The Pianist

Can you handle most Roman Polanski films? Are you a fan of war movies? A fan of classical music? In the mood for watching cruel and murderous acts by men dressed as Nazis? Then this is the film for you! Roman Polanski takes helm in this 3 hour retelling of a Jewish piano player, and his amazing tries and tribulation in surviving the 3rd Reich. I saw this film in theaters when it first came out, and let it set for years, not really thinking too much of it. To me, it seemed like just another one of those movies where a bunch of people are killed to once again make the point that WW2 was bad. But this film ahs a bit more to it, and I have a hard time picking out what it was.

Adrien Brody stars as the pianist, a man who is separated from his family moments before being loaded onto a train to be taken away. He then spends the next two hours of the film, as it seems, moving around, finding food, and hiding from the S.S. Though I think this film could have been a bit shorter, I think it certainly stands out in the genre of wartime films.

Visually, I found it par for most war movies. Though the film focuses on the strife that one must exert to survive in such a time, it seems to fall a little short in illustrating anything else. We are introduced to several characters early on; however it felt as if most were tossed to the way-side. This film is called The Pianist, and that's what it’s about. The one problem with that is that we have trouble experiencing what most people did then. And when that happens, we all sort of lose touch as to the feeling that we're supposed to feel when the Pianist struggles to survive.

If you've got some time, and want to watch a film about struggle, and aren't afraid of some violence, this might be a good watch. 7of 10.