Close Reading – Suggested Answers

Overview

These questions should be attempted immediately after the first viewing. Anything they cannot answer then should be left for them to consider during the Close Reading of the text. It will be a more valuable exercise if students can find out the answers for themselves.

  1. Why does Szpilman manage to survive when so many others were unable to?

The film suggests it was his music and his commitment to music that helped sustain him. Luck played a big part. And his celebrity helped in the early days – that is presumably the reason he is saved from the transport. Finally, the will to survive.

  1. Szpilman’s memoir was written and published immediately after the war but then suppressed for decades by the Communist authorities in Poland and republished only in 1999. Why would they suppress it?

There are good and bad Poles, good and bad Germans, good and bad Jews. The Communist Party line was “Germany bad; everyone else good.” In the first edition – the only one published under Communist rule – Szpilman was forced to pretend that Hosenfeld was an Austrian, not a German. Austria and even East Germany pretended that they, like Poland, had been invaded by Hitler’s occupying force.

The memoir, though not the film, also contains Ukrainian and Lithuanian soldiers who are described as, if anything, worse than the Germans.

  1. How is Szpilman able to play so well for Hosenfeld, after so long away from the piano?

He has practised in his head, gone over all his pieces so that he does not forget them. He has kept his fingers supple by practising without a keyboard.

  1. List the aspects of ghetto life that Szpilman observes.

  • summary execution
  • printing of leaflets
  • begging
  • lost children and destitute people
  • dead bodies everywhere
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  • starvation – the “grabber”
  • loss of sanity – the “lady with the feathers”
  • smuggling – goods thrown over wall or brought through under by children
  • mud, filth, over-crowding

  1. Trace the steps as shown in the film by which the Nazis gradually destroyed Warsaw’s Jews. Note how the film informs the audience of each step.

It was a two-year process, beginning within weeks of occupation.

  • allowed to keep only a small sum of money in their homes  family debate over hiding place.
  • Henryk says Germans help themselves to Jewish property  conversation.
  • Forbidden in public parks, to sit on benches, to enter cafés, to walk on the pavement  Szpilman tells Dorota, who is horrified.
  • Szpilman's father reads incredulously that all Jews will be required to wear Star of David armbands, the exact colour and dimension described with typical German meticulousness. What we know to be the beginning of the end, the characters regard as a mind-boggling absurdity.
  • men have to raise their hats, bow to German soldiers, forbidden to walk on the pavement  scene in street (based on Polanski’s memory of that happening to his father.)
  • they are forced to sell their goods to find money to live on  we see the piano being sold.
  • all Jews are confined in the ghetto area  newspaper report; we see them walk there; we see the wall being built.
  • Henryk says – and we see – people dying of starvation, disease.
  • petty humiliations: made to dance  shown.
  • Jewish police formed – do the Germans’ dirty work: bribery, brutality  Itzak Heller’s visit, Henryk’s reaction; we see them in action.
  • forced to smuggle food to eat; children killed while doing so  shown.
  • random murders, arrests  shown.
  • forced labour camps  mentioned.
  • small ghetto closed; even more over-crowding  shown
  • evacuation to the death camps; slavery, beatings, arbitrary death for those who remain  shown
  • final destruction of ghetto and those remaining in it  we watch with Szpilman from outside.
  1. List the people who help Szpilman survive (a description will do if you cannot manage the Polish names) and say what happens to each one.
  • Benek – café owner – gives him work; hides him in café  is shot by a Gestapo officer.
  • Heller – Jewish Policeman – rescues him from the transports all the Jewish police ended up at the death camps themselves.
  • building site Jewish leader finds him an easier job ?
  • Majorek – contacts Janina and Andrej; helps him escape presumably dies in the ghetto uprising
  • Janina and Andrej: shelter him, bring him food; they are arrestedtheir fate - ?
  • Gebczynski – goes on the run from the Gestapo ?
  • Dorota and Michal – hide him, feed him, bring him medical care; they leave for the country ?
  • Szalas – supposed to feed him but uses his name as a way of acquiring money ?
  • Hosenfeld dies in a Russian POW camp
  1. As well as the help of good people, luck plays a big part in Szpilman’s survival. How many examples can you list in which he was lucky?
  • that he is hit and not shot when he tells the officer that they all have employment certificates (sc. 28)
  • that Heller saves him from the train, and that he is not noticed by a German officer
  • that he is beaten and not shot when he dropped the bricks
  • that he is able to work inside
  • that the weapons are not discovered, and that there is grain in the bag so the German had a reason for Szpilman’s fear
  • that the Germans who stop the labour team in the street when they are carrying weapons are drunk and do not search them
  • that he leaves the ghetto when he does; he would not have survived the uprising
  • the Gestapo arrest someone else in the building but do not come to his room
  • that Dorota comes to say goodbye and discovers him ill and starving
  • that the attack on his building hits the next room, not his
  • that the soldiers who shoot at him on the roof miss
  • that he sees the flame throwers in time to escape
  • that Hosenfeld is a good man; it is the food he brings that keeps Szpilman alive for those last few weeks.
Film Techniques
  1. Below is a list of some of the more common camera shots and editing devices used in feature films. Can you identify those that are conspicuous by their absence or seldom used in this film? Suggest why they have not been used:

  1. Over shoulder shot
  2. BCU or ECU
  3. ZOOM
  4. LS
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  1. WIDE
  2. LOW ANGLE shot
  3. HIGH ANGLE shot
  4. CU

The correct answers are b, c, and f

BCU or ECU are camera-views; people do not see things in BIG CLOSE UP, so it is not used for Szpilman’s view of the world either.

A ZOOM is the result of camera lens movement. We do not see things this way. Human sight more closely approximates PULL FOCUS (which is used only once), though there is no blur between our shifts of focus.

A LOW ANGLE shot is often used for the POV of someone in a weak or vulnerable position, but interestingly Polanski does not employ it like this. Presumably he did not wish to enhance the stature of the thugs in the film.

An over-shoulder shot is usually used for showing reaction in (often intimate) dialogue; for this reason, it is used in the scenes between Dorota and Szpilman, but not very often after that.

  1. There is one camera angle that is used far more than any other. Identify it – and suggest why.

HIGH ANGLE shots – because so much of what is going on is observed from windows some storeys up. Szpilman's hiding place near the ghetto wall enables him to see over the wall.

It also emphasises the vulnerability of these people, who have so little control over their lives.

  1. There are several motifs that recur throughout the story. How many can you identify? Suggest reasons for their use

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hands, especially Szpilman’s: / obvious motif for a film about a pianist
POV shots through chinks, narrow gaps: / suggest the way he becomes an observer of life
the lady with feathers (twice): / a real figure in the ghetto; illustrates one of the costs of the persecution – loss of mental health
trams, tram bells: / obviously a feature of Warsaw life; represent the usual, the normal; used to contrast with walking Jews; Szpilman rides one to hiding; partisans alight and attack the Schutzpolizei office
pianos and piano music / again, an obvious motif; the theme music is orchestral, so piano music on the soundtrack is either Szpilman playing, or what he is hearing in his head.
violin / Father’s violin, then Lednicki’s at the end - symbolises music, art, culture, destroyed by the war. “You took my soul.”
bread and potatoes / perhaps not a motif so much as a recurring theme; they become the staple diet of Jews and fugitives.
falling snow / often coincides with moments of great distress – as if frozen tears are falling
  1. There are many examples of irony in the film – often tragic. Identify them.

Henryk and Halina come back to be with the family – and so they die with them too

Szpilman goes through years of hell to end up where he was at the beginning

he is nearly shot by the Poles at the end.

Dr Ehrlich says they should fight back, but his small protest on behalf of a pregnant woman is punished with death.

  1. Some scenes end with a FADE OUT followed by a FADE IN. What is the purpose of this transition?

Usually indicates a considerable passage of time – sometimes several months. Between scenes 51 and 2, Szpilman grows a full beard and long hair.

  1. With a film as personal as this, based on a written memoir, many directors would have opted for a VOICE OVER to express the protagonist's feelings and ideas. Polanski has not done so. Can you suggest why?

Presumably to keep the cool, detached objective tone – a voice-over would enable us to identify with Szpilman much more, would involve us. The tone of the memoir is remarkably objective.

  1. Memorable scenes?

Answers will differ. Some thoughts:

  • The terrible loneliness as Szpilman stumbles, weeping, through streets littered with abandoned suitcases and corpses.
  • The film's most poignant scene? He finds himself in an apartment with a piano that he dare not play; he sits at it, hands playing above the keyboard as he hears the music in his head.
  • When he climbs out of the hospital to the awe-inspiring and frighteningly beautiful vision of a destroyed Warsaw.
  • The scene with Hosenfeld packs a powerful emotional punch.
  • The sight of the Umschlagplatz empty is perhaps even more dreadful than the way the Jews are herded and beaten into the trains.

Task Sheet 1

Chapter 1: Invasion - scenes 1 - 11

Exposition: setting the scene, introducing characters.

  1. What is the purpose of the opening shots? Why are they in black and white?

Establishes time and place; b&w suggests original footage, which give the illusion of authenticity; the busy peaceful and prosperous people, the impressive architecture, provide a strong contrast with what will happen. Look for some of the same scenes to appear later.

  1. Where is Szpilman when we first see him? What is he doing?

He is playing the piano on Polish radio.

  1. Why is it appropriate that we see his hands first?

They are his livelihood. Hands will be a recurrent motif. In the memoir, he expresses concern for the state of his hands on more than one occasion; any damage to them would cost him his future.

  1. What impression do we get of him in this scene? How does it suggest a character trait that will help him survive?

He puts his music, his responsibility to the music and to the listeners over and above his personal safety. He is calm under fire, giving up only when the building is blasted by a near-direct hit.

  1. What is the purpose of each of the following scenes? What do we learn about the situation and about the people from these scenes?
  1. the family argument over hiding the money (scene 6)

Tells us about one of the first regulations affecting the Jews; helps establish the characters and the differences between family members. Henryk is angry and passionate, and bickers with Wladek; Regina calm, a peacemaker (a lawyer); Father an optimist; Mother tries to keep the peace within the family; Wladek a bit superior – he is the eldest.

  1. Szp meeting Dorota (scene 8)

establishes Dorota as a character - she will be significant later.

through her, the outrage and anger of many Christian Poles is shown; as is Wladek’s insistence that she not complain about it, knowing that it will do no good and might even jeopardise her;

shows Szpilman is continuing with his life in spite of the Germans – basically, he is just getting on with things;

introduces yet more restrictions against Jews – variety in the way we learn these things;

helps reveal his character. He is smooth, charming, sophisticated, very attractive – a huge contrast with what he will become. He thinks of himself as Polish, not as a Jew; he is chatting up a Gentile girl here.

  1. the scene when they hear they must wear armbands (scene 9)

another regulation learned about in a different way

the chilling attention to detail that characterised the Nazi rules

the automatic rejection by Henryk and Regina representing one common response, especially among the intelligentsia; Father practical as ever; Wladek non-committal

the futile protest juxtaposed with the following scene where Father is humiliated

  1. when Father is slapped by the Nazi officer (scene 10)

illustrates the futility of trying to defy the rules

the effect of being branded as a Jew makes them easy targets

the humiliating nature of their existence – being forced t walk in the gutter.

  1. Scene 8: What qualities does Dorota exhibit that will be important later?

She is visibly upset by the regulations against the Jews, of which she was clearly unaware. She wishes to complain but is persuaded not to – so she is not one to simply accept things. She is clearly fascinated by Wladek. She is a good woman, a decent person.

Chapter 2: The Ghetto - scenes 12 - 18

  1. Give two reasons for the screenplay having Dorota watch the Jews move to the ghetto. (sc 12)

Keeps her in our minds (there are so many characters that come and go that she provides some continuity).

She expresses the attitude of many Poles – that the whole thing is ridiculous, absurd. No one at that stage had any idea of how far the Nazis were prepared to go. It is interesting that the film does not show the significant proportion of the gentile Polish population that welcomed the ghetto-ising of the Jews, that cheered their shift to the ghetto, that looked forward to helping themselves to what happened to be left. This may be because Szpilman does not record that in the book, or simply because it would add little at this stage.

  1. Why is the “lady with the feathers” included?

She is an example of another, less obvious effect of the treatment of the Jews – the loss of mental health.

  1. Why does the impatient man say he thinks the Germans are stupid?

Because in their efforts to keep the Jews separate, they are making it difficult for their businesses and other work to continue effectively.

  1. Why do both Henryk and Wladek refuse the invitation to join the Jewish police?

By now, the Jewish police have become very unpopular, are seen as working for the Nazis rather than for their own community. Henryk would rather starve than compromise his principles; Wladek does have a job and is able to reject the offer more gracefully.

  1. Why would Szpilman’s work be humiliating for him?

He used to play on the radio where a whole nation could listen to him. Here he is playing for the prosperous and uncultured few - the black marketeers, the big time smugglers, the racketeers – and they do not even listen to him. He is just background.

.

  1. How do we know the café is inside the ghetto?

They are all wearing armbands.

  1. Why do the customers ask for Wladek to stop playing?

He wants to listen to the coins, to tell from the sound whether it is genuine gold or not. Money was “the only music in which they were interested.”

  1. Why does the camera linger on the woman in the red dress?

To suggest that Szpilman is the object of attention from women who find him attractive – her actions are very suggestive. Though she is a different type and class from Dorota, whom Szpilman obviously liked very much, he still enjoys her attentions.

  1. Scene 18: What is the purpose of this scene with Jehuda Zyskind?

Introduces two more characters that will feature later: Jehuda will help with the employment certificates, and Majorek will be a leader of the Jewish revolt. Also suggests why Szpilman is not part of the Jewish Underground: Jehuda “treated me with kindly contempt, which he thought the proper approach to artists, people who were no use as conspirators. All the same, he liked me and allowed me to cal every morning and read the secret announcements that had come by radio, fresh off the press.” (Memoir, p. 70)