Everything brilliant except the protagonist

Rating: Null/10 (16 January 2003)

Went to see this film based on the gripping trailers. The film did an outstanding job of portraying the suffering and torment of the holocaust. The sets and costumes were amazing. Felt something was missing in both the protagonist and the man who played him. Here was a guy saved by luck and the kindness of strangers - too selfish to join the Resistance and risk his own life. The Pianist would have been much more powerful and a masterpiece if it portrayed someone who actively fought this fascist nightmare, and risked his own life for others. Yes, I understand that Polanski wanted the film to be a "witness" of what happened, but in doing so he ruined his potentially greatest film. Adrien Brody was quite miscast, and his hubris in trying to play the Chopin Nocturne No. 21 (Posth.) himself was laughable - he did not in any way sound like a concert pianist. Worth seeing, but emotionally unsatisfying.