The Pianist

"Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece."

2002 2h 30m EN

🙌

8.4

BANGER

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.5

IMDB

★8.4TMDB · 10,512🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●85Metacritic★8.5IMDB · 1,010,154

DramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

“Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.”

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Cast

Adrien Brody
Władysław 'Władek' Szpilman
Thomas Kretschmann
Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
Frank Finlay
Father
Maureen Lipman
Mother
Emilia Fox
Dorota
Ed Stoppard
Henryk Szpilman
Julia Rayner
Regina Szpilman
Jessica Kate Meyer
Halina Szpilman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Ronald Harwood
Languages: English, German, Polish, Russian
Countries: France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 150 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Polish, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roman Polanski, shot by Paweł Edelman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Wojciech Kilar. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hervé de Luze shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roman Polanski directs. Paweł Edelman behind the camera. Wojciech Kilar scores. Hervé de Luze cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, German, Polish, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 150 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
3Released 24 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Polish, Russian.
5International production across 4 countries: France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom.
6Directed by Roman Polanski, shot by Paweł Edelman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Wojciech Kilar. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Hervé de Luze shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Adrien Brody and Thomas Kretschmann and Frank Finlay carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.".
11IMDB entry: tt0253474 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1210,512 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 24 themes, including "concert", "nazi", "resistance", "warsaw ghetto".
14Released under 15 different titles around the world.