Heartbreaking portrait of survival in the face of evil; brilliant on all counts

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2002)

THE PIANIST (2002) **** Adrien Brody gives the performance of his career as brilliant pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew, who miraculously survived the aftermath of the Nazis' relentless takeover of the Warsaw ghetto, where he hid for years and ultimately the only surviving member of his doomed family, at the height of WWII in Europe. Filmmaker Roman Polanski delivers his most intimate and compelling work in years (Polanski himself is a Holocaust survivor who experienced intense loss) filtering his own life experiences into his dogged protagonist with all-too painful and assertively unflinching portrait of an exceptionally gifted musician in an unending nightmare replete with graphic violence that comes without warning, hope in the least likely forms and ultimately triumph in the face of evil. One of the best films about the Holocaust and one of the best films of the year as well.