The Pianist (2002)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Roman Polanski (The Ninth Gate, Rosemary's Baby)
	Actors: Adrien Brody (King Kong), Thomas Kretschmann (Immortal, Kong Kong, Valkyrie), Frank Finlay
	Country: F, D, PL, GB
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 01.12.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The story of the talented Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, as the Nazi rule over Poland forces him to worst and worst living conditions in occupied Warsaw.
Review: Probably the most difficult movie I have ever watched, and the worst is of course that it is a true part of our sad History. The first hour is particularly hard, when you see how this happy family gets more and more humiliated. Then the main character is on his own and we are let to appreciate the incredible act by Adrien Brody that got him the Academy Awards for best actor. Polanksi, very involved in the topic (he lived that same part of History in Warsaw), adapted wonderfully the book written by the real Wladyslaw Szpilman about his true story. In particular the locations (from what I read selected in different European countries) give a very realistic image of Warsaw being destroyed as it was at that time. And the excellent Blu-ray transfers transmits perfectly this feeling. Another element of the movie that impressed me is how the passing of time is depicted. Indeed the movie covers about five years, ans the main character usually spends months in a row hiding at the same place. To condense five years in a two and a half hours movie, Polanski shows us the view from the hiding places always towards the same spot (a street, a shop) so that each time we see it we immediately guess how much time has passed thanks to the weather (snow vs. sun), the kind of people in the street (rebels, German army, civilians) and the effect of time (progressive destruction of buildings, decrepiting piles of corpses). Music is scarce throughout the movie but the scenes with piano playing are great to listen to, so much that I removed the covers from my Home Cinema speakers to better enjoy the sound quality, and I liked the fact that the movie ends with a 10-minutes piano play, reminding me of the ending of The Concert. I got the idea to watch The Pianist for the first time in 12 years after reviewing The Ninth Gate from Polanski, and finally I cannot find many common film-making techniques between the two movies, this one being immensely more personal to the director.
Rating: 9 /10