Remarkable true
story of Polish Jew musician Adrien Brody (who won an Oscar, not as
inexplicably, now that I’ve seen the film, but still a strange choice by the
Academy) who initially spends time with his middle-class family in Warsaw not
all that concerned with the increasing hardship of his fellow Jews (wearing a
little armband and such is seen as a minor annoyance so long as Brody can
continue playing his music). But when the Nazis start…well, doing typically
abhorrent Nazi stuff, his family is shipped off to one of ‘those’ places,
whilst good connections allow Brody to enter a work camp and later hide from
the Nazis with the help of sympathetic acquaintances. But there he has other
horrors to deal with- starvation, mental instability, loneliness, boredom,
disease, and constant fear of being caught. Frank Finlay (always nice to see)
plays Brody’s father, Thomas Kretschmann plays a somewhat 3D Nazi officer whom
Brody encounters late in the film.
Low-key, perhaps
unsurprising (especially if you know anything about WWII), but ultimately
moving and realistic 2002 holocaust drama from one of its survivors, Roman
Polanski (“Rosemary’s Baby”, “Chinatown”, “Repulsion”). Well-acted, sometimes truly horrifying (and not just
the bit where a guy in a wheelchair is thrown out the window by Nazis- though
it was a sickening moment), but I did have a slight sense that I wasn’t seeing
anything new, and sometimes the film seemed a little dry and cold to me.
I also have to
agree with some that there is something a little off-putting about a story concerning
a holocaust survivor (a middle class one with good connections, at that).
Still, it’s never dull, and seemed pretty realistic to me. It’s a solid film.
The screenplay is by Ronald Harwood (“The
Dresser” of all films and the remake of “Cry the Beloved Country”), from the book by Wladyslaw Szpilman
himself.
Rating: B-
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