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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

The Pianist

Adrien Brody in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist.

Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2024
209 W Houston St, New York, NY 10014, United States

“Unblinking,” is one of the accolades often used to describe Roman Polanski’s 2002 movie about the Holocaust, The Pianist. The hero, played by Adrien Brody, fights a heartbreaking, humiliating, and miraculous battle to survive the Nazi occupation, all of it shown in unsparing detail, without Hollywood sentimentality. The Pianist was based on the autobiography of Władysław Szpilman, a Jewish concert pianist, who survived the Nazi occupation by hiding alone in the ruins of Warsaw. The film won seven Academy Awards in 2003, including best director. Polanski, who fled Hollywood in 1977 to escape prosecution for a statutory rape charge, came under fire during the #metoo movement for other accusations made by French actresses. At 90, the Polish-born director remains a pariah in the United States. The Pianist, now newly restored, is nonetheless a masterpiece that is ideally suited to a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise. —Alessandra Stanley

Photo: Rialto Pictures / Studiocanal