Breathtaking

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2006)

It's rare to see a film of such quality. Polanski has been directing marvelous films for decades, with effective editing and his seemingly unique cinematography. When a brilliant director goes to work on a very personal project, it is almost invariably a certainty that their heart and soul will be put into making it. When a film is made about a major historic event, in particular when countless films have been made regarding it already(and one would be quite hard pressed to find an event that has had more films made about it than World War 2), it needs to make a point or to offer something that we have yet to see. A new perspective, an idea that hasn't been explored before. Benigni gave us Life Is Beautiful(La Vita Ã© Bella), which had one such idea, a beautiful, sweetly naive one. Polanski offers another, one that is at least as heart-warming and life-affirming. He brings the history to life, and does so with such effective direction that the film holds you in an iron grip. You feel compelled to refrain from watching more, yet you cannot look away. Such pain, horror and despair is depicted without flinching, without holding back, without censoring the worst parts out. You see all the cruelty of the Nazis, the degeneration of the health, lives and dignity of the Jews, and the slow but inevitable destruction of Warsaw. All from Szpilman's point of view. That was part of what made this so strong and affecting; he was there. Every single one of these situations, countless of times that he could have been killed... he was there. And at the end of it all, when you hear this man's beautiful music being played, one can't help but think; if war, hate and the rest of the world's evils are a result of the flaws of human beings... then the fact that this man, this creative being, this artist, made it through seemingly impossible odds, and came out of so many potentially lethal situations alive, must surely be proof that in spite of aforementioned evils, in spite of how hopeless it all may seem at times... there is still hope and beauty. It may be beaten down, it may be injured, but it shall never truly perish. The plot is well-written, and develops nicely throughout. The pacing is perfect, there's not a boring or overly fast moment to be found. The effects and design are flawless, it's all extremely authentic and realistic, as are most of the scenes. The cinematography is amazing. As my father commented while we watched: "You really feel like you are him(Wladyslaw)." A beautiful film, that takes you through arguably the worst historic event of the latter half of the previous century. I recommend this very highly to anyone who believes that they are strong enough to sit through it. It's most definitely not pleasant. Not to be missed. 10/10