[attrition] review: Movie: The Pianist

[lyger]

http://attrition.org/movies/pianist.html

The Pianist
2002
Martums

Brace yourself.

>From Yahoo! Movies:

     An adaptation based on the autobiography of the acclaimed Polish 
composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, who detailed his survival during World War 
II, and narrowly escaped a roundup that sent his family to a death camp. A 
composer and pianist, Szpilman played the last live music heard over 
Polish radio airwaves before Nazi artillery hit. There, in Poland, 
Szpilman struggled to stay alive--even when cast away from those he loved. 
He spent the duration of the war hiding in the ruins of Warsaw and 
scavenging for food and shelter. Szpilman eventually reclaimed his 
artistic gifts, and confronted his fears--with aid from the unlikeliest of 
sources.

I remember all of the hype surrounding the release of this film, but never 
saw it in theaters. Anything with a musical instrument remotely associated 
with it just doesn't appeal to me. I don't remember how this ended up in 
my Netflix queue, and to think that I nearly didn't watch it and almost 
returned it, sight unseen, with all the other rented-but-unwatched 
award-winning flicks that somehow fail to capture one's attention....

Forget everything.

The Pianist is one of the most powerful, emotionally-stirring movies I can 
remember seeing in recent years. Szpilman's struggle to survive under the 
most unimaginable conditions is nothing short of extraordinary. The story 
unfolds and quickly comes to a ferocious boil right before your eyes: 
bombs slamming down around people in Warsaw, the occupation by Nazi 
Germany, the segregation of the Jewish community and the subsequent 
persecution, deportation, execution...there are no words for this.

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