Run, do not walk, to your neighbourhood cinema

Rating: Null/10 (25 March 2003)

Often, holocaust films, or literature, produce a type of numbness in me. Of course it was horrible, unimaginably so. If I had been in the right place at the right time, I would have gladly wrung Hitler's neck. But it's over, there is nothing I can do to reverse it, so my mind just seems to shut down about the whole thing.
But this film is different. The portrayal of one intelligent and sensitive person's efforts to survive the Nazi occupation of his country is absolutely riveting. I completely agree with the commentator who said that despite the fact that Chicago, with all its jazz, won the Oscar, this was the best film of the year.
One of the finest and most ironic features of it comes at the end, when Szpilman probably owes his survival to the actions of a sympathetic and humane German officer. The point seems to be that, even as evil can arise from anywhere, so can goodness. Run, do not walk, to your neighbourhood cinema to see `The Pianist".