Wednesday, May 5, 2010

PERIOD 7 - "THE PIANIST"

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 tens of thousands of Jews living in Warsaw. Post a reflective comment about the film and respond to at least one other student’s comment.

19 comments:

allie lonstein said...

I thought the portion of the movie when the child was escaping underneath the wall was very powerful. It was so awful to see the child get pounded to death while the pianist was helping him out. The parts of the movie today made me feel sick to my stomach and it was extremely disturbing.

sara ortiz colon said...

This movie is very shocking sad the first time i see it i cried i would never in my life think something this harsh would happen to anyon in this world this movie changed my life in many ways it showed me how things where how people were and how they were in the state of denial

Tom O'Connor said...

I thought that this movie was really difficult to watch. The scene where the old man in the wheel chair was thrown over the ledge was just absurd. The movie gave me a much better picture of what the Warsaw Ghetto was really like and I have a good appreciation for how bad it must have been. I am definatly going to finish this movie outside of school.

Allison Shea said...

This movie really shows the how cruel the German Soldiers were to the Jews. I found the part with the old man in the wheel chair especailly hard to watch. But then again, I almost think that was a better way to die then starving to death and being totured while you are starving.

Elaria Meshreky said...

This is my first time watching this movie. Now understand why so many are raving about it. When watching it in class i kept having physical reactions to the movie. I would automatically cover my eyes, or squirm, or get really angry. As much as we talk about what really happened during those times in class, it is so different watching them happen. So far, the scenes that will forever be embedded in my mind is when the Soldiers came in and randomly chose a family to shoot, especially the part where they just let the old man drop down from the balcony. Another part that stuck with me is when this guy was taking the old ladys food from her hand. When it fell he was literally sucking it up from the ground. Hearing the old lady cry was reallly hard. Im looking forward to watching it again in class, and definalty want to watch it again on my own.

Ryan Santom said...

wow that really helps me see clerly what has happend to the jews before they were put in the camps like arshwics. i am now at a new level of disgust how the nazis could do this and have so much happines in there lives without having the greif for all of the lives they have ruind. i hope that these nazis get in the end the feelings that the jews in those camps had before they died so as to greive and beg for forgivness in the afterlife.

Ryan Santom said...

wow that really helps me see clerly what has happend to the jews before they were put in the camps like arshwics. i am now at a new level of disgust how the nazis could do this and have so much happines in there lives without having the greif for all of the lives they have ruind. i hope that these nazis get in the end the feelings that the jews in those camps had before they died so as to greive and beg for forgivness in the afterlife.

Unknown said...

Sanjiv Banavali

I thought the movie did a great job of giving us a frist-hand account of what happened when the Nazi's invaded Poland. Some of the scenes in the movie were extremely disturbing and I just had a hard time comprhending how the Nazi's could kill millions of Jews, did they not have a heart? Also, If anybody tried to be a "hero" they would be killed instantly.

Evan Pappazisis said...

spI think The Pianist is a fantastic movie, and having seen it twice I can sincerely say that the film grabs my attention each time and does not let it go. Seeing The Pianist in this course, however, has given me a different perspective on the film's meaning. Seeing Wladyslaw Szpilman a different light, being depicted as not a fighter, but as a survivor, truly shows that the conditions of the Halocaust were simply unbearable. For the most part, the second half of the movie is Szpilman on his own, occasionally being helped by some brave souls, trying to fight for his life and survive the Nazi regime in Poland. Szpilman has done nothing to harm these people though, and it seems that he is being chased to his breaking point throughout the entire film, having done nothing to provoke his chasers. It is this realization that I have come to after seeing the film for another time that has really shed light on the extreme conditions of the Halocaust.

Andrew La Belle said...

I have to say, for me this film was right up there with freedom writers. It was a very intense film, especially when your looking at it in from our perspective. I remember when we were watching in class someone actually gasped when the SS officer executed the one Jewish lady. The film was very powerful and it really gave good insight to just how Jewish people felt. There was nowhere to run, no where to hide, they were completely helpless. I actually cant wait to see the rest of the film, and I suggest everyone do the same.

Andrew La Belle said...

I have to say, for me this film was right up there with freedom writers. It was a very intense film, especially when your looking at it in from our perspective. I remember when we were watching in class someone actually gasped when the SS officer executed the one Jewish lady. The film was very powerful and it really gave good insight to just how Jewish people felt. There was nowhere to run, no where to hide, they were completely helpless. I actually cant wait to see the rest of the film, and I suggest everyone do the same.

Emily Madson said...

Like a lot of other people it was really hard for me to watch the scene with the old man. It made me think about how hard it would be to have to watch your family suffer and not be able to do anything about it. The Jewish people couldn't escape the suffering anywhere and they were forced to watch as people they loved were tortured and murdered.

Jon Rohald said...

I was absent for this assignment.

Haemin Burke said...

I've seen this movie before and it still hasn't failed in capturing my attention and allowing me to realize the extreme measures in which the Jews faced. This movie really shows the true horror in which Jews had to experience and go through. Despite the fact that "The Pianist" is only a movie it's horrifying to realize that these kinda events actually occured in real life.

Mariane Leite said...

That is the type of movie that you watch and wont forget, it gives you the real perspective of it all. The treatment and the absurds of the time. The man in the wheel chair and the woman that was shoot just for asking where they were going was just unbelievable.

Asher Abrahams said...

I found watching this movie to be extremely emotional. Watching this movie instilled an extreme hatred for the nazis. To see them treat people this way was almost unreal. i will defiently be renting this movie!

Rachel Saltzman said...

The Pianist was extremely effective in showing the real living conditions in the ghettos- I had seen lots of Holocaust films before this, but none of them had focused so much on exposing what horrible things went on in ghettos. I agree with what Tom said about it being hard to watch (especially when the man was dropped from the wheelchair)- it didnt exactly leave anything for the imagination, and that made it so much more powerful and realistic.

Rachel Afshari said...

I'm really sorry this is late Mr. Gallagher but I was out of school for a few days

Kelly Reilly said...

I was not in class for the majority of the film.