PIANIST THE (Roman Polanski)

In September 1939, Polish-Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman plays live on the radio in Warsaw when the station is besieged during Nazi Germany's bombing of Warsaw. Szpilman and his family prepare to leave the city when they learn that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. Relieved at the news, Szpilman stays in Warsaw with his family but with Poland's invasion, Warsaw falls under Nazi occupation. Jews are persecuted by the new government, stripped of privileges and forced to wear blue Star of David armbands. Szpilman and his family sell their belongings, including his piano, to survive.

The Szpilmans are forced to abandon their home in late 1940 into the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto where disease and starvation are rampant. Szpilman performs in a café frequented by upper-class Jews, who smuggle in forbidden goods to live comfortably. Szpilman witnesses a young boy savagely beaten by a guard and left for dead while attempting to escape the ghetto. The boy dies despite Szpilman's attempt to save him. Szpilman and his family also witness the SS murder an entire family while raiding a nearby apartment, in which a wheelchair-using man is thrown off the building.

Starring
Adrien Brody
Thomas Kretschmann
Frank Finlay
Maureen Lipman
Emilia Fox
Ed Stoppard
Julia Rayner
Jessica Kate Meyer