Reviews of The Pianist

I will survive

Posted : 7 months, 3 weeks ago on 15 April 2009 06:48 (A review of The Pianist)

A good movie needs good cinematography, good acting, good music and good story. This movie got it all. its far from boring, entertain you from the start to the end.



Adrien Brody does a very good job. And I can say the same about the other actors. The movie itself is pretty good, it show you how meaningless the war can be. And how hard it was to survive it.

Its a good WW2 movie, but ive seen better ones. Idi I Smotri is one of them.

I give this movie an 8/10

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Just as powerful as Schindler's List.

Posted : 1 year ago on 29 November 2008 07:57 (A review of The Pianist)

No. Please. I'm Polish. I'm not a German.Then why the fucking coat?I'm cold.

Directed by: Roman Palonski

Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Ed Stoppard, Maureen Lipman

Genre: Biography/Drama/Thriller/War

Running time: 150 minutes



My review:

They were degraded, they were hoarded up, and they were sent to die. A brave few fought back, but one man would not be beaten, would not be taken, and would stay and hide. Wladyslaw Szpilman, a brilliant Polish pianist, a Jew, escapes deportation. Forced to live in the heart of Warsaw ghetto, he shares the suffering and humiliation and the struggles, and manages to escape and hide in the ruins of the capital.This film is one of the most powerful films of all time. I personally think that this film is just as powerful as Schindlers List. I find it so powerful because it has that beautiful inspiring taste to it of how Szpilman survived the Holocaust and also because of the adorable music that is used. The best scene is the scene where Szpilman is playing the piano for the German officer in a really huge house in Warsaw. It is such a powerful and inspiring moment that does touch everybody in different varieties of ways who watch it. It is a horrible and gut retching too because of what the Holocaust was really like and how the Jews were treated by the Nazis. It shows the true horror of what it was really like not only for a Jew but for anybody at all in the world who lived around the 1930s and 1940s. It is just so shocking because it is such a realistic film and makes me fell hard to believe that it was true.

Adrien Brody delivers an absolutely outstanding performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman. His performance is very powerful because Adrien drags us along Szpilmans journey to survival in the Holocaust. Adrien is obviously an American man but he really does look like a young, Jewish musician man which makes Adrien Brody absolutely perfect to Wladyslaw Szpilman. He makes us believe that the Holocaust made us obviously feel terrible because of what happened but mostly to the people who survived about who they really are. Adrien shows that Wladyslaw seemed like a really nice hearted man and a real hero who could have saved more Jews but obviously only saved himself. Thomas Kretschmann makes a mild appearance as a German officer. His performance is a really good supporting performance. His character reminds me of Oskar Schindler because the officer saved Szpilman and Schindler saved people too. The differences are that more than one Jew was saved by Schindler and also Schindler was a member of the Nazi party but not in the army. I thought the direction from Roman Polanski was absolutely oustanding. His direction is very similar to Steven Spielbergs in Schindlers List. It is like a direction of massacres, of redemption and of beauty too. The writing was absolutely outstanding. It was a really cleverly adapted piece of work that is used.

I personally think that this film along with Schindlers List make biographic films obviously important and quite depressing but also absolutely beautiful and inspiring aswell.

The chemistry between Szpilman and the German officer was obviously enemies but a little friendship. I personally think that the German Officer only helped Szpilman because it was sympathy and that he felt sorry for him and he probably felt bad because of the state that Szpilman was in and that he was slowly starving to death. The twist was when Szpilman was seperated from his family and became all alone and lived in the ruins of Warsaw for months. Everything was true in this film.

This film only had the words f**k and f**king only about twice and there was s**t about three times. The violence was quite graphic but not as graphic as Schindlers List. There was bloody violence when the Jews were shot in the head for no reason whatsoever.

This film had absolutely oustanding cinematography. It looked ever so realistic and all of the photography that was used was absolutely perfect. I thought that the art direction was superb. It was all typical World War II scenery with such clever materials and colorful settings. I loved the costumes too just like Schindlers List. The music is so inspiring it is just so beautiful and is just amazing.

This film won 3 Academy Awards. It won Best Leading Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Director (Roman Polanski) and Best Adapted Screenplay. It deserved direction and screenplay awards but I personally think that the Best Leading Actor award should have gone to Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs Of New York. I am not saying that Adrien Brody was bad at all. He was amazing! I think that it was luck that Adrien won because I heard that the Academy sort of changed their minds announcing Adrien Brody the winner instead of Daniel-Day Lewis. It was nominated for Best Picture (lost to Chicago but I think it should have won it), Best Cinematography (lost to Road To Perdition), Best Costume Design (lost to Chicago) and Best Film Editing (lost to Chicago). It was nominated for only two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor (Drama) for Adrien Brody but lost to Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt. It also lost Best Picture (Drama) to The Hours which in my opinion was dead wrong because The Hours was absolutely crap.

It is Roman Polanskis best film in my opinion. I liked it more than Chinatown. It is probably Adrien Brodys most famous performance too after he did win an Academy Award for his performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman. This film became my all time favourite biography film (film based on a true story) of all time. It is also my favourite film of 2002. It is my Best Picture winner of 2002. It is a film that is horrible but is just an absolutely gorgeous and beautiful film to watch as you carry on with it. It is a masterpiece!! Simple as that!

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Encore!

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 23 September 2008 06:24 (A review of The Pianist)

''I don't know how to thank you.''

''Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.''


A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Adrien Brody: Wladyslaw Szpilman

Thomas Kretschmann: Captain Wilm Hosenfeld

When we think of human suffering, of loss and despair. What is it that we think of in human history, a great well of loss? The answer is simple, the holocaust.

Pianist tells a wonderful story of one man's journey through a tragic period in time that is ultimately one of my favourite areas of interest. The level of detail is captured perfectly from every last stone and structure, from furniture, to the very fabric of characters clothes. Roman Polanski has triumphed and blazed with his masterpiece that shines.

The music that Pianist emits is haunting and mesmerising. The scene in which he plays for the Captain will stay with me all my life, where he doesn't just play from his heart and soul but for the desire that he still wants to live and clutch onto hope.

Adrien Broody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman like no one else could. We along side him take the Journey with him as we watch him lose his family but ultimately gain his freedom away from persecution.
Thomas Kretschmann appears later as the Captain, a friend who helps Szpilman, his performance reminded me of Downfall. He's a fave of mine who shows once again he's an amazing actor even with his small but important part.

We see human suffering displayed from a man getting thrown from his wheelchair out of a window, to a woman asking ''Where are you taking us? only to be given the ultimate answer, a bullet to her head, the fate of Jews in the eyes of Nazi's, Eradication...death...

Schindlers List did the whole suffering of a people alone but with Pianist it is now not alone, it is paralleled with greatness with soulful rapturous playing that shows hate can always be overcome by the faint glimmer of hope.

Roman Polanski has crafted a masterpiece which i love and am haunted by in the deep recesses of my being. Such soothing pieces and the Moonlight Sonata crammed in there too, a ghostly vision of beauty and a song i play too that shudders through me when i hear it.

Thank you to my dear friend Sam for his dedication and for making me watch this.

When i think of Pianist i think of unsurpassed greatness and I want to play the Piano more to let out the hurt.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Decent movie

Posted : 3 years ago on 18 November 2006 02:53 (A review of The Pianist)

Decent flick, not as powerful as other WWII movies out there but still gets the message across. The acting was great for the most part but I thought the pacing was a little sketchy. It felt genuine, which I appreciate a lot.

1 comments, Reply to this entry