The Pianist (2002)
Given their many similarities, it is hard to avoid comparing this to Schindler’s List. First of all I appreciate the minimal use of score here and the tighter focus on a single character. The progression is slow but steady, starting with showing how various rights were taking away and the quickly escalated into full on genocide. The set pieces are nothing but remarkable as it really looks like they built half of Warsaw and then bombed it afterwards to make this film. What makes this just shy of being a five star for me is that it somehow looks more realistic than Schindler’s List but at the same feels less so. It is a weird paradox for any depiction of that part of history, or maybe I am just more yielding to Spielberg’s effective emotionally manipulative tricks. No doubt a remarkable film that deserves its place in film history and as one of the closest to reality depictions of the Holocaust.
Rating: 4