The Pianist

Name: The Pianist
Genre: Biography, Drama, War
Released: December 27, 2002
Duration: 150 min
Rating: 85
Cast: Adrien Brody, Frank Finlay

2002

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 442 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 442 Ratings

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The Pianist

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Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: December 27, 2002 | TV-MA

Starring: Adrien Brody, Frank Finlay

Summary: Wladyslaw Szpilman, a brilliant Polish pianist, a Jew, escapes deportation. Forced to live in the heart of the Warsaw ghetto, he shares the suffering, the humiliation and the struggles. He manages to escape and hides in the ruins of the capital. A German officer comes to his aid and helps him to survive. (Focus Features)

Director: Roman Polanski

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, War

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 150 min

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Awards & Rankings

10	#10 Best Movie of 2002
17	#17 Most Discussed Movie of 2002
15	#15 Most Shared Movie of 2002

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Desson Thomson

Polanski, himself a survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, has created a near-masterpiece. Read full review

100

Michael Wilmington

A great movie on a powerful, essential subject -- the Holocaust years in Poland -- directed with such artistry and skill that, as we watch, the barriers of the screen seem to melt away. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

The results are masterful, admirably unsentimental, and never boring, if also a little stodgy. Read full review

Peter Travers

Nothing can detract from the film as a portrait of hell so shattering it's impossible to shake. Read full review

Mike Clark

With this 2002 Cannes Film Festival best-picture winner, Polanski skips the quirky flourishes and simply brings history to life. Read full review

Ella Taylor

Polanski, wisely, doesn't interpret or explain. He seems to have decided that in the face of such meticulously planned horror, the best one can do is get the details right. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Surprisingly lacks a feeling of personal urgency and insight that would have made it a distinctive, even unique contribution to the considerable number of films that deal with the war in general and Holocaust in particular. Read full review

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User Reviews

MustisTheCat

Aug 2, 2011

I especially appreciate this movie for portraying people as real as it gets. There are no only good or bad sides here. It shows us that the war never really changed poeple to mindless warmongering zombies. There were bad and good people everywhere. The story of a young Jewish radio pianistI especially appreciate this movie for portraying people as real as it gets. There are no only good or bad sides here. It shows us that the war never really changed poeple to mindless warmongering zombies. There were bad and good people everywhere. The story of a young Jewish radio pianist is interesting as the perspective is shown from his secret flat provided by the Polish. Everything he experienced most of the time was viewing from his apartment`s window. The apocalyptic reality of ghettos also have some time in this movie so we can see how he Germans treated their slaves. The character played by Adrien Brody is likeable and interesting to the point we want to stick with the story. And in this movie we see another page of history which is Germans destroying Warsaw. In the end I felt sorry for Wilm Hosenfeld and I reflected upon how unjust and random war is.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

Alonsinxxx

Apr 16, 2019

Great actors! The soundtrack is amazing. Roman Polanski made a great work directing this drama movie.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MovieGuys

Apr 3, 2014

The Pianist is a breathtaking and outstanding film by Polanski. The acting is great, and the cinematography is gritty yet beautiful. But what makes The Pianist stand out from other films of this genre is how it portrays the Germans so antagonistic and ruthless, more than almost any otherThe Pianist is a breathtaking and outstanding film by Polanski. The acting is great, and the cinematography is gritty yet beautiful. But what makes The Pianist stand out from other films of this genre is how it portrays the Germans so antagonistic and ruthless, more than almost any other film I've seen, except for maybe "Schindler's List".… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

RONGIU

Feb 8, 2011

Sorry, machine translation. Thanks. Untermensch - Lower The music helps us to live, indeed to survive. One survivor, if still of sound mind, can not have memory. And the memory "music" of a pianist, is very long term. The music also helps to seek, to find and hope for our hero, to forgive.Sorry, machine translation. Thanks. Untermensch - Lower The music helps us to live, indeed to survive. One survivor, if still of sound mind, can not have memory. And the memory "music" of a pianist, is very long term. The music also helps to seek, to find and hope for our hero, to forgive. So I understand. But who is our hero? His name is Wladyslaw Szpilman Adrien Brody / is the famous pianist of the "Warsaw Ghetto", his talent has crossed the Polish borders. Szpilman familiar chromatic scales, those that give color; insignificant harmonica in his hands takes vivacity. Among other things, the implementation of the Study op. 10 No. 2 by Frederic Chopin, which requires a special technique of execution, not for nothing is unprepared. Moreover, our Wladyslaw, Chopin knows everything, really everything. The story goes that when Chopin composed the op. 10 No. 2, was inspired by a mouse, quickly seen running to his room. Szpilman has seen much else in his Warsaw Germans, many, "armed in the soul" with the most powerful poisons, HATRED. Ready for anything, to destroy everything, to "destroy inside." It all began in September 1939. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939 is a done deal. Consequence of this is the invasion and division of Polish territory by the Russians and Germans. I am the latter, the co-stars in the film directed by Roman Polanski. I said, the German planes begin bombing Warsaw at the same time, the camera captures our pianist, impassive, calm, almost disinterested in studies of Warsaw radio, while continuing to play the C # 20 Nocturno, Op posth- F. Chopin. It is 'forced' to vanish quickly when another explosion shatters all the glass panes of the studio and beyond. E ', this, the last sonata "live". E '1945, the "reborn" Polish studies, incorporate the same hands to put pressure on blacks and white keys of a piano. The piece by Chopin "violently interrupted" resumes its "path". The mind and hands of the "survivor" are stylistically synchronous. Chopeniani enthusiasts who have had the good fortune to listen to before the events and now are not slow to realize that the anxiety and pessimism gives way to a romance aimed at all "to escape" the thought and memory, while not forgetting. But what has happened in all these years to the Szpilman family, our composer, to the thousands of Polish Jews? What imparts the "INFINITE" circular Nazi? What are JudenrÃ¤te? What role occupies the Wehrmacht officer, Captain Wilm Hosenfeld? Thomas Kretschmann / seen by our "the only human being wearing the German uniform I have ever known." Polanski, finally finds the strength to tell and tell. In fact, the story told is an excerpt from the memoirs of Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, written after the war. The director, at the time a child is imprisoned in the Krakow ghetto. The facts narrated are not at all "handled". What happens in the ghetto is told without rhetoric. "Beyond the wall," Jews are accomplices Jews who have grown rich on the backs of other Jews, there is a whole underwater life. But not intentionally. I think. Choosing is not easy when you find yourself alone in front of the "certainty of death." He who saves a soul is as if he saved the entire universe is written in the Talmud. Wilm Hosenfeld will ever have a tree dedicated in the Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem? And today? The Second World War is over? My answer is no. A long appendix of global tragedies following the tragic events. The man still does not learn from his mistakes. And Italy? Italy is a country at war. But who knows? And the cinema? The cinema has a duty to tell / inform, if you like. The viewer has the duty to investigate / guard, if you like. It is of free thought. And this I do not give up. "The Pianist" won: Two 2002 Oscar - Best Director Roman Polanski s best actor Adrien Brody /; Cannes Film Festival 2002 - Palme d'Or for Best Film with Roman Polanski; David di Donatello 2003 - Best foreign film with Roman Polanski.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Alsethe2nd

May 28, 2019

As a pianist and a person with a love for history this movie really brought a deep insight onto the world of a Polish Jew in WW2. This film is set in Poland during the second World War when Jews were being persecuted in the Holocaust, although many know of its horrors this movie reallyAs a pianist and a person with a love for history this movie really brought a deep insight onto the world of a Polish Jew in WW2. This film is set in Poland during the second World War when Jews were being persecuted in the Holocaust, although many know of its horrors this movie really displays to what extent the Jews would be targeted and tortured and highlights how the suffering was universal, instead of selected the Jews who had done something wrong they are all bunched together and treated as less than human, The Pianist really does well to display this through the mood of the areas in which the movie takes place and through character development shows the corruption of the body both physically and mentally, lacking in trust and doing all it takes to survive. Despite its name, The Pianist has very little piano scores throughout the whole film played by the protagonist which makes the ones he does play even more impactful and beautiful, a man stripped of what he treasures, finally gets to enjoy it again. This movie is a real tear-jerker especially as it's based on a true story if you are interested in war this movie will shine a true and honest light on it and if you enjoy classical music in anyway this movie is definitely for you, it will bring an new and powerful connection between you and your music.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MisterLuca

Jul 26, 2014

A sensational film. Roman Polanski and his amazing vision bring us one of his moving masterpieces. the film tells the amazing life story of acclaimed Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, focusing on his touching story of survival during World War II. With a beautiful cast, The Pianist is aA sensational film. Roman Polanski and his amazing vision bring us one of his moving masterpieces. the film tells the amazing life story of acclaimed Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, focusing on his touching story of survival during World War II. With a beautiful cast, The Pianist is a great biographical drama i've seen in years. Loyal, genuine and above all a moving portrait of the Second World War and its worldwide impact.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DaveC.

Sep 24, 2005

Can't go wrong with Adrien Brody, whose performance is, at once, intense and sympathetic, yet the character he is playing is little more than a void in the film, where we should in fact be thinking of him as the protagonist. Many sections of the film are risible where the ought to be Can't go wrong with Adrien Brody, whose performance is, at once, intense and sympathetic, yet the character he is playing is little more than a void in the film, where we should in fact be thinking of him as the protagonist. Many sections of the film are risible where the ought to be taken seriously and at other times, I wasn't even convinced. The piano playing sequences are pretentious and obvious and the rest of the film feels like a missed opportunity. Why doesn't it tackle issues like the prejudices of slavic poles towards the jews. I never got the sense of what it might have felt like to be jew. Polanski has evidently been more pre-occupied with making a crowd-pleasing thrill ride. What a waste.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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