Although his recent arrest on a thirty-year-old warrant for sexual assault has halted his career, "The Pianist," represented an undeniable high-point of Roman Polanski's artistic reputation. The film earned several Oscars, including one for Polanski's direction. "The Pianist" dramatizes the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman. A prominent Polish musician, Szpilman was forced into hiding during the Holocaust. The film was a very personal endeavor that mirrored Polanski's own experiences as a young boy during World War Two. Polanski occasionally weaves his own memories into Szpilman's autobiography, but overall, the story belongs to the pianist and to his music. In "The Pianist," a crucial performance of Chopin's Ballade questions what beautiful music might mean in a cruel and damaged world.