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The Pianist

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The Pianist

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• Drama
• Documentary

• 2002
• Roman Polanski
• 142 mins
• 15

Summary

Second World War biographical drama, based on the book by Wladyslaw Szpilman, starring Adrien Brody, Frank Finlay and Maureen Lipman. In Nazi-occupied Poland, brilliant Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family are sent to the Warsaw ghetto, where they witness and suffer the degradation and horror of daily life. When death-camp deportations rob him of his loved ones, Wladyslaw escapes and goes into hiding right under the noses of the German aggressors.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Sloan Freer

Roman Polanski laid some personal ghosts to rest with this poignant Holocaust drama based on the memoirs of survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman, and won an Oscar as best director in the process. Evoking his own childhood experiences in the Krakow ghetto, this emotionally and visually compelling triumph stands as a companion piece to Schindler's List. As with Spielberg's masterpiece, Polanski's authentic and objective depiction of the Jewish experience in Nazi-occupied Poland underscores the depth and sophistication of his talent. Events are seen through the eyes of Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Jewish concert pianist who escaped the Warsaw ghetto as deportations to the death camps began, but who witnessed its systematic destruction while in hiding. Although Brody never quite gets under Szpilman's skin, his performance remains admirable, and he was rewarded with a best actor Oscar. But the power of this film lies in Polanski's disciplined style, combined with his stunning attention to detail. By avoiding the simplistic and manipulative clichés of good and evil usually found in Holocaust films, Polanski has added a new layer of understanding to the cinematic depictions of the period.

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8.5/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameWladyslaw SzpilmanAdrien BrodyCaptain Wilm HosenfeldThomas KretschmannMr SzpilmanFrank FinlayMrs SzpilmanMaureen LipmanDorotaEmilia FoxHenryk SzpilmanEd StoppardRegina SzpilmanJulia RaynerHalina SzpilmanJessica Kate MeyerJaninaRuth Platt

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Crew

rolenameDirectorRoman Polanski

Details

Theatrical distributor

Pathe{acute}

Released on

2003-01-24

Languages

English | German | Russian

Guidance

May be edited for language and violence.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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