Obviously this is OT, but you're a mod and you started it
Mathman, you say (after KA-BOOM!
), "BTW, that piano-playing scene in The Pianist never happened either in real life or in the book." I don't know about real life, but in the 1999 hardcover book version of THE PIANIST by Wladyslaw Szpilman--which was originally entitled DEATH OF A CITY when published in the late 1940s--the scene I described and that is in the film is very much in the book. The only substantive difference is that Szpilman plays a different piece by Chopin in the movie than he describes himself playing in the book. Go to Chapter 18, "Nocturne in C sharp minor," page 177 in my hardcover copy, and you will read:
"The officer pointed to the instrument.
'Play something!'
Hadn't it occurred to him that the sound of the piano would instantly attract all the SS men in the vicinity? He obviously sensed my fears, since he added reassuringly, 'It's all right, you can play. If anyone comes, you hide in the larder and I'll say it was me trying the instrument out.'
When I placed my fingers on the keyboard they shook. So this time, for a change, I had to buy my life by playing the piano!...I played Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor." And it goes on, pretty much the way it is in the film, though not verbatim.
So I don't know which version of the book you read, but that's what's in mine But more on that point later.
As for the "meaning" of Szpilman's story, in fact there was much controversy over how much of the movie "The Pianist" was Szpilman's story and how much was Roman Polanski's story, who, as we know, also survived WWII hiding as a Polish Jew. Personally, I never expect to see "the book" in the movie version and I don't care whose story in "fact" is told in the film as long as the film conveys a deeper or transcendant human truth appropriate to the situation. To me, once a character and/or situation is lifted from a book, turned into a screenplay, and then further into a film, those characters and situations are just the paint the director, cinematographer, editor, and actors use to make their "play out of light."
For example, Kubrick's film version of "Lolita" sways way away from the book--and Nabokov even wrote the screenplay, which Kubrick of course ignored--while Adrian Lyne's film of "Lolita" is very faithful to the book. Some days I prefer Kubrick's version, some day's Lyne's. I think they're both good.
As for Wladyslaw Szpilman's actual story, only he knows what really happened and he's dead. This was Roman Polanski's interpretation of the book. I read the book again a couple of months ago and I didn't get the same meanings from the book that you did. I remember someone once saying about books, "The story is what takes place in the reader's mind. There is nothing objective when it comes to meaning."
Anyway, I was just using the scene in the film "The Pianist" to explain why I wasn't moved by Michelle's Olympic performance of FOG but was moved by the medal ceremony.
So if we or others want to talk about this more should we start a new thread in Le Cafe or will people put up with one or two more posts of digression?
Rgirl
I got the 100th post, nyah, nyah!
Mathman, you say (after KA-BOOM!), "BTW, that piano-playing scene in The Pianist never happened either in real life or in the book." I don't know about real life, but in the 1999 hardcover book version of THE PIANIST by Wladyslaw Szpilman--which was originally entitled DEATH OF A CITY when published in the late 1940s--the scene I described and that is in the film is very much in the book. The only substantive difference is that Szpilman plays a different piece by Chopin in the movie than he describes himself playing in the book. Go to Chapter 18, "Nocturne in C sharp minor," page 177 in my hardcover copy, and you will read:"The officer pointed to the instrument.
'Play something!'
Hadn't it occurred to him that the sound of the piano would instantly attract all the SS men in the vicinity? He obviously sensed my fears, since he added reassuringly, 'It's all right, you can play. If anyone comes, you hide in the larder and I'll say it was me trying the instrument out.'
When I placed my fingers on the keyboard they shook. So this time, for a change, I had to buy my life by playing the piano!...I played Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor." And it goes on, pretty much the way it is in the film, though not verbatim.
So I don't know which version of the book you read, but that's what's in mine
But more on that point later.As for the "meaning" of Szpilman's story, in fact there was much controversy over how much of the movie "The Pianist" was Szpilman's story and how much was Roman Polanski's story, who, as we know, also survived WWII hiding as a Polish Jew. Personally, I never expect to see "the book" in the movie version and I don't care whose story in "fact" is told in the film as long as the film conveys a deeper or transcendant human truth appropriate to the situation. To me, once a character and/or situation is lifted from a book, turned into a screenplay, and then further into a film, those characters and situations are just the paint the director, cinematographer, editor, and actors use to make their "play out of light."
For example, Kubrick's film version of "Lolita" sways way away from the book--and Nabokov even wrote the screenplay, which Kubrick of course ignored--while Adrian Lyne's film of "Lolita" is very faithful to the book. Some days I prefer Kubrick's version, some day's Lyne's. I think they're both good.
As for Wladyslaw Szpilman's actual story, only he knows what really happened and he's dead. This was Roman Polanski's interpretation of the book. I read the book again a couple of months ago and I didn't get the same meanings from the book that you did. I remember someone once saying about books, "The story is what takes place in the reader's mind. There is nothing objective when it comes to meaning."
Anyway, I was just using the scene in the film "The Pianist" to explain why I wasn't moved by Michelle's Olympic performance of FOG but was moved by the medal ceremony.
So if we or others want to talk about this more should we start a new thread in Le Cafe or will people put up with one or two more posts of digression?
Rgirl
I got the 100th post, nyah, nyah!
Gabillions of people obviously love it, but my genes just can't handle it.
Now maybe if she would have skated to him... 
