Technique Analysis of the Pianist

Within the film The Pianist Roman Polanski presents us with the important idea that man is capable of committing acts of great brutality and of destroying their fellow man and in turn humanity itself. However, Polanski also reveals that it is not a condition of Germans to be evil and Jews to be noble. In fact, it is humanity which is capable of great acts of kindness and great acts of atrocity. Polanski reveals the dual nature of humanity through the journey and rapid decline of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous Jewish pianist who survives the holocaust in war stricken Poland. It is through point of view shots, dialogue and the motif of “hiding in plain sight” that Polanski reveals the brutality and kindness of humanity.
Polanski uses point of view shots to show the most atrocious acts within this film. These shots highlight the atrocities that take place within war and allow us as viewers to witness these barbaric events as if we are Szpilman ourselves. Szpilman watches from his window as an elderly man in a wheelchair is thrown from the top storey by German Soldiers. He peers through the peephole of his apartment as a Polish land lady demands that he reveals himself, “get him he’s a Jew”. Perhaps the most horrifying is, as he watches through the crack of a window, German soldiers burn bodies in the street and then continue to eat their lunch. Polanski films these with a cool objectivity. Szpilman does not focus on the bodies and Polanski doesn’t zoom in as the old man is thrown to his death. This adds to the realism and makes the viewer horrified that these acts truly occurred. We are forced to see what Szpilman saw. Yet Polanski shows us both Poles and Germans acting with such inhumanity to reveal that it is not your nationality or religion that makes you ‘bad’ it is a condition of humanity and situation.
Polanski uses dialogue to further convey the brutality of war and how our actions can destroy our fellow humans. Polanski first presents Szpilman