Never seen Polanski’s highly-acclaimed WWII pic before. It is not what I expected. It is not a story of fighting the Nazis or a tale about resistance. It’s a story about survival told from the perspective of Wladyslaw Szpilman played by Adrian Brody. He was a Jewish pianist in Poland when the Nazis gradually started their harassments, then oppression, then extermination of the Jewish population. We see these atrocities through his eyes and experiences as he is simply trying to survive. I really admired how this is at once a small story of one man when it comes to focus yet also manages to illustrate what a horrific and evil time that was for Europe and the world. The acting is excellent, the pacing and direction perfect. It is a classic and deservedly so.