This is a bleak and bitter view of the holocaust through the eyes of one who escaped it.

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2006)

I don't know how he does it, but once again Roman Polanski has somehow managed to create a visual experience which, without any overt use of blood and gore, parallels Saving Private Ryan in its ability to disturb.
Let me first begin with the basic plot. This is the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (played by Adrien Brody), a brilliant, young, Jewish pianist living in Nazi-run Warsaw. Before the war, things get slowly more and more horrible for the Jews, eventually resulting in the setting up of the Death Camps and the beginnings of the Holocaust.
Wladyslaw gets away from the Death Camps, ending up instead within a Nazi labour camp. With the help of old friends, he escapes from the camp and hides in the ruins of Warsaw, with the aid of a sympathetic German officer.
This is possibly one of Polanski's most disturbing films, yet it has what many would regard as a 'happy ending', with Wladyslaw being rescued by Russian troops pushing the Germans out of Warsaw. The camera-work is particularly brilliant, alternating between light and dark, yet never with any cheerful vibes. The performances by Thomas Kretschman and Emilia Fox are very good, but as always in his movies it is Adrien Brody who steals the show.
This is a bleak and bitter view of the holocaust through the eyes of one who escaped it, and the fact that it is a true story only adds to the power of the film. I give it an 8.5.