This film is not outstanding but..

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2003)

I have to agree with a number of comments about this film being somewhat standard and numbing. Indeed much of the film goes by and leaves one in that state. However, the beginning and end do transcend that, which is all to the good. Brody gives a fine performance; the music is beautiful as is the photography and the setting.Unfortunately, the other actors are given short shrift and they are one feels, also capable of giving fine performances,had their characters been more fleshed out. Having seen many of Polansky's films, I must say I don't recognize his artistic style here as I've come to know it over the years. That in itself is not necessarily a negative, however he has made some gripping films and this one just doesn't quite live up to that standard. There are some fine things about this film and I do not dismiss it, and indeed would recommend it to others with some caveats. The film is rather too long for what it is and could have been 20 minutes shorter with no harm done. The thing that most impressed me about the experience of watching this was that I had just watched another holocaust film, albeit one about the holocaust of Cambodia, The Killing Fields. This film has all the emotional tension after repeated viewings that it had the first time, this is what I wanted from The Pianist but it wasn't there. 'The Killing Fields' conveys the nightmare scene of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and shows how it got there. It also shows very well the drama of people being caught up in the maw of evil beyond their ken. Having watched this extraordinary film first, I found myself feeling a little detached from the plight of those in this film and it felt like nothing in the movie really reached out and grabbed me the way the subject normally would. I would also say that while I felt 'bludgeoned' by the impact of 'Schindler's List', it also did not reach out to me in the way that 'The Killing Fields' does. It seems that while some movies are greater than the sum of their parts, some are less. This one was less and thus somewhat disappointing, albeit still worthy of watching. I give this film 8/10.