10 Emotionally Gutting Films That Wrecked Their Audiences

Few events in history were as sadistic as the Holocaust and many a filmmaker has worked to portray it in as realistic a light as possible. Many would argue that Schindler's List is the most effective portrayal of the horrors committed, but one can't discount Roman Polanski's The Pianist.

Released in 2002, the film marked the breakout performance of Adrian Brody, who played the Polish survivor Władysław Szpilman. The titular protagonist witnessed the merciless destruction of Warsaw during World War Two and the cruel treatment of the Jewish population there. With the help of his fellow man around the city and even a sympathetic Wehrmacht officer at one point, he hides away to wait out the conflict.

One man's tale of survival in the Holocaust subjected viewers to its worst atrocities, all of which are conveyed with a harsh, unrelenting authenticity. There are too many disturbing moments to count throughout its 150-minute runtime: Szpilman wandering alone through the empty Warsaw Ghetto after losing his family; being forced into slave labour; playing dead to avoid the German soldiers. It's frankly a miracle that he lived to tell his story and The Pianist goes to great lengths to demonstrate the loss and devastation that transpired throughout Poland at the time.