Surprisingly Good

Rating: 9/10 (16 October 2007)

When I first watched this film, my mind was quick to compare the film to Spielbergs "Schindlers List" as many other viewers have probably done also, but then the film took an unexpected twist, which changed my perception and comparisons entirely.
As Szpilman and his family were walking to the train (taking them to certain death) I though to myself "not another concentration camp movie, how predictable" but how wrong I was. Just as Szpilman was saved, so was the movie, as it became an original, unique insight into the "Ghetto" that I had never seen before.
Rather then take an obvious route and show the depression of the "Death" Camps, Polanski takes a different path, a path of isolation, desperation, and a will to survive. One shot that sticks out in my mind, is after Szpilman is saved and walks through the deserted city, (a bit like Cilian Murphy in 28 days later).
Szpilman does all he can to remain alive, and sometimes you do worry for him, as when he drops the bricks, or is caught with the food sack, and throughout the film you are forever thinking about whether or not he will make it; he must come close to death about 10 times! The scene towards the end, as he plays piano for the German officer, was one of the most moving and powerful scenes I can think to remember, and it is worth watching the film just for that scene alone.
Overall, a very similar, but equally different experience to Schindlers list, but nevertheless, just as brilliant