One man's struggle for survival; one people's tragic history; one story about war and humanity- an all-time masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2004)

Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) was a renowned Jewish pianist in Poland. As the Second World War broke out, Jews were forced to move to the Jewish ghetto. Later, Szpilman's family were sent to a concentration camp but he managed to escape, and his hiding began. He went through fear of being found, starvation, thirst and any horror you can imagine. He survived. He once again worked for Polish Radio and became a soloist, and regained his human dignity.
The true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman is intense and poignant, the film itself is outstandingly directed by the brilliant Roman Polanski (Chinatown) and he realised Adrien Brody's amazing potential. Brody's performance is simply stunning, just perfect. Captain Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann) as the surprisingly sympathetic Nazi officer who, not only did not arrest Szpilman, but was so overwhelmed when listening to him play the piano, as though Captain Hosenfeld at long last heard the most wonderful sound, not the sound of bombs and gunfire, and gave Szpilman food and his coat. This other side of one Nazi soldier was just astounding. It's all about humanity.

Being a survivor of the Holocaust, Roman Polanski vividly depicted the era of mass destruction and genocide in the motion picture, the scenes are truly graphic and yet downright realistic, therefore shocking in every way. Adrien Brody also has Polish ancestry and he made Szpilman once again come to life. The movie itself is splendidly made, and words simply cannot describe the impact it has made upon me. Polanski and Brody are absolutely triumphant. This is even better than 'Schindler's List', in some people's opinions. I give this film 10/10. Do not miss it.
P.S. In the movie, we never know what happened to Szpilman's family.