Intermission: Polanski directs his best film ever with 'The Pianist'

Jim Wunderle is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.

Despite its "R" rating, Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" should be, at the very least, required viewing in high-school history classes throughout the world. It's not a pleasant film to watch, but tells a true story of unspeakable acts of insanity that are not all that far removed from recent world history.

Students of Polanski know he is no stranger to the terrifying tale. Films like "Rosemary's Baby" and the much-overlooked "The Tenant" are testaments to that, but "The Pianist" gives insight to many of his other films. Polanski himself was a Polish Jew who, as a child, went through the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. He has said that only his own death will bring closure to the memory of his mother being put to death in a Nazi gas chamber.

Those experiences have shaped his work as a film maker and filming "The Pianist" was surely a catastrophically cathartic experience for him. It is one of the most emotionally powerful movies I've ever seen and, technically speaking, it's a beautifully crafted film. The cinematography, set design and sound are flawless. It's clear that this was for Polanski if not a labor of love a labor of complete devotion.

Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" was a great movie. It grabbed a lot of viewers and garnered much (well deserved) critical acclaim. But it is bombastic compared to the subtle beauty, and utter horror, that Polanski manages to portray here.

The film is based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a classical pianist who is enjoying much success in pre-war Poland.

Szpilman lives with his mother, father and siblings and when news comes of the German invasion they are not too worried. France and England have declared war and surely everything will return to normal soon. When the Jews of Warsaw are required to relocate to the ghetto, the family is somewhat upset, but honestly thinks the troubles will end rapidly. When people all around the ghetto, including Szpilman's entire family, are carted off to labor camps, the truth begins to sink in.

Because of his fame as a musician, the pianist is saved from being taken on the train to certain death but finds himself terribly alone and struggling for daily survival in a world that has gone completely mad.

He stays in the ghetto at first but, after witnessing the daily indiscriminate murder of many of his co-workers, realizes his time is short in this scenario.

With the help of non-Jewish sympathizers, Szpilman is able to relocate outside of the ghetto but his day-to-day life becomes even worse. He has no food, he can't leave his apartment, the Nazi's are systematically searching the neighborhood and he's even unable to play the piano as the noise will alert the neighbors that someone is living in a space that's supposedly unoccupied. There are several emotional scenes featuring the musician sitting at his instrument, letting his fingers fly above the keys and hearing the music in his head.

In the final act, Szpilman is near death and so is the German invasion. A Nazi officer discovers him but humanity finally surfaces through the mire.

Polanski has made the best movie he will ever make and one that has surely been on his mind since he first became a director.