A harrowing tale of survival

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2019)

Roman Polanski's Holocaust film about the Polish-Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, is always going to draw comparisons to Schindler's List. And even though I believe that Spielberg's masterpiece is slightly better, these two pictures are actually quite different. They both depict the atrocities of the Holocaust but do it through the radically different experience of the each films protagonist. Getting back to the film at hand. The Pianist is raw, gripping, brutal and inspiring. Polanski holds nothing back, in showing the barbarity of the Nazi occupation and one man's astonishing tale of survival. Szpilman stayed alive through sheer luck, the kindness of others and determination. Adrien Brody's understated performance is matched by Polanski's expert direction and Ronald Harwood's poignant script. An important piece of work. Not to be missed.