Solemlny Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (24 October 2010)

The plight of this Polish pianist is one that could not be created. The feelings evoked by this film are backed up by the authenticity of the personal account it was based upon. Yet, as most Holocaust films/stories are emotionally powerful, this one was different. It was not based in any sort of concentration camp or labor camp. The man somewhat free in body, but tightly jailed in spirit.
Throughout the entire first part of the film, it may be gaged that Szpilman is a quite a reserved person. He, unlike his brother, does not lash out at the ongoings of the Nazis. This personal trait makes the emotion felt from the film that much more awing. Because of his reserved nature, the watchers are lead deep into Szpilman's being when we are able to sense his feelings.
Isolation is another huge piece in this film that takes it to the near limits of human capacity. As soon as he is split from his family, Szpilman never has any kind of deep interaction with another being. The account goes as far as to let him live alone for somewhere around a year. There is one scene specifically in which the isolation hits an unimaginable peak, due in part to the way the scene is set up.
As soon as Szpilman is split from his family, the entire movie takes the turn of complete bleak color. The luster of color had been toned down once the Nazis started to occupy Warsaw, but the color becomes much more toned down.
I can honestly say this is one of few films to touch in such a way. The guilt he feels for living, and his family dying leaves me speechless. Adrian Brody does an excellent job of portraying the solidarity of Szpilman's spirit during his time of hiding. The mood of the entire film is excellently presented, and perhaps much in part to personal relations of Polanski. The classical music played throughout the film doesn't do any damage either. And finally, the somewhat strange 'love story' between Szpilman and the music is as beautiful, if not more, than most love stories out there today. The Pianist is a truly magnificent and emotionally stimulating film.