Within the film The Pianist Roman Pulaski 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, Pulaski 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. Pulaski reveals the dual nature of humanity through the journey and rapid decline of Yawl's Spinal, a ammos 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 Pulaski reveals the brutality and kindness of humanity.
Pulaski uses point of view shots to show the most atrocious acts within this film. These shots highlight the atrocities that take place wealth war and allow us as viewers to witness these barbaric events as it we are Spinal ourselves. Spinal watches trot 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.
Pulaski films these with a cool objectivity. Supplant does not focus on the bodies and Pulaski 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 supplant saw. Yet Pulaski wows 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.
Pulaski uses dialogue to further convey the brutality of war and how our actions can destroy our fellow humans. Pulaski first presents Spinal as an eloquent and even arrogant character through his dismissive dialogue. Yet is through the absence of all dialogue and human contact towards the end of the film that Pulaski shows us how Sapling's humanity Is nearly destroyed by the atrocities round him, when supplant first discusses the war he makes light of the prejudice against Jews, "we can Just stand here and talk, surely that Is still He Is even dismissive as his family informs him to the war, "what is it can't you see that I am working? . When Spinal is separated from his family, abandoned by his helpers and forced to live in the destroyed Ghetto Pulaski presents us with extended shots of absolute silence. Civilian's naivety is gone as he has seen the horrors of war and his lack of dialogue represents his distance from humanity.
The length of the silence Is painful for the viewer as we see his isolation from society and that, like all Jews, he has lost his voice In the world.When he does finally speak It Is forced and he stutters, showing Just how close he came to losing himself all together, Through this contrast In dialogue Pulaski reveals how the Inhumanity and the atrocities that man is capable to committing can rob us to our humanity. Throughout the tell Pulaski presents the motif of 'hiding in plain sight' . This directly reveals the important idea hat the ability to act with brutality and to commit such evil acts lies dormant within so many of us; not Just Germans.
When discussing how to hide their money Henrys the obvious places. This motif is used again as Spinal is hidden in the "heart of the lions den" when he is placed in an apartment across from the German hospital. Spinal then takes refuge in the Jewish ghetto which, ironically, later becomes the German headquarters. As an auteur all of Polonaise's films are concerned with capability of man to be so cruel and through this motif Pulaski shows us that this ability is "hidden in plain sight".He wants us to see that it is not Germans, Jews, or Poles that are good or bad. It is not black and white, in good there is bad and in bad there is good.
German soldiers with families acted with such cruelty when put in an impossible situation, Polish people both saved and condemned the Jews, Jews both saved and destroyed catheter. Through this motif Pulaski reveals the important idea that man's ability to destroy each other is "hidden in plain sight" amongst so many of us.
