. This new leader just brought out the worst in them.
This movie was a very powerful depiction of the life of a jewish family under the Nazi regime. Although i was absent for the first part of this film, the atrocities portrayed during the second portion of this film were enough to make an impression on me. Scenes such as when the nazi's threw the crippled man over the balcony were in my belief not proof of the evil in each and every nazi, but rather proof of how deeply the german people were brainwashed, and pressured into following orders. I also agree with mike, in that we must consider as well that if we were all put in that situation, we too would more than likely succumb to the nazi party.
This movie does a great job of depicting how and why most of the Jewish population did not simply get up and run away from the Nazis. It also did a great job of portraying the everyday life of a Jew during these times, and showed what they had to do just to survive the day. I was also surprised at how harsh the Nazis were to the Jews, at any given second for asking any question or doing anything wrong you could be killed.
I found it injuring to the eye when the gentleman in the wheelchair was thrown over the balcony. It shows there was no hesitation or doubt of the officers, they killed like they breath, a dicrace to themselves and a torture apon many innocent people. The Nazis were not people, they were mindless and primative.
The movie was very disturbing, yet interesting. I always wondered why the Jews didn't just leave and run away from the Nazis. Now I understand that the Nazis basically trapped them and there was no possible escape. The one scene that disturbed me the most was the Nazis throwing the man in the wheelchair over the balcony because he couldn't stand. I agree with Pat, that the human mind can be brainwashed by one intimidating ruler.
Watching this movie made me nauseous. Some of the things that the Nazi's were shown doing literally made me feel sick. The aggressiveness and relentlessness shown by the soldiers was inhumane and I can't believe people can actually do that to other people. I agree with Annie, that it bothered me that they could do this and not feel emotionally scared.
This was THE most disturbing film I have ever watched in school. I agree with Matt when he beilieved it was too hard to watch the man in the wheelchair be thrown out of the building because he was told to stand...when clearly he wouldnot be able to. These Nazi's are portrayed as heartless robots. It's impossible to imagine how the Jewish race was treated.
I think this movie more accuratley depicts the actions of the Nazis. Many movies focus only on the battle scenes while The Pianist shows how terrible the Nazis treated everybody. I think the most eye opening scene in the movie is when the man in the wheel chair is dropped from the balcony just because he can't stand. I agree with Mike that many nazis weren't necessarily bad people but Hitler just brought out the worst in them.
I thought this movie did a great job of showing what it was like for Jews during this time. I also foud the way Jews were treated very disturbing. One scene that really stuck out and i found disgustiong was when they threw the man in the wheel chair over the balcony because he would not stand up. I agree with Nick about how I always wondered why the jews just didnt get up and try to defend them selves.
This is probably the first movie I've seen that really shows why the Jewish people found it impossible to escape the Nazis. It is hard for me to say I like the movie because of some of the horrific scenes in it but I do think it is very interesting. Even after everything we have already learned about the nazia and how they treated the Jewish people, it is still shocking to me that they could be so cruel. I agree with Mike that it's not that all of the Nazis were bad individuals, it's more that Hitler brought of the worst in them.
I think that this film did a great job of portraying what Jewish families actually went through in during the time of Hitler’s rule of Germany. Documentaries show you what happened during different events with straight facts and some images taken from in this case the Holocaust. But this film doesn’t really give any facts, just shows you what it would have been like for a typical Jewish family, which allows you understand what actually happened in a more meaningful way.
I agree with annie and I was thinking about how anybody could deny that the holacuast could have ever happened. It also disgusted me how the germans used jew's men as the police of the jews. How could a fellow jew do that? The little jewish boy selling carmel for money, was heartbreaking. The little kid didn't know any better and was charging starving people there last nickles and dimes. It stunned me when he cut up a bit size of carmel and split it with his family as the only source of food.
I found this film shocking as to what it was like to be a Jew living in Nazi Germany, and it helped to show that the Jews truly had no chance to defend themselves against the Nazis. I was also disgusted at the complete disregard for the Jews shown by the Nazis, as the film really focused on the fact that Jews were thought of as below humans, and this was very evident by the way they were treated. I agree with Nick that this movie is very different from a documentary, as it doesn't tell facts and statistics, but it shows the struggle people faced every single day.
I found many things about this film to be very disturbing. One woman was immediately shot in the head after asking a simple question to an officer about where they were taking her. Her question wasn't threatening, nor did it do anybody harm. But she was murdered in cold blood. That was the killers choice. He had no one telling him to shoot her, he just acted as though it were instinct. My mouth hung open during that scene as well as the one with the man in the wheelchair. I was horrified. And I do remember when Annie almost dropped the f-bomb, and agreeing with and thinking what an appropriate reaction that was.
This film really grabbed my attention. I enjoyed it in a way because it was so captivating but it was also really sad. Going along with what Annie said, the scene that stood out the most to me was the one where they dropped the man in the wheel chair over the balcony. That honestly left me speechless
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