Outstanding film

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2003)

This film is truly a magnificent accomplishment. Adrien Brody, an American-born actor, is able to convince us that he is a sensitive Polish Jew caught up in the holocaust. My compliments to him on an outstanding acting job.
The point of the film for me was not pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's miraculous survival of the Nazi Holocaust, but rather the portrayal of an important--and horrific--aspect of the Holocaust itself.
By concentrating on the history of the Holocaust in the Warsaw Ghetto, director Roman Polanski has reminded us of the inconceivably evil events that occurred there. [Not commented upon was the betrayal of the Polish partisans in Warsaw by the Russian army. This grim story will require another movie.]
In any event, this movie must be seen. Luckily, it is as close as most of us will ever come to evil on this massive a scale. (At least, that is my hope. Current events may prove me wrong.)
If we are to prevent evil, we must understand it, and if we are to understand it, we must make an emotional attachment to the people involved. "The Pianist" makes this attachment possible.