Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


The Pianist (2002)

Director: Roman Polanski

Average user rating
3 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An adaptation of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoirs about his experiences in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Polanski's cinematic return to the ravaged world of his childhood starts inauspiciously, lumbered with the clichés of Ronald Harwood's script. The actors (mostly from British TV) who play the musician's doomed family squabble to order about how to react to events. Once Szpilman is left behind, however, and forced to hide in empty apartments in the ever more unrecognisable city, his struggle simply to survive is rendered with increasing subtlety, and Brody's lead performance steadily comes into its own. Old-fashioned in both visual and narrative style and in its overall restraint, the film clearly benefits from the director's first-hand knowledge of the territory.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide


User reviews of this film

  • Hey, you’re the goto expe said...
    Posted on Jun 01 2011 05:37 Hey, you’re the goto expert. Tnhkas for hanging out here.
    Report as inappropriate
  • bruce clemence said...
    Posted on Feb 15 2010 20:40 the final scene with him playing Chopins Ballade No 1 (itself amazing) with Nazi Officer watching must be one of the greatest and most moving pieces of cinema I've ever seen. Nothing comes close
    Report as inappropriate
  • Laurina said...
    Posted on Oct 08 2009 05:40 One of the ten most important movies in history.
    Report as inappropriate

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing