Powerful true story of Jewish pianist has brutal violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a lot
Graphic violence portraying the onset of the Holocaust. Though gore is minimal, blood is visible, and fear and dread pervade every scene. A family watches in horror as Nazis roll a man in a wheelchair onto a balcony and throw him off. A woman is shot in the forehead. Jews are shot in the head while lying down. An injured character lying on a road is run over by a tank. Wartime violence includes battles with machine guns, explosions, and bombed buildings.
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The brutality of the Nazi occupation and subsequent racism, degradation of European Jews, and the Holocaust that followed are shown in graphic detail, a necessary reminder that this must never happen again. In times when humanity as a whole is shown at its worst, there are individuals and groups who stand up to evil and fight it with every means at their disposal. Music, and art as a whole, has the capacity to transcend war and hatred.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Wladyslaw endures incredible suffering and degradation as a Jew in Nazi-occupied Warsaw but manages to retain his dignity and sanity to survive. He demonstrates perseverance and courage. The Polish Resistance to Nazi occupation is shown through the actions of the characters who do their best to protect Wladyslaw and hide him from the Nazis and through those who fought back and died in the cause of freedom and liberation.
Diverse Representations
some
Extended depictions of Jews and their persecution under Nazi occupation. Though many Germans, Poles, and even other Jews were complicit, many resisted; both are shown. Nazis' brutality to people with disabilities is captured when a person in a wheelchair is thrown from a balcony. But Nazi persecution of other groups, such as LGBTQ+ and Romani people, isn't addressed; the POV is limited to Wladyslaw's. This also limits the portrayal of women to Wladyslaw's family members, love interest, and a couple women who help him along the way. They're positive portrayals, but not extensive. It should be noted that director Roman Polanski is a complicated figure. His own survival of WWII as a Polish Jew informed his direction of the film, but he's also pled guilty to statutory rape and is a wanted fugitive in the United States.
Parents need to know that The Pianist is an Oscar-winning movie about a young Jewish musician (Adrien Brody) living in Warsaw during the Nazis' occupation, based on Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoir of the same name. Wladys desperately tries to make sense of the invasion of his country and the degradation they oversaw, the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the madness that led to the Holocaust. There's graphic violence, but it's intended to reveal the real-life horrors European Jews endured at the Nazis' hands during World War II and to leave audiences with the conviction that atrocities and genocide such as this must never happen again. People are shot in the head for little to no reason, someone in a wheelchair is tossed off a balcony, and a person lying injured in the road is run over by a tank. There's also wartime violence: machine-gun battles, bombed-out cities, explosions, and casualties. Profanity includes "f--k" and "s--t." While the movie was directed by controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski, it's still likely to inspire thought and discussion on the extremes of evil and good in humankind, the individual acts of heroism undertaken by those whose names will never make the history books, and the transcendent and unifying nature of music and art. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
May be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Please watch this with your (older) kids.
I would say this is one of the most powerful movies about war and the resilience of the human spirit ever made. It is brutal and unrelenting, but the story will stay with you long after you see it. Please watch this with your kids then talk about it afterwards and why we need to be vigilant that nothing like this ever happens again.
So good but a bit to mature for younger teens and kids
One of my favorite movies. But the Holocaust is a very strong topic, and this is a very sad movie but I highly recommend this.
What's the Story?
THE PIANIST is the emotionally devastating true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Jewish pianist in Poland caught up in the horrors of World War II. The Nazis invade Poland, confine Jews to a ghetto, and eventually ship them off to concentration camps. There is heartbreaking and graphic violence. Yet, director Roman Polanski delivers this difficult message in a very thoughtful, skillful way. Just when the audience is on the verge of becoming numbed by the grim life in the ghetto, the pianist escapes for a day and walks through the bright flower stalls in the crowded market outside the ghetto. It reminds the viewer of how far the pianist has fallen from a "normal" life, but it gives the viewer the same brief respite that it gives the pianist. Just when the Nazi brutality against the Jews seems unbearable, a music-loving German soldier treats the pianist kindly while Jewish victims prey on each other.
The epic journey of a man transformed by a series of events from an elegantly dressed, highly cultured musician to a scavenging, debased shell of a human being is powerfully conveyed. The most effective parts of The Pianist are its small, vivid, almost unbearably poignant human moments. In one such scene, a family awaiting a transport train that will take them to an extermination camp combines all their remaining money to buy a single caramel, which they carefully divide into six tiny portions.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why movies such as The Pianist, which is based on a true story, are so important. Are there any current events you can think of that are similar to the invasion of Poland and the plight of Jews in World War II?
In so many movies, violence serves no purpose but to provide a burst of excitement, to create action, to keep the audience entertained. How is this movie different? What do you think is the purpose of showing graphic violence here?
While most people are familiar with what transpired during the Holocaust, what specifics did you learn that added to your understanding of World War II, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the brutal and unspeakable genocide? As the true story of a Jewish musician who lived through such a terrible time, how did this movie personalize these events?
While many of his films are highly acclaimed, director Roman Polanski is a wanted criminal. How does an artist's tarnished legacy affect audience's view of their art? Can we separate the impact of the art from that of the artist? To what extent should a director's legacy influence the legacy of their films, considering the many other people involved in making them?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
