A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2003)

I don't use the word `masterpiece' very often, maybe only once or twice when writing my thoughts on a movie. `The Pianist' was a masterpiece. I have rarely been so taken into a movie, its atmosphere, its reality, as I was in this one. It also brought to life a portion of history with which I thought I was familiar but whose horrors and day-to-day miseries have never been portrayed quite so clearly. I was very glad the film was in color, as opposed to black and white, for the simple fact that I wanted to see what the people were going through as if I were seeing it myself. I like black-and-white for artistic reasons, but color was a good choice for realism. Adrien Brody's performance was very touching and real. You could almost feel his fear, his suffering, and his physical pain, mainly from hunger.
This is one of those movies that made me think about how blessed I am and how blessed I have been in my life because I have never had to experience anything nearly as hellish as the life that was portrayed in this movie. I can only imagine the feeling of desperation these people must have had day after day. The brutality and sheer insanity of war was once again quite vividly portrayed; everyone should pay attention and learn what beasts human beings can really be.
There is a line in the movie that was very understated and not particularly necessary to the plot, but the scene where Szpilman tells his sister that he just wished he could have gotten to know here better and she simply replies `Thank You' with such emotion in her voice, brought tears to my eyes.
Very rewarding and a must see. Roman Polanski tops everything he has done, and that's something to behold.