Harrowing

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2002)

This film is very powerful, very harrowing and hard to watch at times - the evil that humans can afflict on one another is chilling. A true story - it is effective and dramatic and even uplifting. I thought the lead actor, Brody did afine job (I've been a fan of his since his sterling work in Steven Soderburgh's underrated gem, King Of The Hill). But the film is flawed - Polanski has never been very subtle as a director lately and there are times when he could have pulled back (the little girl with the empty bird cage, the freakish looking jews being forced to dance with each other, etc.) - and the script in the long run (maybe because of the scope of the whole thing) is a bit thin in places - I never felt like I knew that much about Brody's character so while I was certainly invested in his survival - I didnt really feel much dimension to him. Afterawhile the film takes on a one, two, three feeling: this happened, then this happened, then this happened, etc. But the music is amazing, some strong performances and the art direction is Oscar caliber. A sad, tough, gritty look at one man's attempt to survive at all costs.