Five Not So Easy Pieces.

Rating: Null/10 (11 April 2003)

Haunting adaptation based on the life of Polish Jew Wladyslaw Szpilman (portrayed by surprise Oscar-winner Adrien Brody), a somewhat sheltered young man who just takes life as it comes to him and of course has an uncanny knack for playing the piano. Timing is bad though for the titled character as the Nazi occupation of Poland is imminent and exile to death camps is a definite possibility. Brody and his family (parents Maureen Lipman and Frank Finley and siblings Ed Stoppard, Jessica Kate Meyer and Julia Rayner) quickly realize that things are going from bad to worse as life starts to spin out of control. Instructions in the newspaper foreshadow future hardships as the Star of David patches are demanded of all Jewish peoples to wear and then the dreaded ghettos follow. The film then becomes heart-wrenching, but a change occurs that allows Brody to be spared from the death camps. Now he must try to avoid the Nazi Regime and find an unbending will to survive against all odds. Help does come from fellow Jews and non-Nazi Germans. Emilia Fox makes a lasting impression as a woman that Brody falls in love with early on and then shows up again later in an important part. Thomas Kretschmann also stands out as a Nazi officer who has a change of heart during the film's latter moments (he is also linked to Brody because of his love for the piano). "The Pianist" is a film that fashions itself after Spielberg's "Schindler's List". This production is better in spots than the earlier movie, but as a whole it is not quite as impressive. "The Pianist" has a more exact focus and ends up being more of a one-man showcase for Brody in its second half. "Cast Away" meets the Holocaust would probably be the way to describe "The Pianist" when all is said and done. A brilliant adapted screenplay by Oscar-winner Ronald Harwood brings the novel to life. Roman Polanski finally struck Oscar gold for his unbelievable direction here (his work is on par with Scorsese's in "Gangs of New York" for the most part). He quietly became the oldest winner ever in the Academy's history in that particular category. All the supporters have well-calculated parts, but Brody's character is the most dominant of course. However, Brody never does reach the level of Liam Neeson in "Schindler's List" or even past Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni in "Life Is Beautiful". In fact his character is not near as complicated as the film would like. He is trying to survive and his motivation is life. A case can be made quite easily for either Daniel Day-Lewis in "Gangs of New York" or Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt" to have taken home the Best Actor Oscar instead, but that is in the past now (it is better not to go into Brody's acceptance speech at all). Also Brody did very little playing of the piano himself (he had a double for the much more difficult pieces) which pales him to past Oscar winners like Holly Hunter ("The Piano") and Geoffrey Rush ("Shine"). Overall I do think "The Pianist" is an excellent film. I do think it is one of the stronger screenplay- and direction-driven films of recent memory. Polanski ends up being the real star here and it is his vision, tone, ability and film-making skill that does make "The Pianist" one of the best movies of 2002. 5 stars out of 5.