WITH three Oscars, the Palme D'or and a brace of Baftas to its credit, we are promised a Roman Polanski epic "masterpiece".

The director's characteristic obsession with detail results in a very good film, even a worthy one, about the Holocaust. But it is not a great one.

Based on the memoirs of concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, it is a harrowing tale of survival against all the odds in the Warsaw ghetto.

The story is also told through the eyes of Polanski himself as he too survived the Nazi occupation of Poland.

But this leads to a problem in that the horrifying events behind the story are only seen from a distance.

The fear and claustrophobia in the ghetto never really comes across. With nearly every German behaving to stereotype, the violence is short, sharp and brutal but does not conjure up the feelings of horror achieved by Shindler's List.

Adrien Brody gives a studied performance in the main role but seems detached from the action. Even when his family is herded onto a cattle truck for transportation to the death camp at Treblinka, he seems nothing more than bewildered.

He does give a great physical performance in the third act though as there is no dialogue.

Extras include a 40-minute documentary on the historical background, interviews with the leading players and a CD featuring Chopin's music used in the soundtrack.

PGW