The source of our discontent with "The Pianist" does not become apparent until the final seconds, when title cards inform
us that what we have seen -- a Polish man fleeing the Nazis during World War II -- is a true story. Ah, that's it! The filmmakers have fallen prey to the classic syndrome of assuming a story will be interesting just because it is true. In the pursuit of being true to Wladyslaw Szpilman's real story (the film is based on his autobiography ), director Roman Polanski has neglected what separates a good film from a great one: the narrative. The narrative in "The Pianist" is too simple, too uneventful. Wladyslaw (played by American actor Adrien Brody), a classical pianist for Polish radio in Warsaw, hides from the Nazis with his family, then continues to hide, then flees, then hides somewhere else, and so on. Polanski tinkers with the idea that music somehow helps Wladyslaw survive, but that theme is left undeveloped until, suddenly, it plays a pivotal role in a pivotal scene. Basically, the film wanders for nearly 2 1/2 hours, telling a story that is inspiring, but no more so than the dozens of other Holocaust films we've seen in the past half-century.
To read the rest of this review, click on the relevant link below.