Boring and missing the point

Rating: 3/10 (27 May 2003)

Contains Spoilers.
Roman Polanski committed one of the cardinal sins of the film and entertainment industry: never revisit a topic if the ultimate contribution has already been made.
The ultimate holocaust movie is `Schindler's List'. Polanski's `The Pianist' falls way short of it in every respect.
The only way `The Pianist' could have made a difference (and covered new ground) is in explaining how the main characters, Szpilman, could life with the fact that while he was hiding, people died on his behalf.
He hid during the Nazi destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. From his room, he could see his fellow Jews fight and die.
He hid during the Polish uprising just before the Red Army arrived. Polish resistance fighters died in front of his eyes.
People who hid him, died on his behalf. His helpers were caught, handed over to the Gestapo (WWII Secret German Police), tortured and killed.
So, how did Szpilman cope with this during and especially after the WWII?
Not even an attempt of an explanation is made by Polanski. In failing to do so, he has (in my opinion) completely missed the point of his own movie.
The result is an undistinguished Holocaust movie with all the usual trappings. Sorry, Mr. Polanski, but Mr. Spielberg has been there before and has done a lot better.
My advice - safe the movie ticket and borrow `Schindler's List' on video/DVD instead. If you feel like a depressing genocide movie in the first place, that is.
My rating 3 out of 10.