Powerful Story, Could Have Been Longer

Rating: 9/10 (1 June 2019)

I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the film, in a sad, depressing kind of way. It's one of the best movies about the holocaust and although different than for example Schindler's List, The Pianist shifts the focus entirely to the lives of the Jews during WW2, instead of a say, the more broader scope that Schindler's List encompasses. Specifically, we follow Wladyslaw Szpilman, a famous Jewish pianist played wonderfully by Adrien Brody. I think this movie does two things best: 1. Presenting the common stages of the holocaust victim: Denial, acceptance, survival. And 2. I think this movie did a great job in making the rhythm of the story feel natural, even though the time jumps are sometimes pretty large. Like, for example, there will be a scene of Wlad and his family being notified that they must all move to this area where all of the Jews in Krakow are going to live from now on, and how they must now wear a star of david (that they have to make themselves) to be branded. We are shown the family interactions and the emotions, then we move on to the next situation, perhaps a few weeks, months, or maybe even years later. It worked great in this film.
This movie also does a fantastic job at presenting the absurdity of the Holocaust and how the people that were closely involved, were often baffled by what has happening and it's an important reminder to always have, so this never happens again in the modern world.
Finally, I guess it's a weird complaint in a two and a half hour movie, but I really do think this movie could have benefited from another 30 minutes or so. Here's my case: One of my favorite books of all time (and arguably one of the most important books ever written) is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, who was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived a couple of concentration camps. The book is divided into three main parts: Shock (before the camp), The Camp Experience and then Life After the Camps. For me, the book would not have as much impact if the third part of the story was missing. So, although in The Pianist, the initial shock before the camp and the Holocaust experience were brilliant, sad, shocking, depressing, disgusting all at the same time, throughout the film I found myself contemplating: "Man, I wonder how Wlad's life will be after these experiences? I wonder how his personality will have been affected by this event." Unfortunately, we only get a shot of him playing the piano and yes, you can tell by Brody's terrific acting, that we're not looking at the same individual that we saw at the start of the film. It is kind of poetic, I guess, but I really wanted to see more, like his interactions with other people that he met before the war, after the war, his personality and I wish there was more time for that. Personally, felt much shorter than two and a half hours long to me, which I guess is another indicator that maybe it would have benefited from a little extra time.
Overall, the Pianist is not my favorite Roman Polanski film (Rosemary's Baby, then Chinatown probably), but it's a really good movie, with some good performances, a good message that doesn't feel like forced or muddled. I really enjoyed it.