The Pianist

Saw the above titled film about Wladyslaw Szpilman the other night. Harrowing stuff. It's amazing what human beings do to each other sometimes. Thought the film got a little aimless in the second half, but then again it had to depict him moving aimlessly about looking for grub.

It was good that the German saved him near the end. Unfortunately for the German, Szpilman couldn't return the favour (although he tried). He does seem to have been remarkably jammy. I read his official web site and the film does seem to have been very accurate. It explains more than the film could, including why he was so jammy. In addition to being a gifted pianist, he was the most popular composer in Poland in the 1930s (50 children's songs and 600 pop tunes). That's why so many helped him - he was the Burt Bacharach of his day.

As shown in the film, he was the last person on Polish radio before the bombing started in 1939 and and first person back on it after the war. He continued on from where he left off in Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor. The BBC did the same thing, but with a Mickey Mouse cartoon that was interrupted!!