PIANIST, THE
Released: December 27, 2002
We hardly need further cinematic convincing about how horrible the Germans were in the first two World Wars. In 2002, we were given the compelling "The Grey Zone" and Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" is another finely directed film about the mass murder of so many people. After 1999's silly thriller about a book collector played by Johnny Depp ("The Ninth Gate"), Polanski decided his next project will be a serious drama about a subject very close to him. A brilliant pianist, a Polish Jew, played with conviction by Adrien Brody, witnesses the restrictions Nazis place on Jews in the Polish capital, from restricted access to the building of the Warsaw ghetto. As his family is rounded up to be shipped off to the Nazi labor camps, he escapes deportation and eludes capture by living in the ruins of Warsaw. What this film does is show us the horrific changes Brody's character witnesses, from his perspective. He sees his whole family taken away from him but this is not a Rambo styled rescue type movie. It's about how this man, a real life person named Wladyslaw Szpilman, survived an ordeal - as much as through luck as by a helping hand or two from strangers. It's a chilling, non-Hollywood look at a topic that has seen much celluoid coverage. This kind of movie, produced with such heartfelt strength, is what we go to the movies for. Since this only screened in larger cities, be sure to catch this one on video if you can.
148 Minutes
Focus Features