Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Undeniable Choice for Best Picture
It would be an unspeakable tragedy in the event that The Pianist fais to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Furthermore, Adrian Brody should, despite stellar competition, be given serious consideration for Best Actor as well. Roman Polanski, the controversial, yet immensely gifted in his craft, directs this infinitely provocative masterpiece of a film. Having heroically survived The Holocaust, Polanski proves to be the most preeminently qualified individual in the world to direct this tour de force. ... We all gleefully stayed to witness the extraordinary piano exhibition during the credits. It was a true testament to the sheer power of The Pianist. It was as if we were all entranced by the amazing perseverence, and not to mention the unwavering will of survival, of the highly endearing protagonist, Szpilman. And to think that the heinous and unspeakable attrocities so expertly chronicled in the movie actually transpired. .... Go see this movie today! It is THE best picture of the year - without any inkling of a doubt whatsoever. Pure genius on the big screen. The Pianist is the most moving and poignantly provocative picture I have had the pleasure of witnessing - in quite some time.
Rating: - A brilliant look at the survival of the human spirit
Roman Polanski's The Pianist is a harsh, shocking and frightening look at one man's fight for survival during the Holocaust. It's the true story of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Polish Jew caught up in World War II's most harrowing atrocity. It's through this film's brutally honest portrayal of the Holocaust via Szpilman's personal journey that its brilliance shines.This is by far one of Polanski's best films, if not his very best. Every minute of this movie breathes life into its subject while the lives of countless Jews around Szpilman are extinguished. But the heart of the film doesn't lie in its portrayal of Holocaust atrocities. It's in the struggle of an artist who can no longer perform his life's ambition, trading it for mere survival and hiding in one play or another longing for the day he can once again play piano. In some of the film's most beautiful scenes, Szpilman hears the call of the piano. At one point, he's hiding in an apartment with a piano, but cannot play it without alerting the Germans to his presence. As his fingers dance inches above the keys, we can hear the music as Szpilman hears it in his mind. The release seems enough to keep him fighting to survive for that one day he can truly play again. That scene sum up the entire spirit of the film. Unlike Schindler's List, which tells a broader story on the Holocaust, The Pianist is much more personal. Adrien Brody transforms his character through the years of isolation from a strong pianist to a sickly man teetering on the edge of death and despair. His performance is well worthy of an Oscar. The Pianist is absolutely one of the best films of 2002. This is one everyone should see at least once, for it shows from what depths the human spirit can survive and is inspiration for all those struggling artists out there. My highest recommendation.
Rating: - Master filmmaking
Polanski proves that being adept at the surreal or fantastical does not preclude a director from composing an effectively thoughtful and linear story. If anything, Polanski demonstrates that true vision knows no bounds. Like many, I wasn't sure how much more of the Nazi regime imagery I could stomach. Quickly I became endeared to the character and found myself pulling for his survival as if it was really taking place. These days it is so difficult to become so absorbed in a film. For a movie to pull this off requires an amazing vision and a successful unfurling of that vision and all its detail. Many forces seemed to work together to achieve this accomplishment.
What is so profound about this film is the degree to which the viewer becomes transmogrified through the course of following the central character in his determination to survive.
The war scenes and depictions of brutality are, in my opinion, done truthfully and in a manner that lends credence to the story.
This movie captures the fundamental human feelings that ultimately pull us all together. It does so without catering to any sense of "political correctness." Good and evil are demonstrated by Nazis AND prisoners.
More than another "war movie," this film transcends genres and moves into the realm of greatness. Whatever you think of Polanski the man, this film is brilliant.
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