The story of a man who is not a hero, and whose survival depended on sheer chance and the mercy of the enemies. Only a real survivor of WWII (Polanski & Szpillman) would tell such a story, without binary good/evil, and with such restraint.
One of the several popular unconventional films of 1969, a year when the old American myth faced imminent collapse. Its nihilistic undertone challenged the idyllic narrative of traditional Westerns.