"Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece."

The Pianist (2002): 8/10

Nominated for seven Academy Awards and winner of three, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist is deserving in two of those three. Polanski’s directing is superb, clearly the work of a master, and Ronald Harwood’s screenplay is deeply moving and shocking. However, Adrien Brody should not have won, considering he was against Jack Nicholson in one of his greatest acting showcases, About Schmidt. I’ll get into that later.

Brody is Wladyslaw Szpilman. He’s a pianist for Polish radio and he’s Jewish. Being Jewish isn’t exactly the greatest thing to be in Warsaw in the height of World War II, so he and his family has to move to a ghetto. However, his family is taken away, and the ghetto is destroyed, so Szpilman has to survive in the world with the help of others.

The Pianist is touching and well thought out, with powerful moments throughout. It really makes us look at what we take for granted, and realize how lucky we are. Szpilman had to struggle just to get water to survive, yet we complain on when we have water out of the tap instead of “purified” spring water. Anyone in a luxury life should really check this movie out.

It basically was a one-man show, and Brody could have been a lot better, since he basically was the movie. Although I see how he was nominated, because this role was a taxing one, I don’t really see how anyone could consider this role the best acting job of the year. Clearly, Jack should have won.

The cinematography was also superb. One shot I particularly liked is when Szpilman was walking through the completely destroyed city and a giant pan shot moving backwards. It was totally effective and I felt drawn in. It made me feel even more sorry for everything that happened there. I wish I had something more to say about The Pianist, besides that it’s a harrowing two-and-a-half hours that affects you deeply.

Rated R for violence and brief strong language.

Review Date: April 14, 2003