WHEN CROATIAN pianist Maksim Mrvica watches Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning film The Pianist, memories of his childhood come flooding back.
Some scenes in the movie, which is about Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's life during World War II, are similar to scenes from his hometown when it was under siege during the Croatian war.
Maksim, 28, who spent his teenage years in war-torn Croatia during the late 1980s and early 90s, recently finished his first Asia tour. When talking about his experience of war, he says: 'It's so horrible, like the scenes in the movie.'
There were bombings almost every day, houses were destroyed, schools were suspended and people had to hide in basements, Maksim recalls.
'It was a long war which lasted for five years. At one point, we didn't have a music school and normal school for two years.
'During the first bombings, we just hid in the basement and we didn't see any sunshine for eight days. But after a while, we got used to it.'