17 Performances so sad that you won’t be able to hold your tears

Modified Feb 09, 2025 11:34 ET

The Father | Image Source: Sony Pictures Classics

5) Adrien Brody in The Pianist

The Pianist | Image Source: Focus Features

Adrien Brody, in the film The Pianist, does a remarkable job of playing out survival and suffering. Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, undergoes an entire transformation both physically and emotionally. He depicts the horror of the Holocaust with the human aspect of it during the darkest hours. His depiction of Szpilman's isolation, desperation, and finally redemption is heartbreaking. But when Szpilman's humanity is ripped from him by violence and loss, and when the raw vulnerability of Brody is allowed to spill across the screen, one leaves the theater a broken person.