This piece of music stood out to me for another reason. I first heard it play quite a few years back in another film of a similar theme. The Pianist, a biographical film directed by Roman Polanski, tells the story of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish Jewish pianist, and his struggle to survive WWII.
Like Elisabeth Wieland, the Nazi's rise to power corresponds directly with Szpilman's diminished career and eventual deportation. Chopin's music plays a substantial role in The Pianist, and about three quarters of the way into it, Szpilman too plays Chopin's Ballade in G minor. Similar to Ehe im Schatten, we feel this sense of loss and the dreadful impact that the Nazi regime has had on this performer's livelihood and very existence. Yet while Elisabeth's playing of Chopin signals her death, it is Szpilman's performance that saves his life. Check it out on in this clip. You'll have a bit more context if you watch the entire scene, but the piece of music starts about 4 minutes 20 seconds in. I would definitely recommend that all of you watch the entire film at some point.
That's so interesting! I wonder if the scene where Szpilman plays the ballad is a homage to Ehe im Schatten! Interesting difference, too, between the role of the characters' artistry and their fates. While Elisabeth's art couldn't keep her out of the politics of her time, Szpilman's art saved him. Hmm..
ReplyDeleteFantastic observation--be sure to bring this up with Ivan Raykoff, who will be visiting class as well today. He has some thoughts about the role of Chopin in these movies.
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome observation. I agree that Chopin's piece has a bit of that haunting quality and I feel like I've heard it in another movie as well, but I can't place my finger on it. Anyway, I think often times the placement of certain classical pieces is quite intentional and often telling of what's to come. There is something eerily foreboding about placing classical music in a film that you don't get with most other genres... I think because most of the classical music they choose to use is well-known and has a certain feeling attached to it, it's hard to insert it into a film without the intention of meaning something.
ReplyDeleteI was really intrigued by Ivan Raykoff's comments on Chopin and his role in representing the outsider. I wonder, like Ivan Raykoff, the significance of choosing Chopin for this scene. It could have just been an aesthetic move, of course, since the music is quite haunting. However, I wonder if we can read into this a little bit (in true, German style), and wonder more about that choice. Chopin was a sickly, stateless, and ultimately single bisexual in an incredibly unstable 19th century Europe. There are surely many parallels to his "outsider-ness" and Elisabeth's. Although Chopin was highly regarded by the public and by Parisian culture (where he lived a majority of his life as a "refugee", and finally died), he was a rejected outsider according to his Polish family. The place he truly belonged did not accept him, nor he it, thus he fled, as Elisabeth does through her suicide.
ReplyDeleteMight be far fetched, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Also - GREAT ear, Daphne! :)
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