Review of The Pianist (2002) by Brian B — 03 Apr 2017

A very engaging and fantastically shot WW2 film which is one of Polanski's best films in years.

This movie retells the events of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous Polish pianist as he attempts to survive during WW2 and narrowly escapes death multiple times.

This movie may not be as brutal as "Schindler's List" was but it still contains several dark scenes which can be hard to watch. It showed to us that surviving the Holocaust was based on luck and it was easy to get killed. If you were weaker and unable to work, you'd be in danger of getting shot. "The Pianist" captures this element very well and that was what I really liked about it.

This movie is pretty tense because his fate is uncertain throughout the movie. He often hides in Nazi infested areas and his allies have to try their hardest to hide him. Often when his cover is blown, he only narrowly escapes death. Also, one scene in the film (which I won't give away because of spoilers) is so tense that it is guaranteed to make everyone who is not familiar with the true story tense up unlike anything else.

Also, I really love the cinematography. It really captures the sense of barrenness very well. Some of its scenes are so jaw-dropping, it's surprising that any movie could be able to film them. This movie is definitely a visual treat unlike anything else.

Adrien Body gave a great performance. In the beginning, he seems somewhat calm. As the movie continues on, however, his performance gets better as the tension gets higher. In my opinion, he gave the best performance in the movie. He stole the whole show. He is the actor we see most in this movie and he carries the movie expertly by himself.

In conclusion, this movie is by far a masterpiece. It contains everything I think is necessary is Holocaust films. It captures the brutality of the Holocaust very well, it has incredible cinematography, a consistent level of suspense, and it has a great lead acting performance. It fulfilled and went far beyond all of my expectations and it is a must-see film for these reasons.