Roman Polanski has given us some very interesting films indeed: Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby to name two. Mr. Polanski was himself victimized by the Nazis during the Holocaust. He lost his mother in a concentration camp.
The film Pianist is based on a novel by Wladyslaw Szpilman who is also the main character. That is probably the reason why the film is really not a masterpiece. People telling their own story often underplay their survival or overplay. Mr. Szpilman definitely believes in subtlety. That, fortunately, gave Mr. Adrian Brody something to do: nothing much really. Just downplay: an act that seems to come naturally to Mr. Brody. His best actor Oscar for this film will remain a mystery.
The film Pianist is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who miraculously survived the holocaust. His entire family perished like most of the Warsaw ghetto but the pianist survived. Mostly for luck sometimes for tact and sometime for the lack of anything interesting. He does get saved for playing the pianist as well.
The film has the usual German brutality that we have become accustomed to watching. However there is a unique element of detachment here that makes it interesting. The film also shines because it tells the tale of an entire family fairly intimately until the members all disperse in different directions. Finally we know nothing about anyone other than the author whose survival becomes the only issue for the film.
The Pianist is an important film mostly because it tries to not take itself too seriously. Mr. Brody has done a good job mostly because he tries to not do too much.
The film Pianist is based on a novel by Wladyslaw Szpilman who is also the main character. That is probably the reason why the film is really not a masterpiece. People telling their own story often underplay their survival or overplay. Mr. Szpilman definitely believes in subtlety. That, fortunately, gave Mr. Adrian Brody something to do: nothing much really. Just downplay: an act that seems to come naturally to Mr. Brody. His best actor Oscar for this film will remain a mystery.
The film Pianist is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who miraculously survived the holocaust. His entire family perished like most of the Warsaw ghetto but the pianist survived. Mostly for luck sometimes for tact and sometime for the lack of anything interesting. He does get saved for playing the pianist as well.
The film has the usual German brutality that we have become accustomed to watching. However there is a unique element of detachment here that makes it interesting. The film also shines because it tells the tale of an entire family fairly intimately until the members all disperse in different directions. Finally we know nothing about anyone other than the author whose survival becomes the only issue for the film.
The Pianist is an important film mostly because it tries to not take itself too seriously. Mr. Brody has done a good job mostly because he tries to not do too much.