Learning from the movie : The Pianist

I recently watched Roman Polanski's "The Pianist"?(2002) movie. It tells the story of a Polish Jew, a classical musician, who survived the Holocaust through stoicism and good luck during World War 2. It is an adaptation of the autobiography from Szpilman. It is an amazing but horrific story. It is one of the most detailed and shocking accounts of the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.An emotionally devastating true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman?(Adrien Brody).

Wladyslaw Szpilman's city and whole way of life were destroyed around him.?His entire?family as well as many friends and acquaintances were killed.?After spending the first few years of the war living in a ghetto in Warsaw, he spent the latter years hiding in various houses and abandoned buildings, surviving in appalling conditions and on the most meager of rations.Yet there is a sense of hope and endurance that runs through the entire movie.?

We learn a lot of Perseverance, Grit, Resilience from this movie.

Perseverance is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

Resilience is toughness, capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

Grit is Determination. Strength of character.

My Top key takeaway from this movie is the following :

1. The Power of Positive Thinking : Szpilman had to spend several days, lying perfectly still for hours at a time in his hiding place.?In this condition, he spent time going over all the piano pieces he had ever played, running through them in his mind, as well as revising English vocabulary and recapping literature he had read.?In this movie, he teaches us the importance of staying positive and maintaining a sense of hope.?

The internal dialogue was -?“If you and I have survived this inferno for five years, it’s obviously God’s will for us to live.?Well, we have to believe that anyway.”

Positive self talk, This too shall pass, Focus on here & now, Think local.

2. Choose your attitude - In this movie Wladyslaw Szpilman?(Adrien Brody) at one point of time, had nowhere left to hide and no strength to run anymore, and?he assumed he faced certain death.?But there was an army officer who risked his own life to protect him and supply him with food.?This is what ultimately enabled Szpilman to survive until the city was liberated.?When he was at the end of his own efforts to persevere, he was saved by an act of grace. This is all because he choose his positive & constructive attitude. He played the piano & impressed the army officer even when he was almost about to die.

Ultimately, Szpilman’s story gives hope that it is possible to persevere and survive even the most horrendous of circumstances. We all face adversities,challenges and difficult times in our lives. Our capability & capacity defines who we are.

Emma Jameson says it all - "We need to remember that circumstances don't make a person, they reveal a person."

In 1939 Wladyslaw Szpilman?(Adrien Brody) played piano on Polish radio.?It was the last live broadcast before the Germans bombed Warsaw and the radio station was off-air for 6 years.?When service finally resumed, the?opening broadcast was?Wladyslaw Szpilman?(Adrien Brody) playing the same piece of music- a statement of hope to the Polish people as they began to rebuild their lives and look to the future.

I learnt the power of resilience, grit & perseverance from this movie. A classic movie & a must watch for all.