The Pianist hits the right note

The Pianist is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, whose promising career as a musician is cut short by the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II.

Szpilman and his family are relocated to the Warsaw ghetto, and he loses his sole outlet for expression, his piano.

As the Nazi extermination of the Jews begins Szpilman’s family is sent to Krakow and he joins with a group of resistance fighters. But with their fight against the mighty Third Reich futile, Szpilman is forced to flee. As the war drags on, Szpilman’s only hope for survival lies in the hands of the most unlikely of allies.

One of the things The Pianist will end up being remembered for is that it made Adrien Brody a star.

As Szpilman, he delivers a commanding performance — for once, an actor deserves all the high praise. He is the heart and soul of the film. He takes every scene he’s in by the scruff of the neck, showing the kind of creativity his character was so cruelly deprived of.

He brings a very human element to what has since become a source for numbing, almost banal black and white newsreel genocide.

Director Roman Polanski has made his most intimate, personal film with The Pianist, and it is a landmark achievement.

Drama, 15. ****