Directed by:
Roman PolańskiScreenplay:
Ronald HarwoodCinematography:
Pawel EdelmanComposer:
Wojciech KilarCast:
Adrien Brody, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski, Ed Stoppard, Maureen Lipman, Frank Finlay, Jessica Kate Meyer, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Anthony Milner (more)VOD (3)
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Oscar winner Adrien Brody stars in this epic true-life story of brilliant pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, an acclaimed musician who survived WWII with the help of a German officer. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
When I saw Thomas Kretschmann's name in the credits, I thought he would play some type of classic Nazi villain, but I was pleasantly surprised. Roman Polanski directed a film that doesn't stand out for its brutality - war was like that - but excels in capturing it incredibly rawly. During certain scenes, you really get an uncomfortable feeling, as you shiver from what people are capable of. And it doesn't matter if it was the Germans or someone else later. Adrien Brody delivered a great performance, while story-wise, it's a fairly classic tale from that period. Many similarly strong but even more brutal stories have been experienced.
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The Pianist is Polanski's triumphant return to domestic cinema after 40 years. It’s a gripping story from Wladyslaw Szpilman’s autobiography. Adrien Brody in the lead role truly became Szpilman, creating his character as a flesh-and-blood man who must be put through all the atrocities of war. However, everything else in the film is up to par with Brody's performance - the production design is very realistic, the other actors also fit very well into the overall collage of images of the past and there is nothing that could spoil the unique portrait of a broken man born through the pain and injustice of war.
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I don't want to be too pathetic, but more films like this! So that people won’t forget the horrors that were committed, the horrors that the human race is capable of committing against itself, so that something like that doesn't happen again. And Adrien Brody, he blew me away! I completely lived his role with him, he was absolutely riveting and I'm so glad he got the Oscar. Just like Polanski, whose family was murdered by the Nazis and he knew very well what he was talking about – something clearly evident in this beautiful, haunting work.
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In The Pianist, it's evident that the film was directed by someone who personally experienced the horrors of war and the Holocaust. It's an exceptionally strong and authentic portrayal of the fate of Jews during World War II. Unlike Spielberg's acclaimed Schindler's List, it's not polished and calculated, which reflects in slightly lower ratings. Unlike Spielberg, Polanski opts for the form of an intimate drama of a single man, yet it's an exceptional, poignant, and brilliantly acted film. Overall impression: 100%.
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Another film that shows us, unaware viewers, that Jews had it very hard during WWII… Downplaying this topic is the last thing I want to do, but I really don’t need to see the hundredth film about the one and the same thing. The shallow parade of suffering by secondary characters, who show up, die or cry, only to be completely forgotten later by the script, can’t arouse any emotions in me. What’s a lot more impressive, though, is the almost post-apocalyptic survival storyline later in the film (if the entire film had that sharpness and atmosphere, it would be great!), but the events that follow it are very hard to believe. It’s very clear to me why The Pianist has received mostly positive responses (an untouchable premise and emotional blackmail can do a lot), but other than the fantastic performances, I don’t see anything I haven’t already seen elsewhere, and better…
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Gallery (96)
Photo © 2003 Focus Features
![The Pianist - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/000/502/502953_67610h.jpg)
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