Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA Gorgeous and Moving True Story.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2008
There are alot of WWII themed films but this one is on a whole different level. It's not about tactics or battlefields. It's not about maximum carnage and body counts. It's not even about heroism and achieving final victory. No, this is one man's true story of surviving one of the most horrific periods in world history.
This is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody, a Jewish man livng in Poland who also happens to be an extraordinary pianist. When the Germans invade, his neighborhood, his city, his piano playing job , and his family are all turned utterly upsidedown. He and his family are forced to move, sell everything, and endure the hardships of a sadistic and heartless Nazi occupation. His whole life of prosperity and promise quickly deteriorates into a daily horror as he witnesses his friends and neighbors abused and murdered. Soon after, his family is penniless, bodies lay in the street, and the jewish people are constantly relocated until the day comes when they'll all be boarded a train to a horrible fate at a concentration camp. Szpilman escapes that fate but finds himself alone among the ruins of his once peaceful neighborhood. He takes shelter in the abandoned and burned out buildings, trying evade German troops and hold out as long as he can.
The actors are wonderfully played and cast but Adrian Brody gives what I believe is his best performance ever. Many times, conveying his thoughts and emotions without a single word. He gives life and passion to his character. This is also Roman Polanski's finest hour as the sets, scenery, and overall look of the film are exquisite. He gives the viewer the eyes of the characters, as it becomes you that's looking to see if the coast is clear while peeking through windows and cracks between buildings. Every scene is set perfectly as the early part of the film is bright, colorful and clean. But as the events darken, so does the enviornment. The city takes on a slow decay until it lay in total ruin. It becomes dirty and war torn. Everything looks authentic and period like. The peoples clothes, cars and furniture, the soldiers uniforms, vehiles and weapons are all spot on. An excellent production all around.
The video on the HD DVD disc is spotlessly clean, clear and vivd. It doesn't have the bright colors to give you that three dimensional pop, but it's detailed enough to remind you, your watching an HD DVD disc. I upgraded from my standard disc to this one and noticed the difference almost immediately. The standard disc is good but this one is clearly better overall. A superb transfer.
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus. I only listened to the TrueHD as it has a higher bitrate and is always the clear winner of the two. While I'm generally happy with the performance, it seemed a little too front loaded. There were'nt many times where the surrounds grabbed my attention with atmosphere or background movement. There are some big bangs, explosions and gunfire to pick things up a bit but the film is pretty quiet for alot of the time too, which doesn't really take advantage of the surrounds. I don't fault the disc though, as it's just the sound design. Still though, everything comes across clearly and distinguishable. The loud and soft moments are perfectly balanced to where you won't have to adjust the volume at all. The piano pieces are beautiful and sound wonderful too.
This is a wonderful film. It's clearly WWII but different than most every other WWII film out there. The Pianist gives us another insight to the atrocities against the Jewish people but the film never forces excessive gore to create shock value. Theres almost no bad language to brace for either. There's maybe a handful at most through the entire film. For me, that's important and makes it much easier to watch. The violence isn't throughout, but what's there can be pretty unsettling. But it has to be there for this type of film, or it's just not accurate at all. We don't want to sugar coat this and besides, it's a true story. If your interested in true stories and WWII period films, it's an easy recommend. If your considering upgrading, it's even easier.
![The Pianist [Blu-ray] [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+xRmd9-4S._AC_US60_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg)
