Wednesday 31 August 2011

Humanity and The Pianist

I had an opportunity to watch a movie a few days back. It is directed by Mr. Roman Polanski which was rewarded with the prestigious Academy award, the BAFTA award and many more. The movie was about German invasion of Poland during the World War II. I was really moved to see the inhuman and barbaric treatment by the German soldiers to the Jewish people living in Poland. There were prohibitions on going to pubs and parks, walking on the pavements and even sitting on the public benches by the side of the road. The basic human rights were also being eroded when the Jewish population were imposed upon the restriction of keeping only a limited amount of money with them which was not even enough to purchase food and other daily necessities for themselves.

Mr. Wladyslaw Szpilman (enacted by Adrien Brody), a Jewish pianist woking at the Warsaw Radio in Warsaw, Poland, sells his piano to get rid of the impending hunger his family was going to face. All the Jewish people were forced to desert their home and move to the infamous Warsaw Ghetto where they faced the extremes of psychological and physical adversities. It was heart-rending to see a mother begging for a drop of water for her little son dying in her arms. An old lady fights in vain with a severely hungry ragged guy for a little amount of meal. The meal got spilled on the road from the container the lady was carrying, but that guy was so desperate to have it that he did not even bother to lick it on the road. One night, the Szpilman family witnessed a brutal murder when a group of Einsatzgruppen (paramilitary death squad responsible for mass killings of Jews) entered an apartment just opposite to the one where the Szpilman family was taking shelter and threw an old sick person from the balcony of the top floor along with his wheel-chair. His only offense was that he was unable to move from his chair  when the SS (Schutzffel- paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler responsible for crimes against humanity duirng World War II) squad ordered all of his family members to stand up. Those cruel monsters did not stop with that. They took the other family members into the street and shoot them while they were running for their lives. Then they drove over the bodies.

Szpilman, the pianist, was a character to be observed in the movie. He got separated from his family in an unfortunate moment and tried to survive alone. Those moments of survival were such heart-touching that I could not help but praying for his life. He used to change his hide-outs very frequently to save himself from the cruel Nazi army. Mr. Wilm Hosenfeld (enacted by Thomas Kretschmann), a German officer, noticed Szpilman  in the remnants of an old building. Hosenfeld was touched by  the pianist's talent and spared his life.He was a man of large heart as he also was the supplier of bread and clothes to Szpilman during the last days of Szpilman's hide-out.

I observed the violation of human rights on one hand, and different emotions of human being on the other hand. I was pleased to see that there is at least a few people on the earth who think for others, who are always helpful and kind.I learnt about life and love. I understood the definition of passion. Mr. Szpilman had a deep passion for his piano. He allowed his fingers to dance on the imaginary keys of a piano in the air when he had not been able to touch one in reality during the days of Nazi invasion. Adrien Brody really deserves a great applause for making the character of Szpilman lively and very human. My heart will always cry for those innocent people who lost their lives during those days of Nazi barbarism.