The motion picture,
The Pianist, is based upon the true life story of Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family. Mr. Szpilman was one of the most accomplished musicians in Poland before the Nazis attacked the country in 1939. The film does an excellent job of explaining why it became impossible for the Jewish people living in Europe to escape the Nazis and showcases the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto. What did you learn from the film that you did not know before?
27 comments:
After having watched the first part of The Pianist, my eyes have been opened to a lot of different things that occurred during the Holocaust. I was particularly affected by the scene where the Nazi guards stormed the ghetto and took all the men and made them run for their lives while they shot at them and when they tried to make the handicapped man stand up yet he could not for obvious reasons as well as the fact that he couldn’t understand German. I was horrified when they picked up his chair and threw him out the window as if he were nothing. I can’t imagine how terrifyingly awful this experience was. As I watched this film I could feel my hair stand on end. When I am nervous or anxious my legs tend to shake and mine wouldn’t stop while I watched this. I could only hope that something of this severity never happens again, but as history has shown occurrences like these continued to happen all over the world. Instances like these of varying degrees have occurred in the U.S. in dealing with black Americans, in former Yugoslavia between the Serbs and Croates, in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsis, etc. The list could grow and I feel angry that this keeps happening and why peace has yet to really be achieved. I wish that people could get along despite their differences and could put their prejudices aside for once.
The Pianist was a very eye opening film. I never knew that the Nazis were so ruthless. The parts that will stick with me for the longest times are the time the man in a wheelchair was pushed out of a 3 story building because he didn't (and couldn't) stand when the Nazis entered the room and the time when they shot a woman who asked "where are you taking us?". It was also amazing (hard to believe) the amount of people who lay dead on the street with people paying no attention to them. I didn't realize how many people died during this time. Another thought that astounds me is the fact that people could believe that they are better than another race just because they were told by a person of authority. It's scary how awful the times were.
The pieanist really shocked me. It showed how cruel the nazis really were, something I was ill informed about. I found it extremely saddening and frustrating that even with all their efforts and orders they followed, the family was still sent to die. It pisses me off that they would just sit there and let thousands of Jewish people just die in the ghettos of starvation. The least they could've done was feed them or supply them with some food. I especially hated watching the soldiers make the dance and entertain them. It shows that these men were nothing but the scum of the earth. All in all this movie showed me what life wa sreally like for those who knew they were destined to die.
I felt this was one of the most powerful films we've seen this year so far. I found the scene where the man in the wheelchair getting thrown out the window was powerful. It shows just how cruel the nazis were to the jews. Also the scene where the man was eating food from the ground really shows how desperate the jews were for food in the gettos. I knew that the nazis were very mean, but to see it in a movie really hits you. I was very dissapointed that we never finished the movie because I really want to know what happens next.
"The Pianist" definitely opened my eyes to a whole different side of the Nazis that I had never learned about before. The Nazis were more brutal and ruthless in this film than any of the others we have seen this year. One specific scene that stood out as the most astounding scene to me was when a Nazi pushed a disabled man three stories out of a window. While the movie did do a decent job explaining why the Nazis thought of Jews in this light, even that explanation cant begin to provide reasoning for some of the actions that the Nazis committed. The Nazis were taught to think of Jews as an inferior race; however, these Nazis treated them far worse than even animals. Some of the starvation tactics and public murders of Jews are actions that humans would never even think to use on animals. Overall, it takes a severely messed up human to commit the actions that many of the Nazis did, and no explanation of brainwash could make what the Nazis did acceptable.
From the time we spent with this film, it brought back an emotion i hadn't felt in years. An overwhelming sense of coldness from my head and down through my body. The unshakable felling of a lump in my throat and my head feeling empty. The images made me sick and I've only seen one glimpse of what the Europeans faced under Hitler's rule. And to add to the sickness, no one nation put forth any contribution until they were effectively threatens themselves. The things we allow ourselves to do to each other is outright disgusting. Have we really learned anything? We'll see not when the time comes, but, after, one all is said and done and fates have been decided.
This video was incredibly powerful, and I think really illustrated the ruthlessness and downright animalistic, bestial nature of the Nazis. The scene where the man was thrown out the window was probably the most powerful, but directly after that, the Germans told the Jews to run away and then proceeded to gun them down as they tried desperately to escape. Then, the one woman who asked the Nazi commander where the Jews were being taken was shot in the head without a second thought. The film really did a good job of portraying the ghettos and the terrible conditions were the Jews were forced to live long before they were sent to the death camps. I was amazed by the scene where the man tried to steal from the old lady, and then, when the food fell on the street, proceeded to eat off of the pavement. It was appalling to see people walk by dead bodies lying on the street either from hunger, sickness, or Nazi brutality; it really displayed the permeating feeling of hopelessness and futility. The Jews knew they were going to die and many just accepted it and gave up. When the Jews were forced into the tiny walled holding area, I was amazed at the way the Jewish police treated their own kind and how disgusting the conditions were. One of the scenes that really affect me was when the woman kept crying because she smothered her baby to prevent the police from hearing her. The idea that a mother would kill her own child in an attempt to save herself was so strange to me, I almost didn't understand what was happening. This movie was probably the most powerful tat we have seen this year and I think really illustrated the way that Jews were treated.
This film was so interesting because it showed just how awful and rutheless the Nazis could be. It seemed like in the beginning they were just doing what Hitler told them and following directions but this film let us see that it was so much more than that. They were incredibly cruel just because they could be. I can't even imagine how the Jews were feeling. The thought that anyone could just come into your house and kill you for no reason at any time seems terrifying.
Throughout my years of education prior to the current time, I've learned that the Holocaust was a gruesome time period in which millions of innocent souls were ruthlessly murdered just because the Nazis assumed power. However, this movie gave me a much closer look into the merciless and cold-hearted nature that the Nazis possessed over innocent people. The scene that affected me the most was when the man in the wheelchair was thrown off the balcony because he couldn't stand up when the Nazis ordered he and his family to do so. Although it was just a movie, I now know that instances similar to this occurred during the time without a doubt. Also, when the woman innocently asked where they were going to be taken and the Nazi shot her in the head, it was not only hard to watch but it also opened my eyes to the true cruelty of the Nazis. Another scene that was difficult to watch was when the Spielman family spent all of their money on a single piece of caramel to split between the six of them while the woman behind them continually cried over the accidental death of her son due to suffocation. These scenes portrayed, for me, the ultimate struggle to be alive during the time period and I kept asking myself what the Jews did to deserve such harsh punishments, the answer always being "nothing." Overall, this film was incredibly eye-opening and difficult to watch, but it was definitely a huge learning experience for me.
After watching The Pianist I understood why the Jews didn't leave, even though Hitler´s intentions to the Jews were no secret. While I had understood there were limitations to travel, I didn't understand why they wouldn't just leave of get out in any way they could. From watching the film I learned about how many people actually died in the ghettos, and the base cruelty of the Nazis towards the Jews. Even Jews were cruel to Jews, which I didn´t understand. I was also struck by just how far people will go if they know they can get away with it. The Nazis dumped an old man in a wheelchair off a third story balcony, and shot a family and then ran over the people who were still alive, simply because they could. They did terrible things because they could, and the world tacitly gave the Nazis this power because they refused to intervene effectively until it was too late. The Jews were treated like beasts and slaughtered like animals, all because the Nazis knew they could do whatever they wanted. And as bad as that is, what concerned me most what that the world let the Nazis do this by being bystanders.
4/8/14
I had watched The Pianist years ago when I was younger and it was a film that really stuck with me throughout the years. When I was younger it definitely opened me up to what the holocaust was and what happened during it. I was a bit confused on why Jewish families, who could afford to leave the country, didn’t at the time and after watching the film during class I realized that it was because the Germans made it impossible for them to do so. A scene that stuck out to me was when the old man was thrown off the balcony. Even though I knew what was coming, it was still horrifying and I was completely disgusted. The film made me angry because before we had discussed the fact that people will do things, no matter what they are, when following orders. I am disgusted that human nature is able to do such horrible things even though they may be “following orders” and even more so when they take things a step further such as when the German soldiers humiliated the Jews by making them dance or when they would ruthlessly kill them or injure them without reason. The worst part is that I understand why they did it making it impossible for me to pretend to not understand it.
I was absent for these days
it will never happen, we will never learn. only when we suffer shall we truly know how it feels... and I pray someone shall rise to save us.
At first when I heard we were going to watch the pianist I wasn't sure what to think of it. I had never seen it belfry and thought it was going to be boring or not really take a good look at what the Jewish people had to go through. I was very wrong and am very glad we watched this movie because it has taught me a lot of things I didn't know about Jewish ghettos or the facts about how a genocide becomes possible.
I learned a lot after watching "The Pianist". I had no idea how awful the conditions within the ghettos were and how many Jews and young children died from starvation and disease. The scene where the handicap man was thrown off the balcony made me physically nauseous. The Germans had no limits and really could do what ever they wanted and that was so terrifying. The Nazi's treated the Jews so horrifically and after reading and talking about it in class seeing this movie made it so much more real.Honestly I can't believe the suffering and pain the Jews went through and thinking about it makes me sick.
Unlike some others in the class, this was my first time seeing the Pianist. I thought the movie was very impressive and very well done, and it's a shame we didn't get to finish it. What really stood out to me about the film were little details here and there. Though never discussed or really focused on, the Spzilman walks by dozens of starving people, as well as physically stepping over a few dead ones, some of whom were children. Also the scene where the SS raided the apartment building, threw the old man off the balcony, and shot all the other Jews as they fled will probably stay in my mind forever. That sort of cruelty exposes the evil inside every one of us.
The Pianist was a very eye opening film. The story of Vladek's family and their story of survival was scary and heart breaking. It really showed how much connections can help you in a time like the holocaust. The movie really shows how ruthless and unforgiving the nazis were to the jews. It really did show why the jews just couldn't leave. Also the the film really showed that it wasn't just the concentration camps that were brutal. It was also the ghettos
I haven't been able to think about anything else but this movie. I only thought that the Nazis rounded up the Jews to put them in another place to live. I had no idea how horrifying it really was. When the Nazis went into the room and the man in the wheelchair couldn't stand, they rolled him to the window and threw him out 3 stories. How could anyone be so brutal? I guess that I've been in a fog, being an American, and being so safe and with no fear about Nazi type soldiers invading my house. I remember that my great uncle couldn't walk...it would be too terrible if I witnessed him being thrown out a 3 story building. How can I do something to prevent this from happening again? I feel so helpless.
There are many things that I learned from the Pianist that I did not know before. One being that in Poland they forcefully moved all the Jews into a segregated area incased in walls with no way out. I didn’t know that before they were sent to concentration camp they were in living conditions like this. Also, I didn’t know of the Jewish police inside the walls as well. Jews who were picked and some who volunteered to keep other Jews in line. Another thing I learned was that at this point, death was an unsensitized realization for people inside the barricades because they saw so much of it every day. What really stuck with me the most from this movie was how while the Jews were contained, their houses would be raided by the Nazi’s and regularly and at random where they would execute Jewish families for no reason. Overall there were many new things I learned from this movie and it did make it easier to understand how it was nearly impossible for the Jewish people to just get up and leave during that time.
This movie was eye opening. Even though it wasn't a documentary it gave a lot of information about how Jews were really treated. It was really sad to see how the Nazis would ask the old crippled man to stand up seeing that clearly he couldn't and since he didn't obey he was thrown outside the window. It was very upsetting to see that people would walk the streets seeing dead body's every where all the time. At one point it was normal to them that they would just walk over them. It is very sad to see that there can be that much hate towards a group of people.
While watching this movie i felt horrible. The way the jews were treated was beyond me. They all felt helpless in every situation they were in. there was no way out and no hope for them. It made me sick to my stomache. You dont know what struggle is unless went through stuff like this.
I learned about just how much indifference the germans had for the Jews. The scene where the guards raided the ghetto and tossed over an old man was especially brutal to watch. They even shot people with not so much as even a twitch of emotion. It forced me to see this event through the eyes of the victims. The scene where the guards humiliated the jews by making the crippled and elderly dance deeply angered me. It's mindblowing to see how brainwashed the germans were. There's absolutely no remorse in their eyes.
After watching the movie The Pianist, I realized the extent of the Holocaust. I really like how this film showed us a first hand view of what Jews faced during the Holocaust. In the other films we have watched, they were more informative and just told us what happened. This film had a more personal perspective from a family's point of view and showed us all the hardships that the Jews faced, even ones that aren't shown in the books. This point of view perspective helped me understand the Holocaust and what the Jews went through much better.
This movie had a huge impact on me. It angered me to see how horribly and how cruel the Jews were treated. When the crippled old man was thrown out the window it was sickening. I was speechless. I learned a lot from watching this mike and I really got to see how horrible the Jews were treated.
Absent
what i learned was that the mindset of the jewish people in warsaw couldnt have been just get out of there as quickly as you can because they really had no place to go. A feeling of hopelessness infected the entire community and it allowed the Nazi's to have almost complete control of their lives.
After seeing the pianist I was able to understand just how brutal the Nazis were and I was able to see how truly helpless the Jews were. Although there were hundreds of Jews they were no match for even a few heavily armed Nazi soldiers. After seeing the scene when the old man was thrown from the window you could see that the Nazis true did not think of the Jews a human they truly believed them to be something far less them human. This peace of the movie that we watched reflected greatly how much power the Nazis had and how they could convince Jews to be officers and force other Jews into camps.
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