Analýza filmu Pianista

Bc. Soňa Houšková

Bachelor's thesis

Analysis of the film Pianist

Abstract:

Film Pianista Romana Polanského vypráví příběh mladého talentovaného židovského hudebníka Wladyslawa Szpilmana, kterému se podařilo přežít druhou světovou válku v nacisty okupovaném Polsku. Práce je analýzou tohoto filmu, přičemž je postupováno podle pravidel neoformalistické filmové analýzy, tak jak je definovali američtí teoretikové a historikové Kristin Thompsonová a David Bordwell.

Abstract:

Roman Polanski´s the Pianist tells a story of a young and talented Jewish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman, who suffered in Nazi occupied Poland during the Second World War. All members of his family died, but he managed to survive, at the end thanks to help of a Nazi captain. The story is based on the autobiography of the real Wladyslaw Szpilman. The film tends to leave a strong emotional impact on the viewer, my neoformalistic analysis is trying to find an answer on the question why is it so. The analysis is based on principles invented by the Americans Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell. The film is set into it´s economical and cultural context. I was concerning with the questions how was the film created and also how it was accepted both by critics and audience after the premiere. As the story is a Holocaust time story, it has to be noted, that there was a big discussions among scholars, preliminary Adorno and Wiesel, if and how to depict Holocaust through Art. Roman Polanski himself survived Holocaust and has a very significant life story as a whole, so there is also a chapter about him. Then follows the analysis itself. For the Pianist is characteristic, that the story is mainly depicted through point-of-view shots, perceived as the gazes of the main character, who is helplessly watching the disaster around him. The characters in the movie, including the pianist himself, are not clearly bad or good. It cannot be said that all the Germans were bad and all the Poles were good, so the movie shows, that one-way interpretations of the history are not bearable any longer. The director does not show many emotions on the screen, but he wakes them in the audience. Also the music is very well done, so that is why the film has such a huge impact on the audience. Through the story of a single person is said a lot about the Holocaust as a whole.

Keywords

film, analýza, Pianista, Polanski, neoformalismus

Language used: Czech

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 10. 1. 2008

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 28. 1. 2008
• Supervisor: Mgr. Anna Batistová, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Bachelor programme / field:
General Theory and History of Arts and Culture / Film and Audio-Visual Culture Studies