Dealin' Reel: Episode 1 - The Pianist

Based on the true story of famed pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, this is a rather long movie, and not for the faint of heart.  Set in Nazi ridden Poland, the story depicts that of a Jewish pianist and his family.  Not only are they moved into the ghetto, but they end up witnessing the very real tragedies of seeing first-hand the Nazis drag other Jewish families from their homes, tossing them out the windows and shooting them.  I will not go into too much detail here, but I do want to make it clear that this is certainly not recommended for children.  I found it much more "true-to-life" as it was at the time than most World War based movies.  There is a great deal of violence in addition to the general state of affairs for people (Jews in particular) at the time.

When his family is boarding the trains for a concentration camp, he is rescued by a friend who had apparently changed sides in order to protect himself and his family.  Instead of spending his days in the camps, the pianist lived week to week in various other situations.  Most of the time, he was running and hiding out with the help of the few he could trust.  Much of this time, he was completely and totally alone for days on end with little to no communication with others.  He narrowly escapes death and being caught on multiple occasions, adding a dramatic flair to the movie.

One of my favorite parts of this movie was at one point, the pianist is hiding out in an apartment building loaned him by a trustworthy acquaintance.  He walks into the room and is absolutely in awe of the piano standing against a wall.  He is told he cannot make a single audible noise which other tenants might hear as he is in German territory, none of them know he is there, and he cannot risk being captured.  This is a very famously accomplished Polish pianist with a true passion for his art.  He hasn't seen a piano in God knows how long, and suddenly he finds himself living in an apartment with one he cannot play for fear of deportation or death.  Despite his direst of circumstances, he seats himself on the piano stool, raises his hands above the keys, and plays an "air piano", remembering every key and every note as though he had actually touched the keys.

This was a truly touching film for the "fond-of-tissues" ladies, and very action-packed for the annoyed men sitting with Fond-of-Tissues.