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Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox ... see more see more... , Ed Stoppard , Julia Rayner , Jessica Kate Meyer , Ruth Platt , Michal Zebrowski , Katarzyna Figura , Anthony Milner , Daniel Caltagirone , Lucy Skeaping , Nomi Sharron , Richard Ridings , Roddy Skeaping , Valentine Pelka , Wanja Mues , Frank Lipman

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who as a boy growing up in Poland watched while the Nazis devastated his country during World War II, directed this downbeat drama based on the true story of a privileged mus... read more read more...ician who spent five years struggling against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) is a gifted classical pianist born to a wealthy Jewish family in Poland. The Szpilmans have a large and comfortable flat in Warsaw which Wladyslaw shares with his mother and father (Maureen Lipman and Frank Finlay), his sisters Halina and Regina (Jessica Kate Meyer and Julia Rayner), and his brother, Henryk (Ed Stoppard). 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 naïveté 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. The Pianist was based on the memoir of the same name by the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman; the book was first published in 1946 as Death of a City, but was banned by Polish Communist officials and went out of print until 1998, when a new edition was issued as The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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178 critics

R, 2 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Release Date: December 27, 2002

Keywords: sad, emotional, war, depressing

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DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (13,412)

  • fb1463751009
    March 9, 2012
    fb1463751009
    "The Pianist" is shockingly raw and depressing vision of the Holocaust that is portrayed through the eyes of Roman Polanski. I don't feel right to pick at a movie about such a sensitive issue but there seems to be one gaping problem: emotional attachment with the main characters.... read more Brutal attacks and killings are made to so many Jewish characters on screen that it begins to become numbing. The first death that occurs thrusts audiences out of their comfort zone and into the Holocaust time period, but it happens over and over and over. It is difficult to pinpoint the climax of the movie. Although this is a story about a real survivalist, there didn't seem to be any true development or growth that occurred throughout the atrocities. Not to say that if the real person never truly did, that it has still gotta be in the movie... but then what would this movie be? A movie that portrays the cold deaths of the Holocaust? This is one gaping flaw that prevented this movie from being a masterpiece.
  • ironclad1609
    February 9, 2012
    ironclad1609
    Roman Polanski's Oscar winning drama is probably the strongest film about the persecution of the Jews during World War Two, and leaves even more of an impression than Spielberg's Schindler's List. The story follows the family of pianist Szpilman's family as the Nazi occupy Warsaw... read more and the resulting, horrible events in the Polish ghettos up to the trains going to the concentration camps. Thanks to the kindness of strangers and pure luck Szpielman survives in the ghetto and is later hidden in what feels like eternal situations of solitude throughout the city. The film is brutal and doesn't leave out the ugly sides, but never abandons hope. Szpilman is a survivor who does what it takes to make it through somehow. That makes for a gloomy, sad, but also enthralling film carried by Adrien Brody's outstanding performance. The final straw to his survival is so surprising and heart-warming that it feels like a ray of light between all the madness and murder you've witnesses for two hours. A moving, unforgettable testimonial of the darkest chapter of the 20th century.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    January 26, 2012
    TheDudeLebowski65
    The Pianist is a terrific film. The film is one of the better films starring Adrien Brody. Director Roman Polanski directs a terrific film about a Jewish pianist who tries to survive the Holocaust by playing the piano. I think that this Adrian Brody's best film, and he gives a st... read morerong performance. This is a powerful story about survival, and how one man used his gift to survive one of the greatest crimes ever committed. The Pianist is a stunning film, that I thought was among the best Holocaust films. Schindler's List is a better film, but The Pianist is among the best of the genre. Like I previously stated, this is Adrien Brody's best film, and he truly delivers a great performance. This is a solid film that is powerful to watch, and though it's depressing, it shows the will of survival of people face with incredible odds. This is a wonderful film that is entertaining and has everything you'd expect from a solid drama film. Roman Polanski crafts a unique film that is both equally sad and hopeful. The Pianist is a must see film with a great cast, and Polanski's directing is top-notch and that's what makes The Pianist such a memorable film to watch. Aside from Schindler's List and the Boy with the Striped Pajamas, The Pianist is one of the best film set during the Holocaust. A truly good film that will definitely appeal to viewers that are interested in the subject.
  • paulkoh110
    January 9, 2012
    paulkoh110
    A slow masterpiece that doesn't need guns or wild sex to grab the audiences' attention. Its one of polanski's best and the one epic that redeemed his career after a streak of mediocre films.
  • DreamExtractor
    September 11, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    The Pianist is the second greatest holocaust film ever, and is a masterpiece. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrian Brody) is a Jewish Pianist at the beginning oh the Holocaust, and as he continues on, he struggles to survive, find shelter, and make it through the horrors he must witness a... read morend the losses he must face. The storyline is an incredible one, we follow one man through his long journey of World War 2 and as he tries to hide from German forces, and the horrors within this film is as disturbing as Shindlers List. Adrien Brody deserved the Oscar, he had the personality that made him perfect for this role, and this takes us through his entire loneliness as a Holocaust survivor, and he basically takes us on this scary and horrible journey with him. The plot was genius, they seemed to grab every piece of informartion about the holocaust survivor and the horrors they had to see and do and put it in this movie, so that we can pity and feel their pain. The Pianist is a genius work of art, and future generations will enjoy this beautiful take on the horrible holocaust.
  • fb1216165431
    September 10, 2011
    fb1216165431
    The Pianist is a true account of Polish-Jewish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman, survivor of the World War II German occupation in Poland. Baring the painful scars, haunting memories, and lasting grief of World War II with its brilliant visual and narrative style, The Pianist is bound... read more to make a personal emotional engagement with history. Outstanding.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    July 22, 2011
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.

    What a superb film! Adrien Brody in arguably his best role ever as an actor and proudly so he did win Best Actor Award in the 2002 Oscar's. The story is quite amazing and unique which made it all together a excellent film. Th... read moree Pianist is bound to garner comparisons to Schindler's List, for obvious reasons. However similar the subject matter, the approach is different. While Schindler's List was filmed in a beautiful, crisp black and white that offered many incredible images, The Pianist was filmed with almost muted color. Schindler's List featured what has been argued as a complicated hero. Oskar Schindler did save many Jews, but not without battling his own materialistic demons first. The Pianist's Szpilman is a sympathetic character throughout. His plight was desperate, and the demons he fought were over his own guilt in surviving a fight that eventually turns into a primal will to live.

    The true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who, in the 1930s, was known as the most accomplished piano player in all of Poland, if not Europe. At the outbreak of the Second World War, however, Szpilman becomes subject to the anti-Jewish laws imposed by the conquering Germans. By the start of the 1940s, Szpilman has seen his world go from piano concert halls to the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw and then must suffer the tragedy of his family deported to a German concentration camps, while Szpilman is conscripted into a forced German Labor Compound. At last deciding to escape, Szpilman goes into hiding as a Jewish refugee where he is witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943) and the Warsaw Uprising (1 August to 2 October 1944)
  • fb100000257973100
    July 16, 2011
    fb100000257973100
    This was a film that was just waiting to happen. Now, reading this, you are probably wondering what I meant by that. Well, let me tell you a little about this director of this film. Roman Polanski is easily one of the most unique directors in the world. Not by the fact that he ca... read moren not film films here due to numerous accounts of rape against a thirteen year ld girl, but because he is, in real life, a Holocaust survivor. For years, he has been against making any films that deal with that subject matter of his life due to the events still to this day are raw in his mind. But, along comes this one film that deals with The Holocaust and, in a way, is Polanskiâ(TM)s greatest piece f work, along with him coming to some terms with his dark past; him living in a concentration camp. When if I first saw this film, I will admit that I had no knowledge of this film other then it winning the Palm dâ(TM)Ore at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Academy awards for best actor, best director, and best adapted screen play, along with the back story of Polanski. What I got out of viewing this film was something of an emotional roller coaster as we see one of the most serious films about World War II that have been made. Now, in terms of direction, Polanski gives it his all as he conducts this movie. There is this subtle tone of dread and seriousness as we are taken on this journey through the eyes of Wladyslaw Szpilman and the hell he goes through. But, the scenes that make this movie work for the best are the subtle scenes that have Szpilman playing a piano. Just, something about all of this terror going on, and the victim just making music, it adds a certain calm to this film that is filled with dread from beginning to end. Next the acting. For this entire film, Adrien Brody gives the performance of his life playing this character. I know that all that can be said has been said, but when you look at it, he just gives one hell of a performance that makes him worthy of his Academy Award he won. The rest of the supporting cast does a great job with this film, but in the end, only one person matters. Next is the script. For this type of film, I will say that the script does a good job at being serious. But, the only problem would be the pacing in some scenes. I do not know, just that some of the scenes seemed kind of slow to me. So, for the most part, it was good. But could have been tighten. Overall, worth of the award it had gotten. Lastly the score. While I enjoy piano orchestrations, I would have liked it if they would have created some more memorable pieces here and there, but for the most part, like the script, it was good. Overall, this is an emotional power house film that is not without a few flaws. Otherwise, a great film.
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    Moving and poignant. Exceptional cast and acting.
  • fb732260458
    May 12, 2011
    fb732260458
    An absolutely heart-breaking and riveting story of a man's survival against all odds. Roman Polanski's masterpiece and a career-defining piece for Adrien Brody, The Pianist above all else went very far to re-kindle the emotions I have attached to my family's oppression - who were... read more also persecuted into labor camps in Siberia the 1950's.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
January 16, 2003
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Brody is a sublimely haunting presence at the heart of The Pianist.

Peter Rainer
January 16, 2003
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

It's Roman Polanski's strongest and most personally felt movie. Full Review

David Ansen
January 14, 2003
David Ansen, Newsweek

In going home to tell Szpilman's story Polanski seems reborn: once again he's become a filmmaker who matters.

Richard Schickel
January 13, 2003
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

We admire this film for its harsh objectivity and refusal to seek our tears, our sympathies. Full Review

Joe Baltake
January 10, 2003
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

This material means something to Polanski and, because of this, he brings personal details that might have evaded another filmmaker. Full Review

Peter Travers
January 9, 2003
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

A portrait of hell so shattering it's impossible to shake.

Mick LaSalle
January 3, 2003
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The Holocaust has been the subject of many films. The Pianist is one of the great ones. Full Review

Carrie Rickey
January 3, 2003
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

It is a chilling account, as barren of emotions as a Samuel Beckett play, and yet it is indescribably moving.

Tom Long
January 3, 2003
Tom Long, Detroit News

The Pianist breaks no new ground, but serves as a strong reminder of one of mankind's truly awful moments.

Roger Ebert
January 3, 2003
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is not a thriller, and avoids any temptation to crank up suspense or sentiment; it is the pianist's witness to what he saw and what happened to him. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: Halina
    • Halina: What?
    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: It's a funny time to say this..
    • Halina: What?
    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: I wish I knew you better
    • Halina: Thank you.
    • The father: One caramel for 20 zloytas? Fine, we will split it.
    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: [taking off his watch] Here, sell this. Food is more important than time.
    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: What... what do you think you'll do while you're setting up your new line of defense? Wander around luggin' your suitcases?
    • Wladyslaw Szpilman: I don't know how to thank you
    • Captain Wilm Hosenfeld: Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.
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  • What movie did Adrien Brody win an Oscar for Best Actor?  Answer »
  • The movie "The Pianist" takes place during what war?  Answer »
  • "Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece." Name The Movie...  Answer »
  • Winner of the Golden Palm at Cannes 2002.  Answer »
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