Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The pianist essay
Set in Poland during WW2, The Pianist is a biographical film released in 2003 about a famous pianist’s, Wladyslaw Szpilman, struggle to survive the Nazi invasion. The director, Roman Polanski’s personal connection to this film and the fact that it is based on an autobiography makes this text extremely meaningful. However, the production features of a film is what brings forth the director’s ideas to the audience. The interweaved themes of music and hope are conveyed throughout the film, stating how powerful music is in bringing hope and comfort to an individual. In pursuance of successfully communicating this idea to his audience, Polanski employs the techniques and elements of characterisation, tone and cinematography. Characterisation …show more content…
Replying to the German Officer, Szpilman states, “I’ll play the piano again...On the Polish radio,” after the war ends. His ambivalent and sentimental tone indicates how no matter his current situation, he only wishes to create music once again and that it gives him hope and determination to live one more day. The audience can once again empathise with the protagonist when the freed Jewish prisoner shouts, “Me, a musician. You took my violin, you took my soul,” in an indignant tone. In conjunction with this figurative language, it indicates that as a musician, Szpilman must have also felt this when his piano is taken away. Therefore his determination to play again would have driven his survival despite having lost everyone around him. This idea can be re-established by his objective, yet bitter tone when he tells his family to take the price offered for the piano. It expresses his regretfulness and frustration about having to sell his piano due to their financial situation, almost as if he is losing a part of himself. Thus, tone is an effective technique through which Polanski is able to effectively convey the theme of
This concert is held by the Stony Brook University music department and is to perform seven pieces of music written by seven student composers. The concert is performed in Recital Hall of Staller Center in Stony Brook University. Since it is a small hall, audiences are very close to the performers. In fact, it is the first time I am this close to the performers and the sound for me is so clear and powerful that seems like floating in front of my eyes. Among the seven pieces, “Ephemeral Reveries” and “Gekko no mori” are piano solo, “Two Songs for Joey” is in piano and marimba, “Suite” and “Fold Duet No. 1” are in woodwinds, “Elsewhere” is played by string groups, and “e, ee, ree, and I was free” is in vocal. Personally, I like the sound of piano and guitar the best. Therefore, in the latter part I will analysis two pieces in piano, “Gekko no mori” and “Two Songs for Joey”.
Because this theme is so prevalent in the work and because The Piano Lesson is a short drama, the most important point of comparison between Berniece and Boy Willie is how they manage their family history. The central conflict of the story is between these two characters who are at war over use of their family legacy. In this drama, family legacy takes the shape of a large piano with expertly carved scenes of the siblings’ family history. Their great-grandfather had etched the scenes into the wood while in the home of his former master and the family had sacrificed much to attain the instrument after their emancipation. This symbol is invaluable to the plot because it symbolizes not only their family, but the family sacrifice, freedom, and legacy. Both Berniece and Boy Willie understand the symbolism of the piano, but where Berniece wants to keep the piano untouched and perfectly preserved, thus preservi...
It is true that the essence of any story is emphasised through distinctively visual images created for the audience. The ability of any composer- an artist with paint brushes, a musician with chords or the writer with words- to entice and evoke is at the centre of a narrative. Both Peter Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro and Beneath Clouds by Iven Sen evoke emotions in the responder through distinctively visual elements and exploration of the concepts appearance versus reality and influence of environment.
It was not only until the spring of that year that he for first time left Hamburg professionally. He undertook a tour with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi for the purpose of introducing himself and his works. At Gottingen they gave a concert in which the young pianist made a deep impression upon the musicians present. He and Remenyi were to play Beethoven?s Kreutzer sonata, but at the last moment it was discovered that the piano was half a tone too low.
To fully understand the relationship between a filmmaker and a composer, it is helpful to take a closer look at the filmmaker’s position towards music in film in general; these can of course differ substantially from one director to another. It seems, one must think, that the complete narrative and emotive potential of film music is not yet fully recognized and appreciated in many film produc...
The music that was played by Mademoiselle Reisz also awakened the soul that was sleeping in Edna. “The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier’s spinal column.” It was the first time for Edna to feel the emotional power of music and the message that Mademoiselle Reisz wants to express though each
After listening to all four movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, I have suddenly been awakened to the tremendous influence that the Classical Form of music has had on modern day works, especially in the area of the film industry which it is used to create drama, tension, and joy. History owes a debt of gratitude to composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, who build upon the legacy of pioneers such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to create his own unique blend of symphonic compositions which will be revered throughout generations because of their continued appeal to the
...Reisz’s piano performance establishes her as an ideal Bohemian who uses music to constitute self-exploration and individuality. Nonetheless, Chopin communicates to readers that although the act of playing the piano appears generic, it is quite different, especially for anyone who notices this difference, such as Edna, who does not imagine any “pictures” while Reisz is playing as she does during the Farival Twins’ performance. She only internalizes “passions” that are “aroused within her soul” and “beat upon her splendid body.” (Chopin 44) Chopin’s use of music as a symbol allows readers to understand Edna’s slow transition from Victorian customs into a more individualistic mindset.
For this essay I will be looking at the work of Hans Zimmer to discuss how music in film engages the viewer and evokes emotion and pulls the viewer toward the film. Hans Zimmer is a German born music composer. Hans Zimmer’s love of music stems from his childhood when he learned how to play various instruments. Before Zimmer began composing music for films he was in a well-known band. The band was called The Buggles whom were famous for their song Video Killed the Radio Star. After the Buggles Zimmer played in other bands but never had another hit. As Zimmer has progressed as a film composer so has his list of nominations and awards. Zimmer has won 4 Grammy Awards and 2 Golden Globes and many more for his outstanding film scores. The reason I chose to write this essay on Zimmer was that his genres and music score are extremely versatile ranging from animations to comedy to dark thrillers. This is important to highlight as it shows Zimmer can create almost any atmosphere with his music whether it be sad or creating tension that all cause us to engage with the film. Zimmer's use of themes and introduction of different instruments allowed him to create these wonderful engaging film score. In this essay I will look at three films by Hans Zimmer these are The Holiday Rush and Rain Man.
The sound of the Polish anthem is an instant reminder that she is leaving her whole life behind. “I’m filled to the brim with what I’m about to lose – images of Cracow, which I love as one loves a person, of the sun-baked villages where we had taken summer vacations, of the hours, I spent poring over passages of music with my piano teacher, of conversations and escapades with friends” (4). All of these memories that Eva holds near to her heart become the foundation of her life and future experiences. Eva later comments, “How absurd our childish attachments are, how small and without significance. Why did the one, particular, willow tree arouse in me a sense of beauty almost too acute for pleasure, why did I want to throw myself on the grassy hill with an upwelling of joy that seemed overwhelming, oceanic, absolute?
Alice Petry Hall gives readers of Kate Chopin’s works an exceptional overview of this author’s life, sharing Chopin’s understanding of fundamental issues based on critical essays, interviews, criticisms, and Chopin’s personal notes.
... like Szpilman is gradually getting into that becoming a pianist phase and how the film overall has increased his confidence. The camera then zooms into his hand playing the piano showing the audience what to focus on. One hand has a lot of light towards it whilst the other hand is dark, which could mean that maybe his other hand will be in the light as he continues to play the piano, which is his lifelong dream. Then the camera zooms out showing us what else is in the frame. The director does this to show the audience that we should focus on where the light is coming from. The curtains have quite a detailed pattern on them which suggests that the room might have belonged to a professional and wealthy pianist. This might suggest that Szpilman is almost as if he is bringing the room back to life. This is shown with the different parts of the room covered with light.
Europa Europa and The Pianist are both amazing stories of survival from the Holocaust. In both these remarkable stories, the main character stays true to himself in times of struggle: in Europa Europa Solomon Perel struggles with his identity as a Jew and in The Pianist it is Wladyslaw Szpilman staying true to his identity as a musician that saves him. These movies are both hopeful stories that tell amazing stories of not only survival but of identity.
Many great authors manage to introduce the major themes in their work in the opening scene. By doing so, they hook their readers and excite them to read more. Kate Chopin masters this in her novel The Awakening. Her novel is about a "woman who has led the conventional life of an upper-middle-class wife and mother until the age of twenty-eight, then finds herself feeling so frustrated and suffocated that she is willing to defy the conventions of Louisiana Creole society to gain spiritual independence" (Delaney 1). Chopin hints at three themes in the first chapter of her novel; identity, love, and marriage.
This book discusses the life of Glenn Gould who was a profound pianist known for his classical music, Peter Ostwald a late violinist who wrote “The Ecstasy and Tragedy of Genius of Glenn Gould” believed that Gould was extraordinary gifted and that his music gained much appreciation among the people in the community. He not only saw Gould as a genius but also as a companion who struggled to find peace in his life through the sound of music. Gould didn’t act like a normal child he isolated himself from others because he felt that others around him did not share the same passion for music. His father noticed when he was born that instead of crying, “Glenn always hum” (Ostwald, 1997). This showed that Glenn was born with a passion towards music from the very early stages of life. Gould formed behaviors of an ambivalent attachment style towards his mother and behaviors of a secure attachment towards his father this impacted his ability to form long lasting relationships with people during his childhood progressing into his adult years. (My thesis)