Close Analysis: Opening Scenes
camera / action / soundFADE IN / EXT. WARSAW – DAY / Chopin Nocturne, played on piano – no other sound accompanies the MONTAGE
MONTAGE: / street scenes
screen text: Warsaw 1939
HIGH ANGLE /
wide street: trams, bicycles, cars, people
HIGH ANGLE /past pointing statue in foreground
WIDE /cars, trams, bikes
WIDE /horse and carriage
slightly H/A / Grand Theatre and Opera HouseWIDE /
park and pedestrians
HIGH ANGLE /park, classical architecture
HIGH ANGLE /park, mothers, prams
WIDE /people in the park
crowd, cars
MCU /crowd, poster-column
WIDE /nearly empty street; man runs towards and past camera
INT. RADIO STATION – DAY
INPOINT: BCUslightly H/A / hands on keyboards + their reflection in the polished top. [This shot will be repeated in reverse at the end of the film.]
slow TILT up to MCU /
to show Szpilman //
LS / producer behind window, turning the pages of the music // / piano continuesMCU / Szpilman;
he continues to play // / an explosion
LS / producer, worried //
MCU / Szp – he flinches and returns to his playing // / louder closer detonation
LS / producers stands, windows blown out //
MCU / Szp, plaster falls on his shoulders but he continues to play // / explosions
LS / producer is told to cut the broadcast – silent //
MCU / Szp //
LS / told in mime to stop //
MCU / Szp shakes his head // / more explosions
LS / producer flees //
MCU / Szp continues //
MCU / shot from behind him as window blown out and he is blown off his seat// / explosions
MS / Szp gets up in the dust and //
EXT. RADIO STATION – DAY
/WIDE / Chaos, people running / screaming, shouting
TRACKS / a pretty blonde,
HOLDS / Dorota, who stops when she sees Szpilman. //
REVERSE TRACK / Szpilman as he appears – Dorota’s POV
TWO SHOT ® THREE SHOT / Dorota, Szpilman
as Jurek walks to join them
OVER-SHOULDER / Szpilman blots blood off his face - slightly L/A – Jurek’s POV
THREE SHOT / as Jurek pulls her away; she looks back adoringly at Szpilman - slightly H/A, Szp’s POV
L/A / their POV of Szpilman on the top of the steps
H/A / Szpilman’s POV as they leave; he follows
another explosion fills the scene with dust / explosion
· The film will end with the piano playing repeated – same shots in reverse at the concert.
· The idyllic Warsaw scenes will have been replaced by the wasteland left by the Nazis.
· Small variety in shots used – the images tell the story, not the camera work.
· All the views of the producer are LS – from Szpilman’s POV; he gets no closer so camera does not either
· Dorota represents his adoring fans, indicates the level of his popularity – yet the attraction between them is obvious.
Close Analysis: Playing for his Life
· Polanski’s direction of this scene, his use of pause and nuance, is masterful.
· He is prepared to take his time – the scene is 8 minutes, 46 seconds long, with the camera lingering on faces and hands.
· The length of each shot is given in seconds. All shots are linked to the next by a CUT.
· Although the shots below are differentiated into CU and MCU, the CU shots of Szpilman and the MCU shots of Hosenfeld are actually fairly similar in size – a little closer to CU for Szpilman, a little closer to MCU for Hosenfeld, shifting him a little further away.
SHOT / ACTION / SECS / COMMENTINT. HOUSE – NIGHT
REVERSE TRACK; TRACK / Szpilman through rooms to fireplace / 24
MS / as he picks up fire irons, hammers at the can; it falls / 32
TRACK
camera holds / can rolling, spilling its precious liquid onto the floor; / 23 / Incredible suspense created by the slow camera movement here. *
then TILTS up very slowly / to the shoes and then the rest of a German officer / Silence – much more powerful than dramatic music.
MS / Hosenfeld 's POV of Szpilman / 9 / Larger shot (MCU) of Hosenfeld, plus slightly low angle gives him power and authority; emphasises how vulnerable Szpilman is.
MCU / Hosenfeld / 9
MS / Szpilman / 17
MCU / Hosenfeld / 10
MS / Szpilman: I am - I was - a pianist. / 15
MCU / Hosenfeld sighs, jerks his head. / 16
MS / Szpilman / 4
LS / Hosenfeld: Kommen Sie (= Come on.) Szpilman picks up can [OS] and shuffles past into a large room with a piano; "Play something"; Szpilman puts the can on the piano, opens lid, pulls up chair, sits; / 110 / This single shot lasts 1 minute 50 seconds, quite a remarkable length for a modern film where a few seconds is more usual. Compare the length of shots in the filming of the actual playing with that of the dialogue that follows.
The playing is filmed the way a concert pianist would be filmed.
the camera circles and focuses / on his hands as he looks at them and begins to play - Chopin Ballad No 2. It is so cold his breath can be seen in the air
MCU / Hosenfeld, / 37
TRACK / as he goes to sit down
LS / Szpilman at piano, playing for his life / 11 / Beautifully backlit - by moonlight or streetlights - he plays with as much commitment as if in a concert hall.
MCU / Hosenfeld / 12
CU / Szpilman, back where we first saw him – at the piano / 14 / ironic contrast in the situation
his hands / 16 / delicate, skilful, artistic / ragged cuffs
CU / Szpilman / 9
CU / his hands / 13
ELS WIDE / street; the driver kicks his heels / 9 / reminder of the wider context
CU / Szpilman / 5
INSERT / hands / 18
CU / Szpilman / 12
MCU / Hosenfeld / 10
INSERT / hands / 10
CU / Szpilman / 21
INSERT / hands / 15
CU / Szpilman / 8
MCU / Hosenfeld / 6
CU / Szpilman / 5 / note how much shorter these shots
MCU / Hosenfeld / 3 / are
CU / Szpilman / 8
MCU / Hosenfeld / 4
LS / piano; Szpilman picks up his can / 6 / food is still his priority
MS / Hosenfeld tugs his uniform straight / 3 / emphasises his uniform, and the ‘duty’ that goes with it
L/A LS / Hosenfeld’s POV, lit by torch, as Szpilman drags ladder out / Contrast with cold light – warm halo effect of torch
H/A LS / Hosenfeld and torch / One of few examples of the use of LOW ANGLE shots – and reverses usual power position – it is Hosenfeld who has the power here.
L/A LS / torch lights up Szpilman in attic
H/A LS / Hosenfeld and torch
L/A LS / Szpilman in attic
H/A LS / Hosenfeld leaves
L/A LS / Szpilman hears door close / silver moonlight on can, face
WIDE LS / Hosenfeld goes to his car; drives away
MCU / Szpilman weeps
* This is not a POV shot. Szpilman has already seen Hosenfeld and is frozen – he makes no attempt to stop his precious liquid from draining away. For once, the camera is used to create tension in us.
· There is no great variety in the camera work – this is classical, mise en scène (and very satisfying) filming, where the camera is essentially static and the actors do the work.
· Note how, in spite of his situation, the music takes over Szpilman, and he maybe even forgets where he is. Hosenfeld remains enigmatic.
Contrasts between
· the smart officer and the unkempt Szpilman;
· his delicate and skilful fingers and the frayed cuff
· the beauty of the music and the rubble around them;
· the memory of the suave and elegant Szpilman at the start of the film and the starving scarecrow who plays now.
· Hosenfeld uses the pronoun 'Sie" = the formal and respectful 'You', unlike other Germans earlier who use 'du' to the Jews.
Setting Notes
The film was shot in Poland, in Prague and in a German studio
· Warsaw was recreated on giant sets in a German film studio back lot, including the street overlooked by the apartment where Szpilman is hidden; from his high window the pianist can see the walls of the ghetto.
· Some filming was done in Warsaw but the old city was largely obliterated by the Germans; the only part that survived is an area – Praga - across the river where the Russians waited until the Germans had put down the Polish resistance. The designers recreated the ghetto out of this.
· The ruined city where Szpilman hides and scavenges was created out of an old Russian army camp due for destruction; they blew it up to create one of the most striking images of the film.
· The scenes with Hosenfeld were filmed in a villa in Potsdam; the hospital was a recently abandoned Russian turn of the century hospital in East Germany (Belitz).
Ä How many signifiers can you identify that signal time and place?
· screen text and references in dialogue· trams, horses and carriages / · languages used in signs
· costumes – see separate notes
1. Where does most of the action take place?
In the streets and apartments of Warsaw; within the ghetto, and later outside the ghetto walls. Much of the story is told within or looking from buildings.
2. How do the buildings add to the impact of the film?
The narrow streets and high buildings contribute to a feeling of claustrophobia, of being trapped.
The damage to them – from bombs, and later from tanks and flamethrowers – turns Warsaw into a wasteland. That the solidness of them should be so easily destroyed suggests a metaphor for the fragility of civilisation.
3. What does their home tell us about the Szpilmans?
They are middle class, comfortable rather than wealthy. A bit shabby, suggesting former wealth. It is a musical home – the piano is a Bechstein; Father’s violin is important to him. Tapestry on the wall, paintings, family photos. That they can afford a wagon to take their furniture to the ghetto puts them above the poorer class, but the privations of the ghetto soon tell.
4. Comment on the costumes. How much do they locate the film in a specific time and or place?
The style of clothes – the fashions – are late 30s; the men and women all wear hats; Jewish women in headscarves. German uniforms. Stars. Overcoats – cold.
The costumes help the atmospheres and mood also. The early costumes include a great deal of colour – browns, salmon pinks, reds, yellows – but the colour disappears once they are in the ghetto, where costumes are drab, monochromatic.
5. What aspects of camera work, sound and music, lighting, etc reinforce the impression you get from the basic setting?
The high angle shots reinforce the idea of an imprisoned people; cool light emphasises the cold; the sound of explosions, guns, etc recreates the war; the trams and the bells recreate the busy street;
6. Society – the people around us – are an important aspect of setting. How is that shown in this film?
Most noticeably in the teeming numbers within the ghetto, the bodies, the beggars, the filth, its enforced moral breakdown, and its grotesque administration.
The absolute suddenness of Szpilman's solitude after he escapes the death train leads to one of the most stunning images – he stumbles toward a retreating camera, weeping through streets of abandoned belongings and dead bodies into the empty and trashed home of his friend.
The formality of language when adults address one another: Mr Szpilman; Dr Ehrlich
7. What is the predominant mood? Are there significant changes?
The mood is sombre, serious, sorrowful, occasionally frightening, occasionally suspenseful; yet leavened occasionally with a touch of humour (the “madman” Rubinstein, and Jehuda’s cheerful dismissal of musicians as too “musical”).
Ä Which of the descriptions – montage or mise en scène - applies to Polanski’s direction of this film?
Classical – mise en scène: Polanski uses the camera in as unobtrusive and unflashy a way as possible. The images and the actors do the work, tell the story.
Characters: Who’s Who?
Ä Next to the description of the character, select the correct name from the list below.
1. He hides Szpilman in an old fireplace on his first night out of the ghetto. / Gebczynski2. A German officer who brings Szpilman food. / Hosenfeld
3. Szpilman’s younger brother. / Henryk
4. He collects money on Szpilman’s behalf but leaves him to starve. / Szalas
5. He publishes an underground paper in the ghetto. / Jehuda Zyskind
6. A singer, she helps Szpilman when he first goes into hiding, bringing him food. / Janina
7. He is one of the leaders of the resistance. / Majorek
8. She is Szpilman’s younger sister. / Halina
9. She is a cellist who helps to hide him. / Dorota
10. The older of his two sisters, she is a lawyer. / Regina
11. A member of the Jewish police, he saves Szpilman from the death train. / Itzak Heller
12. A violinist who survives a concentration camp. / Lednicki
13. The manager of the café where Szpilman plays, he is later shot by a Nazi. / Benek
14. A German factory owner, provides an employment certificate for Father. / Mr Schultz
15. Janina’s husband, he helps to hide Szpilman when he first leaves the ghetto. / Andrej
Parallels and Contrasts
Ä How does this film use contrast to help distinguish the characters?
Halina and Regina; Wladek and Henryk; Henryk and Heller;
Hosenfeld and all the other Germans; Janina, Dorota and the blonde neighbour;
Andrej, Michal and Szalas
Characterisation is generally minimal, apart from Szpilman himself; most have too little screen time.
Minor Characters