Polanski's Great Achievement

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2020)

There are many American films about the Holocaust and the Second World War that portray Poland as peripheral to the real action of the war. This 2002 gem places the true-life story of Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman at the very center. Starring Adrien Brody, who won an Oscar for the role, the film is arguably Polish-born director Roman Polanski's best, certainly his most personal and inspirational. The scenes of the destruction of Warsaw are the most terrifying ever brought to the screen.