The Pianist (2002)

Trailer

I love to see a woman playing the cello.
So basically: Wladyslaw Szpilman is a Jewish pianist in 1930's Poland. He and his family suffer the prosecution of the Nazi party after Germany invades. Reluctantly, his family moves into the Warsaw Ghetto and tries to make a living while still keeping to their principles. When all of the Jews are being transported to concentration camps, Wladyslaw gets pulled out by someone he knows in a place of authority. Now stuck in Warsaw with nowhere to go, he must seek the help of several friends to keep himself alive.

World War Two movies usually work. I think a large part has to do with the sheer absurdity of the genocide, people just can't get their heads around how something like that actually happened. The movies keep audiences watching. That being said, I don't think this is one of the best WWII/Holocaust movies. I think a lot of the things that happened on screen were purely put there for shock value - yes, everything probably did happen just like that (I don't want to say it did just because I don't kno everything myself), but there was one instance of each case. If they had shown things many times, like a women was begging for water for her dying infant, or people fighting over food then eating the scraps on the ground, it wouldn't have as great an impact.

If you like holocaust movies, then check this one out for sure, but it's not one of the greatest movies ever and defs doesn't deserve to be on the list - though Adrien Brody's performance was really good.

Ziggi seal of disapproval!