All of them depict the experiences Jews have, this is a different approach already, since out main character, 8 year old Bruno (played amazingly well by Asa Butterfield) is on the other side of the “barricade”. His father (David Thewlis) is a German officer, sent from their luxurious house in Berlin to some forgotten place, near an extermination camp.

His family finds out in few days about this shocking place, this leaving his wife (Vera Farmiga) almost oblivious of anything else. All she is trying now to do is protect her little explorer’s innocence, by hiding the true purpose of the “farm” next to their house.

Bruno is doing his exploring one day, when he gets near the electric fence that separates him from the “farmers”, as he calls them. Here he meets Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a boy who’s the same age as he is.

While his tutor, father and sister keep on telling him how bad the Jews are, Bruno is amazed to find out Shmuel is a nice kid, even if he’s got that weird name and is always hungry.

Bruno keeps his “exploring” secret, while his family is still keeping the entire horror under wraps. If Guido was able to save his kid with turning it all into a game, Bruno’s family, by keeping it all secret, didn’t allow the kid to realize the dangers from the camp, thus endangering his life.

John Boyne’s novel turns into a amazingly well done movie, I really recommend.

Have to admit an Italian movie wasn’t too interesting for me (don’t know why, they do have some amazing creations), but the hype it got at the Oscars and the raving reviews made me reconsider.

Was ready to see yet another shockingly dramatic movie about the Holocaust, the way Schindler’s List was, another movie on this topic I have truly loved back then.

Instead of this, it was almost a comedy. I see many put La Vitta E Bella in the comedy genre, although for me it doesn’t quite go there. Anyway, we follow a Jewish Italian waiter, Guido (Roberto Benigni – also the director), and his family: wife (Nicoletta Braschi) and kid (Giorgio Cantarini) in a Nazi concentration camp, during the World War II.

How can you hide the horrors from your kid? How can you make sure he, if won’t get killed there, won’t be scarred for life?

Simple. You pretend it’s all a game. Those nasty soldiers are part of it, lack of food, misery and suffering just trials so that the best person wins. The prize: a tank. A real one.

Believe it or not, the trick does work and this drama almost turns into a comedy thanks to Benigni amazing performance and directing. It’s a movie about heroism. Not the “I carry a huge machine gun and will kill thousands” type, not the “oh, my muscles are huge, will destroy every living creature”. You don’t see Rambo saving the world. Not even Superman. Instead, a puny man saves his kid’s life and innocence. With witty stories and a lot of “lies”, he makes sure the boy will remember all the atrocities as a long and hard game he can win.

It’s been one of my favourite movies of all times and it’s a testament of the fact you can make a point even if it all seems a big joke. The movie does have some funny aspects, but it’s one of those that really make you think about human values and true bravery.

Every time we see a war movie, we expect soldier bravery stories. At least that’s how we got used to. Our pianist is not brave. He does have moral values (refusing to work for the Jewish Police), but we’re not seeing him sacrifice as the father in “La Vita e Bella” for instance. He is not shooting anyone, he’s not winning battles for his “side”.

He is the NORMAL guy who has to survive. Who’s witnessing all the war horrors and has to find a way to just live another day. His struggle is touching us. We don’t deal with a hero, we don’t deal with a war person or a brave soldier, thirsty for some enemy blood. He is an artists, he is the pianist who gets in the middle of things and, as any normal person, could live well without all this turmoil.

Wars have innocent victims. People who are killed because of their color / religion / beliefs. Citizens who don’t kill anyone, who are taken from their homes and killed or have their families destroyed for some causes they kinda don’t care.

War connects people in this case too. People who are “by default” enemies. We saw this in The Empire of the Sun, we see this here too. In the other movie passion for airplanes befriended 2 kids, here music can make your worst enemy give you a chance.

If you are looking for long musical scenes, you are in for a disappointment. After seeing “The Piano”, I would expect to hear more music being played, since I absolutely love the piano. Still “The Pianist” doesn’t have too much playing (even if it’s of amazing quality). They “save” the scenes for the really important moments in the movie. The action is fast and the plot challenging. In my opinion Roman Polanski proved once again his amazing value.

This is not a movie you can enjoy, as you would a romantic comedy or a nice animation. This is a movie that will make you cry, it will make you ask yourself a lot of questions. It’s a painful movie and yet absolutely amazing.

Would I recommend it? Of course. Do try to get some time and watch it. Make sure you don’t have any distractions and watch it carefully. It’s a masterpiece and it would be a pity to miss it.

Steven Spielberg is known for some pretty successful movies and this one, at least in my opinion, deserved those 6 Oscar nominations. But let’s try and recall some of the “action” and maybe see clearly what made this movie such a great experience for me.

We’re taken back in time to the World War II. Instead of seeing the war in Europe as we might be used to (at least from another Spilberg movie perspective), we travel even further, to Shanghai. Japan invaded China and the war is more real than ever.

A small smart and still “bratty” boy, Jim Graham (Christian Bale) is more interested in planes and his normal child activities than the tragedy hitting their family. While trying to flee the country, his British parents are separated from the kid. He is now alone, in a crazed crowd, learning to survive. Living alone in their rich villa, with no one to care or feed him proves to be a task he’s able to manage pretty well.

But his life will take a stranger turn, when Jim is taken to the Soo Chow confinement camp. He is able to still keep on developing as a teenager, learn and instill optimism and dignity in the people who share his destiny. It’s amazing to see how a kid can get through all these horrors without sacrificing his passion and innocence.

There are lots of lessons to be learnt for him. Treason doesn’t come always from the clear enemies, friendship can come in the most unexpected ways and a common passion can rebuild relationships an entire war tries to destroy.

We meet John Malkovich (one of the actors I love dearly) as a not so honest person .. well, to be fair, I think he is the NORMAL man who has the normal reactions an adult would have in the given situation. He’s not a kid anymore and there are values he no longer believes in.

The movie is JUST BEAUTIFUL. Excellent directic job, at least in my opinion. A very powerful movie, maybe with an easy to foresee end, but still an amazing production. It’s been years since I first watched it and it’s been a favourite of mine for quite some time. If you haven’t seen it yet, please take it as a personal recommendation to try watch it. If you know it, then please tell me if you liked it as much as I did