Nothing New, Nothing Different...Nothing At All...

Rating: 4/10 (18 December 2009)

Sadly, The Pianist disappointed me in more ways than one. Adrian Brody did nothing worthwhile, other than save his own skin—and there's nothing wrong with that, I'm sure thousands of Jews did the same. The problem is, I don't care about them either. The Holocaust was a horrible, atrocious, sickening series of events which left millions dead, wounded and mentally scarred. We know this, and I don't mean to brush off anything or downplay the gravity of what occurred, but I've seen it all before.
There was some senseless killing of Jews, more senseless killing of Jews, liquidation and a salvation. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sadly reminded that if an event is horrible enough, people will continue to laud and applaud movies made about it even if they have nothing new to say.
Call Brody's acting whatever lovely adjectives you want (minimalist, subdued, etc) but to me, it was bland and forgettable. Don't get me wrong, I think Brody is a tremendous actor, but in THIS movie, I didn't see a man who was scared, nor determined to fight for his life or to see things through, instead, I saw a man who was just going through the motions, "whatever happens, happens" in a way. He was neither brave nor memorable and certainly not relatable.
I didn't care about him, his family and in the end, none of the characters. And I didn't feel even the slightest hint of emotion. The only time I was even remotely roused was when Halina (I think her name was Halina) was reunited with the family after the second liquidation of the ghetto.
In the end, Pianist gives little more than a tired rehash of the same old same old. Things were badI know! But if you're going to make yet another Holocaust film, at least do it right, make it interesting, make it meaningful, make it SAY something. This said nothing more than, "Look how bad things were." In the end, his ability to play the piano saved his life, in a way, or it was merely a weary Nazi officer who showed him mercy.
If you want to see a real holocaust movie, one need only turn to Schindler's List. I felt, I mean *really* felt, the characters pain and emotional conflict. The book was incredible as well. It was well made and had an actual plot. Not just a broad story arc where nothing other than the "usual" happened.
-Just because it's a Holocaust film, doesn't automatically make it good.