Sinopsis:
Władysław Szpilman (Adrien Brody) es un músico judío de origen polaco que trabaja en la radio de Varsovia y que ve como todo su mundo se derrumba con la llegada de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la invasión de Alemania en septiembre de 1939. Después de que la estación de radio donde estaba trabajando es bombardeada, Szpilman llega a su casa donde se entera de que el Reino Unido y Francia le han declarado la guerra a Alemania. Creyendo que la guerra se acabará pronto, él y su familia se alegran por la noticia y la celebran con una gran cena.
Dos años después, las condiciones de vida para los judíos en Polonia se han ido deteriorando rápidamente, quedando reducidos sus derechos: tienen limitada la cantidad de dinero por familia, han de llevar brazaletes con la Estrella de David para ser identificados y, a finales de 1940, son obligados a trasladarse al Gueto de Varsovia. Ahí se enfrentan al hambre, a las persecuciones y humillaciones que los nazis llevan a cabo, además del miedo a la muerte y las torturas que siempre están presentes. Después de un tiempo, los judíos son reunidos y deportados al campo de exterminio de Treblinka. En el último minuto, Szpilman es salvado de ese horrible destino por un policía del gueto judío, antiguo amigo de la familia. Separado de sus familiares y seres queridos, Szpilman sobrevive, primero en el gueto como esclavo obrero de unidades de reconstrucción alemanas y posteriormente escondido en el exterior del gueto, confiando en la ayuda de amigos que no son judíos y que todavía lo recordaban.
Mientras se mantiene escondido, presencia los muchos horrores cometidos por los nazis, como las palizas, incendios y matanzas indiscriminadas. Asimismo, presencia el levantamiento de los judíos del Gueto en 1943. En poco tiempo, el ejército alemán entra por la fuerza al gueto y elimina a casi todos los rebeldes que quedaban.
Pasado un año, la vida en Varsovia se ha deteriorado más todavía. La resistencia polaca organiza otro levantamiento contra la ocupación alemana, que nuevamente falla. Como consecuencia, la ciudad queda virtualmente deshabitada y, en más de una ocasión, Szpilman queda al borde de la muerte debido a las enfermedades y la desnutrición.
Después de una frenética búsqueda de algo que comer por las ruinas de las casas bombardeadas y escapando de los nazis, Szpilman encuentra una lata de pepinillos Ogorki en conserva, pero nada con que poder abrirla. Después de continuar buscando, encuentra algunas herramientas e intenta abrirla, pero entonces se da cuenta de que un oficial alemán le observa, el capitán Wilm Hosenfeld, que al instante se da cuenta de que Szpilman es judío. Al enterarse que anteriormente era pianista, Hosenfeld le lleva hasta un piano y le pide que toque algo. En ese momento un decrépito Szpilman ejecuta una desesperada pieza de Chopin (la primera ballada Op. 23 en sol menor) ante un Hosenfeld que se compadece de él, y a la vez muestra su admiración tras la tocata, de manera que no solo no le delata sino que le esconde en el ático del edificio, llevándole regularmente comida y un abrelatas.
Semanas después, los alemanes son forzados a retirarse de Varsovia debido al avance del Ejercito Rojo. Antes de abandonar la zona, Hosenfeld acude a despedirse de Szpilman y le da su abrigo, prometiendo que le escuchará en la radio polaca. El abrigo casi resulta ser fatal para Szpilman cuando aparecen las tropas soviéticas ya que le confunden con un oficial alemán y le disparan y lo persiguen en un edificio donde le lanzan una granada. Solo consigue que dejen de disparar tras convencerles de que es polaco y que solo lleva el abrigo porque tiene frío.
Al ser liberado un campo de concentración cercano, el capitán Hosenfeld y otros alemanes son capturados. Estando retenido, Hosenfeld le pide a un prisionero judío que pasaba por allí, que contacte con Szpilman para liberarle. Szpilman, que ha retomado su vida normal tocando en la radio de Varsovia, llega al lugar demasiado tarde ya que todos los prisioneros han sido reubicados en destinos desconocidos.
En la escena final de la película, Szpilman interpreta triunfalmente una pieza de Chopin frente a una gran audiencia en Varsovia. Antes de los créditos finales, se revela que Szpilman falleció en el año 2000 y Hosenfeld en 1952 en un campo de prisioneros de guerra soviético.
Synopsis:
Władysław Szpilman (Brody), a famous Polish Jewish pianist working for Warsaw Radio, sees his whole world collapse with the outbreak of World War IIand the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. After the radio station is rocked by explosions from German bombing, Szpilman goes home and learns that the United Kingdom and France have declared war on Nazi Germany. He and his family rejoice, believing the war will end quickly.
When the SS takes over Warsaw after the Wehrmacht moves out, living conditions for the Jewish population gradually deteriorate as their rights are slowly eroded: first they are allowed only a limited amount of money per family, then they must wear armbands imprinted with the blue Star of David to identify themselves, and eventually, on Halloween 1940, they are all forced into the squalid Warsaw Ghetto. There, they face hunger, persecution and humiliation from the SS and the ever-present fear of death, torture and starvation. The Nazis become increasingly sadistic and the family witnesses many horrors inflicted on other Jews. In one scene, a group of Einsatzgruppen, led by an NCO, go into the apartment across from the Szpilmans. They order the family on the top floor to stand, then when an elderly man in a wheelchair is unable to comply, the SS throw him off the balcony. The rest of the family are then taken out into the street and shot, and the SS drive off, running over the bodies along the way.
Before long, the family, along with thousands of others, are rounded up as part of Operation Reinhard for deportation to the extermination facility atTreblinka. As the Jews are being forced onto rail cars, Szpilman is saved at the last moment by one of the Jewish Ghetto Police, who happens to be a family friend. Separated from his family and loved ones, Szpilman manages to survive. At first he is pressed into a German reconstruction unit inside the ghetto as a slave labourer. During this period, another Jewish labourer confides to Szpilman two critical pieces of information: one, that many Jews who still survive know of the German plans to exterminate them, and two, that a Jewish uprising against the Germans is being actively prepared for. Szpilman volunteers his help for the plan. He is enlisted to help smuggle weapons into the ghetto, almost being caught at one point.
Later, before the uprising starts, Szpilman decides to go into hiding outside the ghetto, relying on the help of non-Jews who still remember him such as an ex-coworker of his from the radio station. While living in hiding, he witnesses many horrors committed by the SS, such as widespread killing, beating and burning of Jews and others (the burning is mostly shown during the two Warsaw uprisings). In 1943, Szpilman also finally witnesses the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising he helped to bring about, and its aftermath as the SS forcibly enters the ghetto and kills nearly all the remaining insurgents. A year goes by and life in Warsaw further deteriorates. Szpilman is forced to flee his first hiding place after a mean-spirited neighbor (who's presumably the landlord, due to the way she sternly questions for his ID) detects his presence and threatens to have him detained and turned in. In his second hiding place, near a German military hospital, in a rare moment of humor, he is shown into a room with a piano and then told to be as quiet as possible. Of course, Szpilman can't resist opening the keyboard. Here, he nearly dies due to jaundice and malnutrition.
In August 1944, the Polish resistance mounts the Warsaw Uprising against the German occupation. Szpilman witnesses the Polish insurgents fighting the Germans outside his window. Again, Szpilman narrowly escapes death when a German tank shells the apartment he is hiding in. Warsaw is virtually razed and depopulated as a result of the fighting (see Aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising). After the surviving Warsaw population is deported from the city ruins and the escape of German SS from the approaching Soviet Army, Szpilman is left entirely alone. In buildings still standing, he searches desperately for food. While trying to open a can of Polish pickles, Szpilman is discovered by a captain of the Wehrmacht, Wilm Hosenfeld (Kretschmann). Upon questioning Szpilman and discovering that he is a pianist, Hosenfeld asks Szpilman to play something for him on the grand piano that happens to be in the building. The decrepit Szpilman, only a shadow of the flamboyant pianist he once was, plays an abbreviated version of Chopin's Ballade in G minor.
Hosenfeld lets Szpilman continue hiding in the attic of the building and even brings him food regularly, thus saving his life. Another few weeks go by, and the German troops are forced to withdraw from Warsaw due to the advance of the Red Army troops. Before leaving the area, Hosenfeld asks Szpilman what his name is, and, upon hearing it, remarks that it is apt for a pianist (Szpilman being the Polish rendering of the German Spielmann, meaning "man who plays"). Hosenfeld also promises to listen for Szpilman on Polish Radio. He gives Szpilman his Wehrmacht uniform greatcoat and leaves. Later, that coat is almost fatal for Szpilman when Polish troops, liberating the ruins of Warsaw, take him for a German officer and shoot at him. He is eventually able to convince them that he is Polish, and they stop shooting.
As newly freed prisoners of a concentration camp walk home, they pass a fenced-in enclosure of German prisoners of war, guarded by Soviet soldiers. A badly injured German prisoner, who turns out to be Hosenfeld, calls out to the passing ex-prisoners. Hosenfeld begs one of them, a violinist of Szpilman's acquaintance, to contact Szpilman to free him. Szpilman, who has gone back to playing live on Warsaw Radio, arrives at the site too late; all the prisoners have been removed to their fates along with any trace of the stockade. In the film's final scene, Szpilman triumphantly performs Chopin'sGrand Polonaise brillante in E flat major to a large audience in Warsaw. Title cards shown just before the end credits reveal that Szpilman continued to live in Warsaw and died in 2000, but that Hosenfeld died in 1952 in a Soviet KGB prisoner-of-war camp, but was later posthumously honored for saving Szpilman's life and turning against his own criminal regime.
Duración:
150 Minutos
Idioma:
Ingles, Español y Francés.
Subtítulos:
Ingles, Español y Francés.
