The Pianist - ACE Train Movie Review

Wladyslaw Szpilman is a gifted classical pianist born to a wealthy Jewish family in Poland. While Wladyslaw and his family are aware of the looming presence of German forces and Hitler's designs on Poland, they're convinced that the Nazis are a menace which will pass, and that England and France will step forward to aid Poland in the event of a real crisis. Wladyslaw's naivete is shattered when a German bomb rips through a radio studio while he performs a recital for broadcast. During the early stages of the Nazi occupation, as a respected artist, he still imagines himself above the danger, using his pull to obtain employment papers for his father and landing a supposedly safe job playing piano in a restaurant. But as the German grip tightens upon Poland, Wladyslaw and his family are selected for deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. Refusing to face a certain death, Wladyslaw goes into hiding in a comfortable apartment provided by a friend. However, when his benefactor goes missing, Wladyslaw is left to fend for himself and he spends the next several years dashing from one abandoned home to another, desperate to avoid capture by German occupation troops.

Wow, what an intense, powerful, sad and inspiring film. The Holocaust was a horrific period of time and it was captured very vividly in this movie. While I don't think it was as good at capturing the raw emotion (and violence) like Schindler's List, it was a very emotional film. Of course, not having lived through the experience myself, I can only imagine the horrors that Jews faced during that period, but the film makes you feel like you're there. This film does provide a glimmer of hope and promise in the form of the pianist who is followed throughout. He lives through some pretty brutal experiences, but never loses his will to live and return to doing what he loves. The best part is that this movie is based on a true story (good in the sense that someone survived to tell their tale) and taken from the memoirs of the real Wladyslaw Szpilman. Tough to watch, but a must see.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: Yes
Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.