Film & Music Around the World
Every half term we are looking at different countries and examining an element of their Film and Music culture.
We started by watching “La Armistad” a true story depicting the battle of a group of Africans fighting for their freedom, we also examined how some modern American music can trace its roots back to the slave trade and Africa.
This half term we are studying The Pianist (2002) a film directed by Roman Polanski. It is based on the real life story of Władysław Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Polish-Jewish pianist. In 1939 he was playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is bombed during Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland which caused the outbreak of World War II. Hoping for a quick victory, Szpilman celebrates with his posh family at home when learning that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. German troops soon enter Warsaw and the Nazi authorities implement measures to identify, isolate, financially ruin and reduce the Jewish population in Warsaw. Jews are ordered to provide their own identifying armbands with the Star of David. We are also using the film as a background to the life of its director Roman Polanski and the composer Wojciech Kilar.
