The Pianist

The Pianist is a biographical war drama film filmed and produced by Roman Polanski in 2002, starring Adrien Brody and written by Ronald Harwood. It is based on the Holocaust memoir The Pianist (1946) by Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, who was a Holocaust survivor. Wladyslaw Szpilman, a pianist for a Polish Jewish radio station, witnesses the steady transformation of Warsaw as World War II begins. Szpilman is forced to the Warsaw Ghetto, but during Operation Reinhard, he is separated from his family. Szpilman hides in different spots among the ruins of Warsaw from this time until the concentration camp captives are liberated.

The film won Best Director (Polanski), Best Adapted Screenplay (Harwood), and Best Actor (Brody) at the 75th Academy Awards, and was nominated for four more, including Best Picture (it would lose out to Chicago). In 2003, it received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction, as well as seven French César Awards. In 2016, it was named one of the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the Twenty-First Century.

Detailed Information:
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman
Release dates: 24 May 2002 (Cannes)/6 September 2002 (Poland)/25 September 2002 (France)
Running time: 150 minutes