The Pianist
Cast
Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman
Emilia Fox as Dorota
Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
Michal Zebrowski as Jurek
Ed Stoppard as Henryk
Directed by
Roman Polanski
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
8/10. Nominated for seven Academy Awards and winner of three, Roman
Polanski's The Pianist is deserving in two of those three. Polanski's
directing is superb, clearly the work of a master, and Ronald
Harwood's screenplay is deeply moving and shocking. However, Adrien
Brody should not have won, considering he was against Jack Nicholson
in one of his greatest acting showcases, About Schmidt. I'll get into
that later.
Brody is Wladyslaw Szpilman. He's a pianist for Polish radio and he's
Jewish. Being Jewish isn't exactly the greatest thing to be in Warsaw
in the height of World War II, so him and his family has to move to a
ghetto. However, his family is taken away, and the ghetto is
destroyed, so Szpilman has to survive in the world with the help of
others.
The Pianist is touching and well thought out, with powerful moments
throughout. It really makes us look at what we take for granted, and
realize how lucky we are. Szpilman had to struggle just to get water
to survive, yet we complain on when we have water out of the tap
instead of "purified" spring water. Anyone in a luxury life should
really check this movie out.
It basically was a one-man show, and Brody could have been a lot
better, since he basically was the movie. Although I see how he was
nominated, because this role was a taxing one, I don't really see how
anyone could consider this role the best acting job of the year.
Clearly, Jack should have won.
The cinematography was also superb. One shot I particularly liked is
when Szpilman was walking through the completely destroyed city and a
giant pan shot moving backwards. It was totally effective and I felt
drawn in. It made me feel even more sorry for everything that
happened there. I wish I had something more to say about The Pianist,
besides that it's a harrowing two-and-a-half hours that affects you
deeply.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated R for violence and brief strong language.
Running time: 148 minutes
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