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THE PIANIST review
THE PIANIST is a film that most will see exclusively as a Holocaust film. A movie about the Warsaw Jew experience over the course of Nazi Occupation. I agree with these things. I hold that Roman Polanski’s THE PIANIST is not only the most exceptional film set during and concerning the Holocaust, not only is it the best film in Roman Polanski’s amazing career… And yes, I am including those early Polanski films… But this is also the best film about the universal struggle of art, the artist and beauty against the horrors and trials that mankind and fate has put before it. This is the struggle of genius to weather hell. The pursuit of a dream through the darkest recesses of the human existence. THE PIANIST is a towering work of genius, breathtaking at each and every corner it takes.
I saw this film in my least favorite environment to watch a film. My least favorite time of the morning and with a very very bad ankle that I was being told to stay off of, but this was the Golden Palm triumph film by Roman Polanski that I’ve been dying to see since I very first heard those reports from Cannes. I was told that the film was a horror movie set in reality. That it was a variation on I AM LEGEND with Nazis. This is very very far from the truth.
Imagine a musician that is quite talented. He was just on the verge of international fame. His tickling of the ivories was breathtaking, he was in love with the piano, to the way it sounded when his hands danced across it. His world, the world of Poland listened to him make love to the piano the way few have ever heard on the National Radio. He’s in the middle of Nocturne in C-Sharp minor when the Germans begin shelling Warsaw. The Radio technicians signal him to stop and to hide, he waves them of and continues to play… Music is his shield, how could fate stop such beauty from finding completion. Our eyes dance along those fingers doing an Astaire right with the Rogers left tapping the most lovely of melodies to our ears while entrancing our eyes. The shells fall closer, it gives him a start, yet he continues to play, bliss covering a mask of concern, until a shell showers him with glass and splinters, causing a scalp cut… and he stops. Frustrated at not being allowed to complete. He leaves the room only to find beauty on the panicked stairs, a lovely young cellist who adores his work. The Nazis are a million miles away according to the eyes of young Wladyslaw Szpilman. He has no idea what is coming or how serious it will be. For him, this lovely blonde represented a future he wanted. A musician to share life. She was not Jewish, merely a beautiful Polish woman. The war changed everything.
Wladyslaw is a man that could weather everything as long as the hope of music was on the other side. His faith in the temporary nature of the horror was seemingly limitless. He was not a killer, no matter what happened, he did not have that capacity. He could not destroy, he created. He wasn’t a coward, he just did not have the ability to hurt another human being. He played music that brought people together, his fingers were meant for keys not triggers. He suffered for that, but he survived, he weathered all to create. He endured for the sake of music.
Here is an artist that lost it all, but did not allow himself to be paralyzed by his experience. He held tight to his hopes and dreams and on the other side – well on the other side his music lived and his story was told.
His story is harsh. It condemns the American Jew for not doing more to get the United States involved in World War 2 sooner. It condemns the Nazis for what they did, but at the same time… the film shows what the Warsaw Ghetto did to his own people. How the Jews that were gathered into that terrible place were turned into greedy uncaring people that would take advantage of one another, steal from one another, beat one another as well as bond and help. It showed how an inferior number of Nazis through a series or reward and punishments managed to convince a doomed population that things were getting better right up until death.
The movie is much less a series of scenes stapled together from various stories like SCHINDLER’S LIST. In that film, when you see the hinge-maker killed, he’s a human being, and we mourn his death as we would that of any human being we witness killed, but we did not know what he left behind, who he was, what we were really losing.
In THE PIANIST we see many atrocities, and those atrocities are all the worse for having characters behind them. This is one man’s story. One man that was in the lines of people that 10 were picked to die from. One man that fate seemed particularly fond of, even with everything that he endured, it is absolutely breathtaking to see his narrow sidesteps of death. It is horrifying to watch the reward/punishment electroshock style manner that the random deaths were used to condition. If you survived, there were almost a feeling of being thankful to the Nazis for having not chosen you to die that day. I’ve never really seen this portrayed as effectively as it was here.
I've read a book on how the SLA used torments and rewards to brainwash Patty Hearst, it is entirely another to see it being used on a population of 700,000 in the walls of that hideous Ghetto. Watching the Jews build their own prison, make their own concentration camp clothes, whittle their own possessions down smaller and smaller till they abandon even the dearest of things in the end. Watching this film is absolutely captivating, because at the very beginning I know that Adrien Brody’s Wladyslaw Szpilman was going to survive. Anyone that has ever heard his divine music knows that. It was the journey that was fascinating.
Seeing what he saw, being told by a filmmaker that was there, a filmmaker that would not blink or fail to show the depths that man could sink. This isn’t the story of the noble Jew enduring the Nazi torments… This film shows that starving hordes would rip a bowl of soup from a woman’s hands to lick the spilt soup from the street as it flowed into the gutter. This shows how humans were made inhuman. It is a wonder that on the other side, any survivor could ever readjust. It wasn’t just what the Nazis did, but what they did to themselves. This film shows that not every Jew went softly, that not every Polish person ignored it, that not every Nazi hated the Jews. This film is about laying one man’s life down as to how it went.
THE PIANIST is based upon the book written by Wladyslaw Szpilman immediately upon the conclusion of WWII. The film spares no group from stereotype, and paints the Holocaust as something far more complex than good guys and bad guys… tormentor and victim.
The filmmaking is breathless… from the mental concerts played 3 inches above piano keys to constant elation of being spared. There are moments in the film where you see something that borders on Science Fiction. You just can’t believe that what you’re looking at is something of the past and not from James Cameron’s TERMINATOR future.
ANYONE that marginalizes this film as ‘another Holocaust’ film doesn’t have one iota of a clue what they are talking about. Adrien Brody is absolutely captivating in the film. Performances rarely are this fine. Watching him run the gamut of emotions from happiness to distraught suicidal to suave cool to resembling and performing many of these as a silent performer – for fear of being killed, for being found. This story is absolutely the best story you’re likely to see on film this year.
I don’t know what sort of Academy campaign budget this film has, but frankly if this film doesn’t wind up with a whole host of nominations for everything from Adapted Screenplay, Director, Cinematography, Editing, Best Actor, Best Picture and Art Direction… then who the hell cares one bit what the Academy has to say. This is cinema, film and movies. This is a flick that tells a story that is profound, captivating and entrancing and if that story goes unrewarded by the public and the awards shows, then they deserve the films they do get to see.
Movies are not getting worse, audiences are. Films like this one don’t deserve to be hidden in the dank recesses of College Theaters, they deserve to be seen at a theater near each and every single one of us. This is a huge story, and just because it isn’t being told by a Steven Spielberg, doesn’t mean it isn’t an absolutely arresting film experience worthy of being seen by everyone on this planet. The fact that it won’t, is just another testament to just how fucked up the film industry, the distribution system, the advertising and the audiences of film can be.
Absolutely the best film I’ve seen this year to date.
To Answer Talk Backers below - I have seen every Polanski film since REPULSION - many times. CHINATOWN is a great film with a great script by Robert Towne. HOWEVER, THE PIANIST has a superior story, a much stronger central character, stunning dramatics, far stronger tension, emotion and narrative. This film has a pulse and says more about far many more important subjects than CHINATOWN. The film is Polanski's most brutal, far more affecting than REPULSION or ROSEMARY'S BABY. It combines everything that Polanski has sought to do as a filmmaker into his best work. And I say that after a single viewing with absolute conviction. This film will improve upon each viewing. If I were you, I'd hold my criticism till you've at least seen the film.
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I would like to see that Jerry Lewis Nazi Clown Movie.
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year's best? polanski's best? i don't doubt you, but is the script really better than chinatown? that's about as perfect as they come. oh, and if they want a few more people to see it, maybe they should change the title to "the pianist and the furious"...
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That one was a pretty good flick too. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. It might change your mind about what Polanski movie is the best. Just a suggestion. Take care, pal.
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...Harry Knowles is jerking himself off over another movie. Best Polanski film? After just one viewing, you feel confident in making this remark? The same remark you made after watching Solaris, thinking it was the best Soderbergh film ever made. I'm not saying you're opinion is not valid, what I am saying is that you are once again indulging in your little movie-fan-geek boy tendecies, and its a little annoying. I want to see this film, but show a little restraint next time when writing a review. Its really disgusting. In fact, I'm a little afraid of reading your Two Towers review...very afraid.
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...when it comes to the Beehive state where I live. You do know Roman Polanski raped a drugged 13-year old girl at Jack Nicholson's house and cannot plant his toe on U.S. soil since he's a fugitive for 25 years? Even a "victim," now a grown-up, forgave him and put the past behind. I hope Polanski repented and the Academy Awards won't snub him for having a reputation. The Pianist is sure to be a real controversial movie - it even disturbed Harvey Weinstein to an almost unbearable emotional extent. At least Michael Haneke's twisted French movie The Piano Teacher played lasted a week in an engagement. PT and Y Tu Mama Tambien are the best movies distributed in North America this years so far (I still haven't seen Far From Heaven), and I will keep watch on LOTR: TTT, CMIYC, Chicago, GONY and of course The Pianist.
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I'm not going to disagree with Harry's assertion that The Pianist is Polanski's best film. Frankly, there's not THAT much competition. The man doesn't have many masterpieces, just some damn good films. But I disagree where Harry seems to think that a detective story can't be a better film than something tackling greater (or more) issues. That's ridiculous. Citizen Kane isn't the best film ever made because of what it says about humanity, America, or anything that profound. It just tells a great story in a captivating way, using every trick in the cinematic book (and some new ones). That's it. And for the record, Chinatown isn't JUST a detective story anyway. The greatness of Towne's script is that it's about so much more than the whodunnit. Consider the time when it was made (Watergate), and you'll see how it reveals so much about corruption, both the political and emotional kind. L.A. Confidential was a great film, but didn't have nearly the depth of Chinatown. If there's a scene in The Pianist even close to the discussion of the flaw in Faye Dunaway's iris, maybe we'll talk.
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I can see it now - if harry is right, and this will end up being the best film of the year (or one of them) then nominations from the Academy will follow in very small doses. Do NOT expect one for Polanski. The very thought of nominating a bloke who a) wont turn up to the oscars because of b) he's wanted for rape in the state of california; will just turn the academy off. no chance at the oscars.
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Dec 11, 2002 8:07:07 AM CST
Got to agree on the "not shown in a dank cinema" part...same her
by shad0wfax
This film is coming to Glasgow in the next month, I've already decided that I'm definitely going to see it, and I'll have to try hard too. It's not on for long and is being shown only in a pretentious arthouse cinema that is always packed to the gunnels with wannabe intellectuals and flamboyant homosexuals (not that I've got anything against either of those groups - except that THEY FILL ALL THE DAMN SEATS IN THE POXY THEATRE!). Nevertheless, I'll be there. Nice review, Harry.
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And I doubt it's a more masterful work than "Come and See" or "Open City". But Polanski's due for a decent film. I hope.
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Here we go again, a pathetic turnout on the talkback and those that do turn up constantly spout on about Polanski's controversal past. Hardly any of you discuss the film or the man's filmography at all. I don't think a lot of you 'film fans' have even seen half of RP's films. Roman Polanski is one of the greatest filmmakers alive. Yeah he's made a few turkeys, but look at all the masterpieces he's been behind. instead of talking about them, people would rather just drone on and on about his past. He doesn't get half the artistic acclaim he deserves. Until now, maybe. Looking forward to seeing the Pianist. Hope it's signifigantly different than Schindlers List as Harry discribes, and when you compare Polanski's output to Spielberg's, you're pretty much guaranteed a very different film.
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The usual romance novel story. Boy meets girl, boy rapes girl, girl falls in love with boy. It was kind of cool seeing Holly Hunter naked, though. Wait, what's that...? Holocaust movie...? Uh, never mind. sk
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You can't have one without the other Harry, because moviemakers put out what the public wants, therefore the public ultimately controls what the movimakers make.
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As Keanu would say... "whoa."
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That movie was the worst piece of shit I've ever seen. Ooh, he typed '666' into the elevator...I wonder if he is evil? Polanski usually is good with subtlety but...uh...fuck it...that movie isn't worth my breath. But I'll let Polanski have that one, he's made some damn good films.
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I've got to disagree with you on that score. Filmmakers make films which ignite them, they make films THEY want to see. It's the studios that only put out movies they THINK people will want to see.
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His last notable one was "Tess," and that was, what, 22 years ago? I'm eager as all getout to see what he does with the Holocaust, though.
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Dec 11, 2002 12:51:58 PM CST
I'm not of this "aesthetic" that films have to age first before
by nordling
If a movie affects you like a classic does the first time you see it, I think it's safe to put it in your own personal list. If you see it a few times and the experience doesn't lessen with you, I think you can consider it a classic. I felt SCHINDLER'S LIST was a classic as soon as the film ended. It took me on an emotional journey that has seldom happened since. I feel FOTR is a classic in every sense as well, as well as MOULIN ROUGE, UNFORGIVEN, BABE, FIGHT CLUB, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, and many others, because their impact is the same even now. If Harry felt THE PIANIST was a great movie, it stands to say he'd feel that way later on. Besides, he's not the only reviewer who has said this about this film. To sum up, it is possible, you know, that Harry REALLY DID LIKE THIS MOVIE.
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ʹll go see it the next week. nearly every review i`ve read so far was quite positive. marcel reich ranicki a german book criticer who was himself in that ghetto as a child stated it would be a terrifying REAL document of that time and the atmosphere in the ghetto. good that harry didn`t start bashing schindler`s list and spielberg. i GUESS those two films just handle the topic by means of different aspects and with a different style...
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Hmm, didn't the hinge-maker survive because the gun wouldn't fire? Or was that some other guy?
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I thought The 9th Gate was totally underrated. Almost like a grown-up Satanic Indiana Jones, excellen. Without the personal controversy, the man would have been given the credit he deserves.
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last week,the film looked interesting so i read up on his life story..he was director of music for Polish Tv for 26yrs but was`nt known outside Poland and most of the well known Polish musicians from after WWII(even those who played with him) barely mention him ,however because of the film his recordings are being given a wider audience and though not exceptional they are said to be very good with a light touch
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Anyone ever catch "Bitter Moon"? and underrated Gem.
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Roman Polanski is my favorite director of all time. Even his misses are good. His best are THE best. Chinatown is amazing, Rosemary's Baby is perhaps my favorite movie of all time, and Repulsion is terrifying. I cannot wait to see The Pianist, it looks like a different story for him, and it's certainly personal. Adrien Brody has skills. And while I won;t know until I see the movie if I agree with Harry, but it's certainly in the realm of possibility that Polanski has pulled off an even greater masterpiece than his earlier works. It'd be hard for him to top himself, but he's an incredible director and I'm not gonna begrudge Harry for thinking a great director who has directed great movies can do it again.
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Damn fun movie, a really silly hybrid of 'Angel Heart' and 'Eyes Wide Shut'. Good good stuff. And 'Pirates'... uhh, not so good stuff. That opened the same day as 'Aliens'. I saw 'Pirates' instead. I sort of had a thing for Yoram and Menahem movies back in the day.
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the hinge maker,or Rabbi,did survive.For whom are we so emotionally attached to when he's killed harry?
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One beautiful scene where what Harry is talking about (the "the universal struggle of art, the artist and beauty against the horrors and trials that mankind and fate has put before it" part) is really shown, and the rest is an average holocaust movie like many have been made before. Cinematography is far from what Polansky is capable of. As a musician myself, I think Polanski totally missed the thematic of art during war and of the condition of artists, and delivers a banal view of the holocaust. His subject had much more potential that what we see on the screen. Overall, not a bad movie, but pretty disappointing.
PS : sorry for my rough english. -
Sorry, had to make a crack at that film wrecking review of Blade 2. Can't wait to see this film, Harry isn't the only reviewer to go nuts for it
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If you want slick, professional reviews that are little more than paid rewording of the studio's marketing of a film; well the web is full of that. Take it from us who have been coming to this site since before it became "mainstream" and even before there were ads: this site started out as just a place where people who get abnormally passionate about loving movies came to hear opinions and rumors about what's coming next.
Hell, there was even a time when there was no logo, and instead of the little Harry cartoons there were little homemade movies with Harry photoshopped into star wars scenes and the like.
My point is that when this site is at it's best is when it's gives and shares the opinions of people like us who get way, way, way too excited about movies. When it's at it's blandest is when it gets too professional, because the web is already full of sites that only differentiate themselves by their branded, copyright-protected company logo. Other than that Blade 2 review, even if I don't agree with Harry's opinion, I'd rather have the geeky hobbyist Harry from Austin Texas, than the professional hollywood reporter that you're pressuring him to be. -
I've heard a myriad of rumors about this movie, but this recommendation has definitely convinced me to go see it, at the very least. Harry, don't listen to anybody who tells you you're a moron for liking different kinds of moviemaking. Nobody's gonna agree with everybody, but you and Mori both have valid opinions and probably care more about films than all the Rex Reeds out there put together, and that makes everybody's opinion at AICN valuable. Don't know if I necessarily agree with audiences getting dumber as opposed to movies getting dumber. That's a pretty fine line to be walking, since the whole state of things seems to be codependent in the first place. All it takes is a catalyst to push things in one direction or another.
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and I have seen everything he's done. He's one of the great filmmakers and really deserves to be seen without people bringing up his past unpleasantness. The parts in his autobiography address it frankly and he served more time (he did over a month in Chino, which is nothing, but ...) than any other celebrity would have. His decision to skip the country seemed logical, as the judge seemed to have it out for him and was even taken off the case but only after it was a moot point and Polanski was a fugitive. This guy has had more shit happen to him than he deserves, and since working through Sharon Tate's death in some of his films I'm glad he's doing something that addresses his WWII experience. The sections in his autobiography about his youth on the lam in Poland are riveting, and if The Pianist has that level of humor riding on horror (present in all Polanski films) it should be pretty great. He doesn't get near enough credit. Case in point being the Chinatown script. Polanski reworked it from what he described as convoluted and he also wrote the rad, sad ending - having to fight both Robert Towne and Robert Evans for that. And let's face it, without that ending Chinatown really wouldn't be half as good. I don't know if The Pianist will be the best Polanski film, or the best Holocaust film or the best Polish film but really, any Polanski is worth seeing twice. His lesser known films are really worth seeking out. People hate The Ninth Gate, which was great until the climax. Pirates is extremely underrated, with a great performance from Walter Matthau. Too few people have seen The Fearless Vampire Killers - which is sort in the vein of Sleepy Hollow, an homage to Hammer studios that excedes anything that studio ever produced. Nobody's seen Cul-de-Sac and What, both of which are great entries into Polanski's cinema of the absurd. Macbeth was one of the great Shakespeare adaptations and Bitter Moon is the ultimate in romantic comedy. He's redefined genres and put a unique, personal stamp on everything he's made. More geeks should get acquianted with him.
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"citizen Kane isn't the best film ever made because of what it says about humanity, America, or anything that profound. It just tells a great story in a captivating way, using every trick in the cinematic book (and some new ones). That's it."
You sould watch the movie again. Kane says a helluva lot of profound things about America and humanity (especially about America) and is great in part because it manages to say this in a captivating way. For that matter, so does Chinatown. -
The best movie ever has gotta be Hercules in new york with arnold schwarzenegger or double impact with van damme.
I will get him hard. Hard Target.
Titan find with the snail alien is kinda funky too.
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Dec 12, 2002 12:36:05 PM CST
Definitely better than Schindler's cuz Polanski doesn't go all D
by godot's child
I got to see this by amazing luck with the British cast at the Odeon West End in London last September. Great review, Harry, this movie IS all that AND a bag of chips. Like the rest of the geeks, I'm a big LOTR fan... but this... THIS is the best film of the year... but will enough academy members see it?
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doubtful. an art film. isn't this the kind of sjite crap this site was designed to rip and not even talk about?
harry, ur a sellout
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why Polanski took so long to make a film about the Holocaust. i read his autobiography ("Roman", an intentional French pun, i think) and it describes an incident which explains why. he recounted how when he was 10 years old or so Jews were being rounded up to be sent to their deaths in concentration camps. Polanski somehow escaped the roundup, but his father didn't. Polanski actually saw his father in line being herded into a truck to be sent to Auschwitz and ran over to him. his father pretended not to know him and shooed him away in order to save his life, since he knew that if the germans realized polanski was his son, he would be sent to his death too. polanski was too young at the time to understand his father's behaviour. polanski backed away confused and his father was put aboard the truck. it was the last time he saw his father. i think an anecdote such as that explains why he had such an aversion to dealing with the holocaust in a film. he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt not only that he could do nothing to save his father, but that he survived, while his family didn't. guilt like that is not rational. and that's why it's so personal, don't you think?
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Ummmm... i know this is a film forum but... i have to say it. Excuse me if this topic bother someone.
The truth is that Polanski didn't rape that girl. He had sex with her, and that in my opinion is slightly different.
This girl is now a mature woman and she has said several times to the media that Polanski 'didn't force, rape her or anything similar' so i don't see the reason to not believe her words. If not, you are repeating the clasical scheme. If she says she was raped, she was raped. If she says she wasn't, she was raped too, and she says she wasn't because she is traumatized, scared or is completely idiot. That's called head i win, tails you lose. A retoric trick.
Think about this. I suppose there is an extradition agreement between France and the US, so:
1.- If he really raped that girl, why didn't extradite him to the US authorities?
2.- Why does she says she wasn't raped?
3.- Why had she said several times she's working with Polanski's lawyers to end with all this issue?
By using your retoric argument, you could say:
1.- The frenchies are mad.
2.- She is completely traumatized.
3.- Polanski paid her to clean his reputation.
In the real world the answers would be:
1.- She wasn't raped.
2.- She wasn't raped.
3.- She wasn't raped.
Sorry again if i bother you, but i think this is a very sensitive issue that needs a very serious approach.
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Dec 13, 2002 4:22:52 PM CST
wait, isn't this th movie with Harvey Keitel? Where you see his
by tv casualty
God I'm fucking bored.
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Is that it's based on a truly wonderful book, The Club Dumas, and was absolutely ruined. An entire, majorly important, subplot was left out. Ah well. Read it anyway folks, it's worth it. Arturo Perez-Reverte (sp?). And Skarekroe, I posted without reading, and appear to have stolen your joke in my previous post. Sorry.
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Thanks for pointing out, but I'm not really sure as to the truth of the account. If the girl did consent to having sex with Roman, that would be considered 'statutory rape' to be vigorously prosecuted by law enforcers - no matter how insistent that it *was* consensual which the law does not make an exception to (due to sociopolitical Christian influence). I don't look down on Roman's films in spite of his reputation (same with Victor Salva), but every time I mention seeing the film directed by a convicted child molester or reputed pedophile one or two talkbackers would accuse me of defending perverts. I do not condone wrongdoing involving sex with underages in the eye of the law (whether it's fair or not on pure consensual basis - this is puritanical America after all). I may be misinformed as to the real nature of sexual relations between the 13-year old girl and Roman because of the biased mass media feeding the audiences with moralisitic hysteria accusing Roman of being a rapist while disregarding the truth of the incident. Please enlighten me with providing the account that it wasn't indeed a rape - perhaps I'll have to pull up Roman's autobiography at the library, but an autobiographical book isn't considered a reliable source. Again, this is a sensitive matter that is very personal and very regrettable to Roman and I'm sure that he was sorry for being impulsive giving in to lustful temptation. Roman is a human being and humans make mistakes so they learn from the error of their ways and try not to repeat, including me (even I can't write good sometimes).
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"Harry, I love your site. It has provided me with endless hours of entertainment. However,...AICN is a joke."
I suppose you're some sort of authority on this? -
i liked it right up until the non-ending. what a let down. totally off-topic: i've kept a running list of all the films i've seen for the past ten years, tracking both the number of films, and the number of viewings (not that anyone cares). 2 more, and i hit 2200.
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To ZO, first off: I don't remember seeing anywhere a mission statement to the effect that this site should steer clear of art films. This is a site devoted to the love of films; that is irrespective of style/genre. If an art film is good, it is a good film, full stop. To Godot's child: a lot of other people have said that about Schindler's List, but IMHO, it's a big fat load of wank. Frankly, if he had played it all completely cold and sobre, I would have accused him of selling out to his critics. You call it "going all Disney", I'm sure, because people cry at the end and we have the procession by the grave, but this is ridiculous. You can't tell me that the Second World War had no emotion it, no cause for tears - you can't tell the millions who lost families in the war and the camps and you certainly can't tell that to Spielberg .
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Dec 15, 2002 12:29:38 PM CST
I saw THE PIANIST last night, and I COMPLETELY AGREE with Harry
by the grin
Not only better than "Schindler's List" and all other Holocaust films I've seen, but simply THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR, featuring THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR. Adrian Brody is phenomenal.
Don't argue until you've seen it. In my mind, nothing could match The Two Towers, which I saw last week, but this one caught me off guard.
See it. See it again. -
I've been to Israel to interview Auschwitz survivors in person. Don't lecture me about what people lost in WWII. Spielberg "went all Disney" starting with Oscar Schindler's farewell speech... perfectly art directed with the god-sent shaft of light in the warehouse... the Nazi guards magically melt away and all the prisoners stand at rapt attention... then the vaudevillian schtick of getting the gold from the old man's teeth to make a ring for Schindler (which actually happened, btw)... Then there is the hand-in-hand march over the hillside by the survivors... I expected to hear "The Hills are Alive" or "Climb Every Mountain" at that point. What angered me about Schindler is that up until the final scenes Spielberg had the perfect movie going.... just perfect. But he must have felt that he had to throw the audience a bone after beating them up for so long. The rest of Schindler's List is so magnificent, that the ending feels false in comparison.
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Dec 15, 2002 6:52:38 PM CST
Better than Chinatown...debatable, Better than Schindler's List.
by alecrose
Saw this film a few months ago in Paris, and I can say that Harry's review is spot on. The Pianist is far and away the best film of the year and if there is any justice at all it will sweep the oscars. It would be wrong to simply call this a "holocaust movie" but since the holocaust provides the mise-en-scene for all the events of the film, such a characterization is to be expected. Like Harry pointed out though The Pianist is about so much more than just the holocaust. Its a very personal story about the interminability of the artistic spirit but at the same time Polanski creates the most profound sense of the individual's helplessness in a world gone thats out of a control. Now Schindler's List was a holocaust movie. I came away from it with little more than a confirmation that Spielberg is hopelessly out of his depth when dealing with any issue of substance.
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God....there are actually people saying that Schindler's List went all "Disney" and that this movie is better than it? We aren't in grade school here. Why don't some of you pretentious assholes just admit it? Spielberg is one of the best directors alive today. I have seen alot of trash talk concerning Saving Private Ryan and NOW Schindler's List. Give me a fucking break...both SPR and Schindler's List are classics. If you don't think so, then you are "trying" to appear intellectual and you are only fooling yourself. These types of talkbacks depress me.(and Harry please stop making snap judgments on movies....digest them then type up a review) MF
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Remember Golan Globus? Those demi-gods of B films that gave us such classics like THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN, and INVASION USA, a classic in which chuck norris single-handedly fought off a soviet invasion that had invaded the american heartland, and attacking vital infrastructure like shopping malls and stuff? well they went bankrupt after the dismal failure of the dolph lundren flick MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. now, in a surprise comeback Golan has returned from chapter 11 hell and his new movie projects have to be seen to be believed! check out this link to see the genesis of a new film studio to challenge MGM, Paramount, etc. Golan Globus is back on the map! check out this link: http://www.newcannoninc.com/booty.htm
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For me Polanski
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Not to mention 'Booty & The Beast', a Menahem Golan Production! Truly this is the best of all possible worlds!
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Dec 16, 2002 7:30:27 PM CST
forget schindlers list see polanskis teachers masterpiece
by douglassirk
forget schindlers list see polanskis teachers masterpiece
wajda's (taught polanski in poland) Korczak is a waaaay better film than schindler and deals with some of the same stuff as the pianist.....
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0099949 -
since harry isn't posting any news on the site anymore, i'll regal those who are still coming to check this site out with a somewhat humourous polanski anecdote. one of his casting methods for chinatown for the actresses was to extend his pinky finger and say, "kneel down and pretend you are giving me the most enthusiastic, full-on BJ you can". the actresses protested at being humiliated in such a manner and some outright refused. however, polanski justified it saying that he had to find out which actress wanted the role the most and that was the best way to find out. ah polanski. what a card. *****ja tez ogladalem korczaka i tak, dobry film, ale tak ponury... dlaczego polacy nie moga zrobic filmow w stylu "AMELIE"?????
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Dec 17, 2002 12:20:02 PM CST
THIS SITE HAS NO CONSISTENCY OR STANDARDS, AND, THUS, HARRY'S A
by turdfergeson
Under another screen name on another talkback about six months ago, I got banned for some reason. I have no idea why. The post that did it was one where I was jokingly encouraging the creation of the stupid catch-phrases that seem to come and go on this site. That got me banned. However, on a Two Towers talkback, at this very moment, there's some guy that's posted twice all about "niggers this, and niggers that." AND HE'S NOT BEEN BANNED OR DELETED. What are we supposed to take from this Harry, you gas-bag? Joking is bad, but racism is good?? You're policy on banning (or lack of a policy more like it) makes you look extremely stupid for anyone who's been around here long enough to see you work. So, go ahead and ban me for being critical. I guess the only way this post would stay here is if I was a racist bigot. You seem to enjoy and tolerate those kinds of posts.
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Polanski is a convicted child rapist on the run from the law. He drugged and raped a 13 year old and fled to Europe after he was convicted and just before sentencing. I urge all of you with scruples to boycott the work of this child molester.
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You don't know what you're talking about. We've all seen Happiness, but try to distinguish between film and real life, knucklehead. Polanski boned a 19 year old man. The age of consent at that time, wherever he was, was 21 years old. So today it wouldn't even be a crime.
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Polanski didn't get ex-communicated for banging a 19 year old. Get your facts right. She was 13...and she was Justine Bateman. That is a fact. Little 13 year old Justine Bateman. Even with all that I think he should be allowed back in. He's an incredible artist...and he's had the hardest life ever!! Cut the guys some slack...The holocost...Charles Manson killing his wife and kid....man oh man. Give the guy a little freedom you know?
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"The Pianist" that I saw felt like a TV movie-of-the-week, no more compelling or unique than the latest adaptation of Anne Frank's diary. The piano playing scenes are, I admit, breathtaking...but do not successfully carry this so-called artist vs. evil theme at all. The audience feels sad for a moment, realizing that hands that create such beauty are dirty and cold and forced to build ghetto walls, and then the movie goes back to showing him wander around empty buildings or stare through his window for another hour. And the ending, while accurate I'm sure, seems tacked on and unconnected to everything else we've seen so far. Oh, and despite what Harry says, I did not feel close to any of the characters that died. We did not know any of their backstories. In fact, they were all complete strangers seen on the street from a POV of ten floors up.
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"The Pianist" finally made it to my city, and I went to a matinee that was crowded with older viewers. Unlike other movie audiences I've been part of lately, this audience was thoroughly caught up in the fate of these characters. There was no talking, no cell phones, no walkouts. It was a pleasure to be part of a serious audience engrossed in a serious story. Adrien Brody gives a stunning, moving, spellbinding performance. I cared for this character, and even though I had read about the ending, I still feared for his future every few minutes as things got progressively worse for him. Brody gives a thrilling performance and deserves an Oscar nomination. It would not upset me at all if Brody were to beat out Nicholson as Best Actor.
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Feb 26, 2003 1:10:38 PM CST
How can you even review a film done by a man convicted of druggi
by bannthisucommies
I get the feeling if Joe Stalin did some film work with tortured dissidents from his gulags AICN would be praising its "authenticity". Just cause its out there doesn't mean it need attention. The turd is a fucking fugitive, hiding out in France for crissakes!!
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I did not like this movie.
It was weak.
It was just another WW2 drama.
It could have been a made for TV movie.
The Warsaw Ghetto shock-value scenes were cliche and have been done a million times.
The scene where he goes deaf from the bomb and we are treated to audio that mimics what he is hearing has been done too - in Copland. And if y'all wanna see a movie that explores the depths of how art/music is an escape from the mundane daily tortures of reality - you should rent Dancer in the Dark. A film that SHOULD HAVE won every friggin Oscar possible. Best actress, director, film, etc...
I have nothing against Adrien Brody. He wasn't bad. But he wasn't great either. I think this film is way-overrated.
It offered nothing to me that I haven't seen before. The "music" angle doesnt count. It was WEAK.
Harry says that this is the BEST film of the genre? Is he kidding?
Schindler's List CRUSHES this film. Another gripe - Jews in this movie are portayed as naeieve, stupid and dumb to what's going on around them. And the one "tough" guy (the brother) is portrayed as a wild-eyed maniac.
So which is it Polanski?
I don't know. This genre has been done to death.
Enough with the shock-value Nazi sidewalk executions. Someone should make a film that deals with the root causes of what happened in WW2.
The cliche War scenes do nothing but desensitize.
People in my theatre were actually laughing during this movie. While I do not approve of that because it's annoying, it just goes to show that some of the cliche acting and scenes in this movie were not taken seriously at all by the audience.
It was color-by-numbers boring rehash.
-Bill M.
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Well, I may not always agree with you Harry, but here you talking utter bullshit. I will say that I enjoyed the first half of the film. The dynamics of family were well-explored, and the relationships between family members engrossing. The second half Polanski loses it. What should have been tense and gripping, a man surviving, and getting a break, instead became a dull, boring exercise in stereotype and sloth. I actually fell asleep in the second half, properly and deeply. It is the first time a film has ever done that to me. I was so bored i just could not be bothered concentrating on it. I'd read your review before seeing "The Pianist", and was excited about seeing it. I walked out of the cinema wondering how people thought it was so good. A major problem with the film was Adrien Brody. He displayed all the warmth of a wet fish. He could have sleepwalked through this. It was not a great performance, it was a walkthrough. He didn't have to do anything, just sit back and know he'd be aclaimed because this is an 'important' film. He was not the best actor of the year, by a long shot, and Polanski has made possibly his weakest film, and yes, that even includes "The Ninth Gate". Its lazy fimmaking, disguised as great because of its subject. It lacks emotion, or, after the first act, anything to engage with. A wasted opportunity, and the most disappointing film of the year, in fact, probably the worst film I've seen all year.
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