Scary parallels to present Iraqi war. Adrien Brody is jaw-droppingly amazing!

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2003)

I just saw "The Pianist" at my local theater. It is Saturday, and the British and American armies and air forces are in day four of their invasion of Iraq. I couldn't help but notice the parallels between the German invasion of Poland in the movie, and events just now unfolding. In 1939 the Germans had their own "documented" grievances against the "aggressive" Poles. Later it was revealed that the dead German bodies produced for the German newsreel footage justifying their invasion of Poland were just some corpses the Nazis rounded up, and dressed in German and Polish uniforms. Point to make is that 69% of the Germans--- otherwise law abiding, Christian, decent people, probably felt the same grim determination modern day American and British peoples feel toward Iraq. No one is cheering the deaths, but they are nonetheless sanctioning them, in the name of some political agenda. Saddam as Hitler? Yes--- but Bush and Blair as Hitlers, too? Sadly, it seems so. "The Pianist" gives a human face to the real victims--- and I am fearful that many innocent Iraqis may get a double dose of what this movie points out--- first from their own government, and now again from ours.
"The Pianist" portrays the fate of Polish Jews during world war two. The movie is a true masterpiece, surpassing most other movies that have undertaken the story. I attended the movie reluctantly--- I did not feel like sitting through another retread of the same old theme, and the same old victims and villains. Great reviews tempted me, however, and I am glad I went. Adrien Brody, the star of the movie, is amazing. His performance was breathtaking. Really. I hope he wins his Oscar Sunday night. By the end of the movie I was in absolute admiration and awe. He is jaw-droppingly good.