Censorship and Artistic Integrity in The Pianist (2002)

Introduction: Clean Flix and the Censorship Debate

This essay examines the issue of film censorship through the lens of Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). Specifically, it considers what would happen if every violent scene or instance of strong language were simply removed from the film — the approach taken by services such as Clean Flix. Censorship in film has always been a contentious issue, and with the advent of Clean Flix, the debate has come to a head. While it is certainly a person's right to seek out entertainment they do not find offensive, for a company to "clean" such content is simply an alteration of the work, plain and simple. This alteration changes the meaning of the work and undermines the integrity and very foundation of many films. Clean Flix may provide a service some viewers value, but it does so at the cost of the film and everything it stands for.

Language, Brutality, and the Meaning of The Pianist

Artistic integrity versus "offensive" content is a difficult question for both sides of the debate, and whatever changes are made to a film constitute some kind of alteration and compromise. In the case of The Pianist, the censoring of "offensive" content alters the meaning of the film and diminishes its impact.

The Pianist carries a powerful message about the brutality and hatred of the Nazis toward the Jews. This message is expressed through the extreme juxtaposition between the magnificence of the music and the viciousness of the Nazis. Removing all of the strong language from the film would also remove this juxtaposition, making the Nazis appear far less brutal and unforgiving than they actually were.

For example, in one scene near the end of the film, the main character Szpilman is nearly killed when he is discovered wearing a German officer's coat. He cries, "No. Please. I'm Polish. I'm not a German," and the soldier replies, "Then why the *****ing coat?" to which Szpilman responds, "I'm cold" (The Pianist). This exchange sums up the general feeling about the Nazis succinctly and brutally. The Nazis were vicious oppressors, and the world recognized it. The language in this scene may be harsh, but it is far less harsh than what the Nazis themselves inflicted, and it is necessary for the film's impact.

To sanitize the language is to whitewash the Holocaust and what happened to the Jewish people — and that is neither acceptable nor historically honest. Removing the language would change the overall effect of the film and lessen its impact on the audience. It would also make the movie a farce: if the film cannot accurately portray the brutality of the Nazis without watering it down, viewers would be left to wonder what else had been altered. It would create doubt in the minds of viewers and cast suspicion on other portrayals and historical accounts. Altering the language and violence of this film would render it weak, remove the impetus for viewing it, and betray both the memory of the pianist it chronicles and the millions of Jews who died during the Holocaust.

Graphic Violence as Historical Truth

Of course, the strong language is not the only element that makes this film memorable or that conveys the brutality of the Nazis. Polanski continually illustrates Nazi violence through graphic scenes, such as the one in which Nazi soldiers break into a Jewish home and order everyone to stand. When an elderly man in a wheelchair cannot comply, they simply throw him out a third-floor window. The scene is horrifying to watch, but it captures the truth of what happened to thousands of Jewish people. Without it, the film would lose much of its power and meaning.

Removing the violence and strong language might make the film more accessible to a wider audience, but that is precisely the point — this film is not intended for everyone, and it should not be. Children are unlikely to appreciate this graphic look at history, and if we dilute every film we view, we will eventually dilute our own understanding of the world and its events. Roman Polanski, himself a Holocaust survivor, made deliberate choices about how to represent this history. Graphic violence and strong language may not always be easy to confront, but making everything easy to watch takes away our freedom of choice and our ability to form our own judgments about what has happened in the world around us.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while censoring certain films for young audiences or in extreme circumstances might be defensible, censoring a film such as The Pianist simply strips it of its impact and meaning. The Pianist contains brutal language and equally brutal violence, but these elements capture the horrific reality of the period it depicts. The film may be difficult to watch, but it presents true history, and any version that is less graphic would also be less moving, less memorable, and a disservice to the intent of the filmmakers and the people whose lives it portrays.

References

The Pianist. Directed by Roman Polanski, performances by Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, and Thomas Kretschmann, Universal Studios, 2002.