Pianist [Blu-ray]

There are alot of WWII themed films but this one is on a whole different level. It's not about tactics or battlefields. It's not about maximum carnage and body counts. It's not even about heroism and achieving final victory. No, this is one man's true story of surviving one of the most horrific periods in world history.This is the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody, a Jewish man livng in Poland who also happens to be an extraordinary pianist. When the Germans invade, his neighborhood, his city, his piano playing job , and his family are all turned utterly upsidedown. He and his family are forced to move, sell everything, and endure the hardships of a sadistic and heartless Nazi occupation. His whole life of prosperity and promise quickly deteriorates into a daily horror as he witnesses his friends and neighbors abused and murdered. Soon after, his family is penniless, bodies lay in the street, and the jewish people are constantly relocated until the day comes when they'll all be boarded a train to a horrible fate at a concentration camp. Szpilman escapes that fate but finds himself alone among the ruins of his once peaceful neighborhood. He takes shelter in the abandoned and burned out buildings, trying evade German troops and hold out as long as he can.The actors are wonderfully played and cast but Adrian Brody gives what I believe is his best performance ever. Many times, conveying his thoughts and emotions without a single word. He gives life and passion to his character. This is also Roman Polanski's finest hour as the sets, scenery, and overall look of the film are exquisite. He gives the viewer the eyes of the characters, as it becomes you that's looking to see if the coast is clear while peeking through windows and cracks between buildings. Every scene is set perfectly as the early part of the film is bright, colorful and clean. But as the events darken, so does the enviornment. The city takes on a slow decay until it lay in total ruin. It becomes dirty and war torn. Everything looks authentic and period like. The peoples clothes, cars and furniture, the soldiers uniforms, vehiles and weapons are all spot on. An excellent production all around.The video on the HD DVD disc is spotlessly clean, clear and vivd. It doesn't have the bright colors to give you that three dimensional pop, but it's detailed enough to remind you, your watching an HD DVD disc. I upgraded from my standard disc to this one and noticed the difference almost immediately. The standard disc is good but this one is clearly better overall. A superb transfer.The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus. I only listened to the TrueHD as it has a higher bitrate and is always the clear winner of the two. While I'm generally happy with the performance, it seemed a little too front loaded. There were'nt many times where the surrounds grabbed my attention with atmosphere or background movement. There are some big bangs, explosions and gunfire to pick things up a bit but the film is pretty quiet for alot of the time too, which doesn't really take advantage of the surrounds. I don't fault the disc though, as it's just the sound design. Still though, everything comes across clearly and distinguishable. The loud and soft moments are perfectly balanced to where you won't have to adjust the volume at all. The piano pieces are beautiful and sound wonderful too.This is a wonderful film. It's clearly WWII but different than most every other WWII film out there. The Pianist gives us another insight to the atrocities against the Jewish people but the film never forces excessive gore to create shock value. Theres almost no bad language to brace for either. There's maybe a handful at most through the entire film. For me, that's important and makes it much easier to watch. The violence isn't throughout, but what's there can be pretty unsettling. But it has to be there for this type of film, or it's just not accurate at all. We don't want to sugar coat this and besides, it's a true story. If your interested in true stories and WWII period films, it's an easy recommend. If your considering upgrading, it's even easier.

THE PIANIST is the movie that made Adrien Brody the youngest-ever Best Actor Oscar winner, but it was hardly the first movie about the Holocaust. Where it differs from movies like SCHINDLER'S LIST is in its particular focus: not so much "the Holocaust" as the Warsaw ghetto and one man, young Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Brody), successfully eluding the Nazis thanks to the kindness of an unwilling Nazi, Captain Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann), and then establishing himself as a successful concert artist. THE PIANIST is based upon Szpilman's memoirs of the same name.As Szpilman's family is sent off to a death camp a third of the way through THE PIANIST and never appears again, it would be tempting to call the film "Adrien Brody's show all the way." But in fact the film's first distinction lies in its painstaking period detail: everything looks right out of 1940's Continental Europe, from the costumes, to the narrow side-streets, to the house interiors -- to the truly spectacular set depicting a bombed-out Warsaw just before its liberation by the Russians. Yet nothing is romanticized: the filth of the ghetto is just as credible as is the exterior of a genteel cafe that excludes Jews. The actors playing the Szpilmans were all cleverly chosen to form a believable-looking family, with Brody and Jessica Kate Meyer as his sister Halina resembling their mother (Maureen Lipman) and the other siblings, Regina and Henryk (Julia Rayner and Ed Stoppard), resembling their father (Frank Finlay). A last, gratifying detail is the fact that Brody plays most of his piano solos (the majority of them by the great Polish composer Chopin) himself. In a film about a pianist, it would have lessened the impact had the solos been entrusted to a double. (I believe the only time a double -- Polish pianist Janusz Olejinezak -- is used is for an intricate passage during the film's closing credits. All you see, however, are his hands.)Against this superb backdrop it is, in fact, Brody's performance that carries the film. Director Roman Polanski could hardly have found an actor with more strikingly dark looks, or one who wore the period costumes better -- or one who could be so riveting while actually saying very little. As a character who spends so much of his time quiet and alone, Brody's expressive face, with its famously prominent nose and big, sad green eyes, is exactly what was needed. Take, for instance, the moment in the film when Szpilman noisily drops some crockery in an apartment where he is hiding. In the seconds following the accident, a range of emotions -- from shock and dismay to acceptance and even mild amusement -- flit subtly across Brody's features. Watch the way he struggles to dissemble as the deportation train leaves the ghetto with his family aboard, or the way he looks both exhausted and cold to the point of numbness as he sinks into a waiting chair in a safe house. Whatever the emotion or mood, Brody finds the proper expression, vocal or (most often) physical, for it.Several touching moments (most of them from Brody) aside, THE PIANIST lacks the sentiment (not to be confused with sentimentality) of some other Holocaust dramatizations. In place of warmth, it generally offers a terse look at events of the period, emphasizing the randomness and senselessness of them. This probably should not be called a drawback; but two drawbacks I believe the movie does have are that a few of its "bit" actors are hammy and that its final "running from the Nazis" sequence (which ends with Szpilman meeting Hosenfeld) goes on a bit too long, exciting as it is (I invariably jump at several moments). These drawbacks are not serious, of course, and should not deter you from checking out this great movie. You will be on the edge of your seat as I was, I promise you that!

Pretty much the truth. Good action and good script...

Good evening, I love this movie. The price was not too expensive for this film. This production is a drama, it takes place during the second war. It's sad and touching. The shipping time was perfect. The shipping fees were fine. The item was as described. I am really happy with my purchase. I highly recommend this seller, he is excellent. My note is A+++++

J'ai visionné ce BluRay à mon entière satisfaction

Buen producto una película expectacular de coleccionista. Buen precio. Envio rápido. RECOMENDABLE.

Es una película muy buena, la calidad en general es muy básica pero al costo que está esta muy bien, un plus es que es multiregion, es 1 y 4

ポランスキー監督といえばナスターシャ・キンスキーの『テス』が一番と思っていたのですが、この作品も傑作で代表作になるはずだと思います。エイドリアン・ブロディはこの作品で初めて知ったのですが、主人公になりきった演技が注目ポイントだと思います。決して怒りをぶつけることなく悲しげな目の表情・・・生き延びようとする意志。(家族が皆殺され、自分だけが生き残ったという寂しさとともに罪悪感はあったのかもしれませんが・・・)彼を匿い助けようとする2人の女性とその家族、仲間たち。(彼らの運命はどうなったのか分かりませんが、危険を顧みず助けようとする善意の人たちです。)逆に裏切られた思いもあり、味方だと思った人たちも一枚岩ではなかったのですが・・・ドイツ人将校に見つかったときは死を覚悟しますが・・・匿ってもらった部屋でエアーピアノを行っていたせいか、さすがピアニストという演奏ぶり！ドイツ人将校が主人公の命を救った理由ははっきりしませんが、ドイツ人もユダヤ人皆殺しに疑問を持つ人たちがいるということです。家族、仲間を殺され生き残ったユダヤ人たちの思いはドイツ人に対する怒りが湧き上がるのですが、ドイツ人の中にも自分は命を助けたのだという人たちは存在すると思います。主人公のピアノのコンサートシーンは多分自分、家族、仲間達、ユダヤ人、ドイツ人に対する思いがいっぱい詰まったものになったと思います。ポランスキー監督もホロコーストの経験者ということで現実味があり、思い入れのある作品だと思います。2時間越えの作品ですが、退屈せず感動できる作品なのでぜひみたほうがいいと思います。