Accomplished but not outstanding

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2006)

Lots of hype for this film, and some against it as well, and (as is often the case) I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, this is an exceptionally well-made story in terms of camera work, pacing, editing, and (above all) acting, with Adrien Brody's near-flawless performance anchoring the piece.
On the other hand, this is a very limited tale that doesn't really offer us much new to think about, and frankly doesn't offer us very much, period.
The problem here is a familiar one for intimate dramas like this, which focus mostly on one character. The dilemma is: how can the film show us this one story and, at the same time, connect it to something larger, more meaningful, more complex? Bergman, one imagines, would know how to solve this problem. Polanski, I think, does not, and modestly tells his story in a fairly straightforward and uncomplicated way.
Naturally, since the subject of this film is the holocaust, I kind of wish I could say more either to praise it (for representing its subject well) or to condemn it (for representing its subject badly). But there isn't much more to say. Telling even one survivor's story is, obviously, a very laudable thing to do, but it hardly makes the film one of the greatest of all time--or one of the greatest holocaust films, either.