The Pianist (R)
True story of a Jewish pianist; OK for older kids.
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Movie details
- Studio: Focus Features
- Directed By: Roman Polanski
- Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Fox
- Running Time: 150 minutes
- Release Date: 12/27/2002
- Video/DVD Release Date: 05/27/2003
- Genre: Drama
- MPAA Rating: R
- MPAA Explanation: violence and mature, upsetting themes
Parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is clearly not a movie for children. However, in addition to being an excellent work of art, it's an instructive movie for teenagers who take for granted the comfort and stability of their world. War isn't glamorous, and the most principled and courageous people are among its first victims. This is an excellent movie about survival, fate, and values. It's a very worthwhile movie for young adults. Parents should know that the movie has strong language and graphic and horrific violence, including casual murder of Jews.
Families can talk about why movies like this one, which is based on a true story, are so important, even today. Are there any current events you can think of that are similar to the plight of Jews in World War II?
Families can talk about why movies like this one, which is based on a true story, are so important, even today. Are there any current events you can think of that are similar to the plight of Jews in World War II?
Message
Social Behavior:
A theme of the movie
Consumerism:
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:
Mild
Violence
Intense violence, characters killed in Holocaust Intense peril
Sex
None
Language
Very strong language
Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by Nell Minow
THE PIANIST is the emotionally devastating true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a Jewish pianist in Poland caught up in the horrors of World War II. The Nazis invade Poland, confine Jews to a ghetto, and eventually ship them off to concentration camps. There is heartbreaking and graphic violence. Yet, director Roman Polanski delivers this difficult message in a very thoughtful, skillful way. Just when the audience is on the verge of becoming numbed by the grim life in the ghetto, the pianist escapes for a day and walks through the bright flower stalls in the crowded market outside the ghetto. It reminds the viewer of how far the pianist has fallen from a "normal" life, but it gives the viewer the same brief respite that it gives the pianist. Just when the Nazi brutality against the Jews seems unbearable, a music-loving German soldier treats the pianist kindly while Jewish victims prey on each other.
Is it any good?
Roman Polanski, himself a survivor of the Holocaust who lost many family members, powerfully conveys the epic journey of a man who is transformed by a series of events from an elegantly dressed, highly cultured musician to a scavenging, debased shell of a human being.
The most effective parts of the movie are the small, vivid, almost unbearably poignant human moments. In one, a family awaiting a transport train which will take them away to a concentration camp combines all their remaining money to buy a single caramel which they carefully divide into four tiny portions.
Other choices
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Parents and kids say
All Reviews
There are 12 reviews.
Posted on 03/23/08 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 16
Posted on 07/29/07 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 16
Age 13+
Posted on 04/30/07 by Anonymous Adult contributor
This is lone of the besgt films
Adult Reviews
There are 4 reviews.
Age 13+
Posted on 04/30/07 by Anonymous Adult contributor
This is lone of the besgt films
Age 17+
Posted on 05/28/03 by Anonymous Adult contributor
Kids Reviews
There are 8 reviews.
Posted on 03/23/08 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 16
Posted on 07/29/07 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 16
Posted on 06/10/03 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 15
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