The Fiftieth Gate and The Pianist Essay Example for Free

The Fiftieth Gate and The Pianist Essay Memory helps form the basis of history, whereas history can be used to clarify fragmented memories. For a true understanding of the past there has to be a balance between documented evidence and personal experiences and memories. In Mark Baker’s nonfiction biography ‘The Fiftieth Gate’ (1997), and Roman Polanski’s film ‘The Pianist’ (2002) have both reconstructed the past through a combination of memories and historical documentation. The interplay of historical documentation and memories is critical for an accurate portrayal of an event. The Fiftieth Gate’ follows Baker’s own investigation into the history and memories of his parents to understand the events of the Holocaust. He adopts a style of writing similar to Midrash, a religious method of biblical interpretation of ideas, to bridge the gap between the past and present. Intially memories are inconsistent for Baker. They can leap out â€Å"at him, like a jack-in-the-box†, the simile enhancing the notion that memories are unpredictable and therefore not entirely reliable. Baker’s value of historical exactness over memory is seen through the juxtaposition of his father’s shared experience against his mother’s lone survival. He sees his father’s past â€Å"written on page of history shared by other survivors† while his mother â€Å"could not point to anyone†. As the novel progresses, this preference for history over memory is diminished. History is characterized as cold and lifeless being: â€Å"papers (that are)†¦echoes of the past, dark shadows without screams, without smells, without fear†. The repetition of â€Å"without† emphasizes the lack of emotion present in historical accounts. At the end of the novel Baker arrives at the rhetorical question â€Å"Why do I crave the contents of this single lone sentence†¦when all it says is what she has repeated throughout her life? while summarising his mother’s experience. The historian eventually learns to stop only looking at â€Å"numbers and lists† but rather hear the â€Å"pleas of a human being†. With this final combination of history and memory Baker is able to acquire a deeper understanding of the past. A similar focus on the interplay of historical documentation and memories is seen in Roman Polanski’s film ‘The Pianist’. Polanski’s own memories and the experiences of Wladyslaw Spzilman are verified by archival images taken by the Germans and historical data about the Warsaw Ghetto. In contrast to Baker’s describing of events, ‘The Pianist’ visually recreates the memories of the Holocaust victims. Polanski uses monochromatic colours, costumes and lighting to produce a morose World War II concentration camp atmosphere. Within the film the interplay of history and memory is shown as black and white footage intercut with contemporary scenes of Spzilman from Pianist. To ensure that the â€Å"smallest detail would be exact†, the director employed research experts, who found artefacts from the Holocaust to use in the film that would provide authenticity. This is enhanced with dialogue that enlightens the audience to the attitudes and values of that time, â€Å"They hang†¦ (those) for helping Jews†. Allusions to official decrees that were placed at that time where â€Å"No jews are allowed† and newspaper articles and radio broadcasts of that time is used by Polanski to place the audience accurately within that time. He uses an evocative setting of ruins in Europe and Warsaw, and intercuts actual historical World War II footage and data. In â€Å"†¦trying to rebuild the world exactly as it was†¦ no more, no less,† he melds history and memory to reveal truths. For an accurate understanding of past events there needs to be a balance between historical documentation and personal memories. Baker creates these metaphorical gates that open his parent’s memories, a link to his Jewish heritage, with each gate drawing a separate memory. He enhances the eternal power of memories through sensory imagery: â€Å"Can you hear, or do the screams from the mass grave drown out the sounds and melodies of Wierzbnik in its innocence? † The experiences endured by his parents continue to torment them, their memories: â€Å"broken like fragments of sacred tablet†. The motif of stone in this simile corresponds with the Jewish belief of memory not being remembered by flowers but rather by stones as they are â€Å"mysterious and eternal†. The lasting effect of the Holocaust is seen in Genia’s dialogue: â€Å"Don? t interrogate me. I? m your mother, not your prisoner, the negative word connotations linking back to her own circumstance during the Nazi regime. Personal memories explore emotions that can never be captured by written documents, a notion that is illustrated through the repetition and rhetorical question of: â€Å"You read, you read. Books, books, everywhere. But do you know how it feels? † Baker employs evocative languge of his mother remembering: â€Å"the sound of shots† of â€Å"screaming†, which is contrasted to the historical facts of this event: â€Å"the death toll†¦ of atleast 40,000 Jews†, demonstrating the value of memory, as it provides greater substance and accuracy than documented evidence. Through an investigation of both history and personal memories Baker is able to gain an accurate understanding of the past. Polanski is â€Å"a survivor telling a survivor’s story†. The Pianist’ explores past events through the diary of a German officer, the memoirs of Wladyslaw Spzilman and Polanski’s own personal memories. Three accounts interweave in this film to display an accurate interpretation of the Holocaust. The accuracy of the Pianist’s memory is justified as it â€Å"was written immediately after the war†. Polanski himself remembers the â€Å"one thing that is burned in my mind is the arm band with the star of David†. He places this image to symbolise the dehumanisation of the Jewish people. This corresponds with the number branded on Baker’s father, Yossl. Polanski indirectly questions the link between memories and time. He suggests that memory is not entirely reliable and adapts to changing contexts. This is emphasised through the use of the cross fade technique. Images of Spzilman playing the piano blur into one another, which suggest that memory will eventually fade and transform. The piano itself is a visual leitmotif within the film for Spzilman’s survival spirit. Polanski visually enhances the Spzilman’s memory of being isolated in Warsaw ghetto by placing the pianist as a single figure in the centre of the foreground. All that remains in the background are possessions abandoned by the Jews who have been deported to death camps. Memory enriches history while history informs memory. These two key ideas are presented in Mark Baker’s non-fiction biography, The Fiftieth Gate and Roman Polanski’s film The Pianist, allowing the audience to understand the importance of memory and history. By examining personal experience, memory and documented evidence, an individual can a balanced and informed understanding of the past.