Tuesday, March 24, 2020

The Stories about Music Films: 1. The Pianist (2002)



Basic Info

Title: The Pianist
Genre: War/Drama
Country: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland
Language: English, German
Production Company: Canal+, Studio Babelsberg, Studio Canal+
Running time: 150 minutes
Release date: 24 May 2002 (Cannes), 6 September 2002 (Poland), 25 September 2002 (France)

Staff

Director: Roman Polanski
Producer: Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde
Screenplay: Ronald Harwood
Based on: “The Pianist” by Władysław Szpilman
Music: Wojciech Kilar
Cinematography: Paweł Edelman
Editor: Hervé de Luze

Cast

Adrien Brody (Władysław Szpilman)
Thomas Kretschmann (Captain Wilm Hosenfeld)
Frank Finlay (Samuel Szpilman)
Maureen Lipman (Edwarda Szpilman)
Emilia Fox (Dorota)
Ed Stoppard (Henryk Szpilman)
Julia Rayner (Regina Szpilman)
Jessica Kate Meyer (Halina Szpilman)

Summary


The Pianist is a biographical war drama film produced and directed by Roman Polanski released in 2002, starring Adrien Brody. The film is based on the autobiography "The Pianist (1946)" by the Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor.
The film was highly acclaimed, received many awards or nominations, and won the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. At the 75th Academy Awards, the film won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor, and was nominated for four other awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was included in BBC's “100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century” in 2016.

Movie Review


"Polanski, himself a survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, has created a near-masterpiece."(Washington Post)

Interesting stories about the film


1. Adrien Brody became the youngest person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor when he won for this film at the age of 29.
2. Adrien Brody learned how to play the piano for his role.
3. Adrien Brody lost 14 kg to play Szpilman. The menu for his daily diet was two boiled eggs and green tea for breakfast, a little chicken for lunch, and a small piece of fish or chicken with steamed vegetables for dinner over a six week period. Initially, his weight was 73 kg.


4. To feel the loss necessary to play this role, Adrien Brody sold his apartment and car and did not watch television.
5. The music played for the German officer in the film was Frédéric Chopin's Ballade No.1 in G Minor. But in fact, Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne No.1 in C# Minor.
6. Roman Polanski was the oldest winner when he won the Oscar for Best Director at sixty-nine. However, the record broke two years later when Clint Eastwood won the prize at the age of seventy-four.


7. The two similarly titled films, The Piano (1993) and The Pianist (2002), were produced and released about 10 years apart, both won the same three Academy Awards. All the Oscar winners of the film The Piano (1993) were women, while all the Oscar winners of the film The Pianist (2002) were men. In addition, both films won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

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