The Pianist is a great Movie.

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2014)

The 2002 film the Pianist was an amazing story of Wladyslaw Szpilman a World War two holocaust survivor. This film was directed by Roman Polanski who himself was a Holocaust survivor. This combination created a film that brings the Holocaust to the big screen in a way never before realized. Szpilman is played in the film by Adrien Brody, who does an exceptional job at portraying the stoic Szpilman. This film represents in many ways the any of the Holocaust survivors, and the seeming randomness of the means by which they survived, as many did not. The director did not choose to make this a thriller for a purpose while there were certainly parts of this story that were thrilling to the survivor, Polanski's direction places emphasis on the mundane things, that at any moment could have gotten Szpilman caught. It was this chance, this randomness that Polanski wanted to bring to the viewer. The cinematography in this helps add to the grittiness and the realism of the film. In the final scenes when Hosenfeld, played by Thomas Kretschmann, discoveres Szpilmans hiding place Polanski uses pause in a very masterful way. In fact Polanski's use of pause throughout the movie brings it to life.
I really enjoyed this film, I had never seen it before but as a World War Two film fan, I really enjoyed the story from a personal perspective. The fact that Polanski himself was a Holocaust survivor just adds to my interest, and love of the film. This film is a fantastic example of the stories of the Holocaust survivors.