Heartfelt and enthralling

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2017)

THE PIANIST is a film that takes a dark and disturbing subject matter - the persecution of the Warsaw Jews by Nazis in the Second World War - and turns it into a spellbinding, enthralling journey of a movie. Roman Polanski could easily have made this maudlin and sentimental like Spielberg's SCHINDLER'S LIST, but he thankfully avoids that temptation and the result is the much better movie of the two.
This film contains a documentary-style realism in its depiction of the various atrocities carried out by the uncaring Germans. It gets dark and darker as it goes on, and yet the viewer is unable to tear his eyes off the screen because it's all so well-realised and realistic. Adrien Brody plays the eyes and ears of the viewer in a subdued manner, yet delivers his greatest and most believable performance as a result. The story has a lot of darkness and violence, but Polanski's expert camera-work and endless style stops the subject matter ever becoming depressing; instead there's enough tension to keep you involved and wanting to find out what's next. Things build to a suitably touching and poignant climax that doesn't disappoint.