A movie that should not be forgotten nor overlooked by audiences everywhere.

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2008)

I was reluctant to see this movie at first because I thought it was going to be a copycat off of Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List". Since he was among the first to depict the inhumanity and horrors of the Holocaust, I thought "The Pianist" would be weak in comparison. After more than five years of its release, I finally decided to sit down and watch "The Pianist".
Since seeing Polanski's "Chinatown" (earlier this summer), never have I been so captivated by a movie. There is no comparison between this and "Schindler's List". Both are two totally different movies. After saying that, "The Pianist" is about the life of musician Wladyslaw Szpilman, who works at a radio station during WWII.
Adrian Brody is subtle and marvelous as Szpilman. I've only seen him in a couple of movies, and this is his best work. The uniqueness of his character is that he's an ordinary man thrown into hellish circumstances. He gets separated from his family; he survives the termination of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the many battles that erupt in Poland. Everything is shown from his viewpoint. It is very disturbing and shocking, reminding me and audiences everywhere what had happened only sixty years ago.
Roman Polanski captures these scenes unusually. He doesn't just throw them in your face, but keeps them in Szpilman's point of view. For instance, in the Warsaw Ghetto, there's a scene where a family is massacred because they're awake during curfew. Rather than showing it up-close, it keeps it is at a distance in the apartment of where Szpilman is hiding. This adds to the fear you feel for his character and safety.
The works of the score and cinematography adds to the film's mood and plot. Of all the scenes in this film, the one that moved me the most is when Szpilman is forced to play the piano by Captain Hosenfeld. As he plays the piano, the expressions Brody reveals are tear-jerking. He's sad for what he has witnessed and the losses he had suffered, yet also he is happy because he's playing the piano, his one true love. As those emotions collide, they reflect not only how passionately he plays the piano, but also on his character's demons and struggles that he shows through indescribable facial expressions. I personally feel this is why he got his Oscar, which is very fair.
"The Pianist" is a movie that should not be forgotten nor overlooked by audiences everywhere. The only disappointment I have toward this movie is that it did not get Best Picture for the year 2002. 10/10