The Piano

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The Piano
original film poster
Directed by	Jane Campion
Produced by	Jan Chapman
Written by	Jane Campion
Starring	Holly Hunter Harvey Keitel Anna Paquin Sam Neill
Music by	Michael Nyman
Distributed by	Miramax
Release date(s)	19 May 1993, August 5, 1993, 12 November 1993
Running time	121 mins.
Country	New Zealand Australia France
Language	English, Māori, British Sign Language
Budget	$7 million (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Piano is a 1993 film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier New Zealand backwater. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill and Anna Paquin. It features a score for the piano by Michael Nyman that became a bestselling soundtrack album. Hunter played her own piano pieces for the film, and also served as teacher for Paquin, earning herself three different screen credits. The film was an international co-production between companies from New Zealand, Australia and France.

[edit] Synopsis

The Piano tells the story of Scotswoman Ada McGrath (Hunter), who is sold into marriage by her father to frontiersman Alistair Stewart (Neill). She is shipped off with her young daughter Flora (Paquin) to live with Stewart as his wife in his native New Zealand. She has not spoken a word since she was six years old, expressing herself instead through sign language (for which her daughter serves as the interpreter) and through her piano playing.

Her new husband does not appreciate her fixation with music, however, and abandons the piano on the beach where Ada, her daughter, and their belongings have been unceremoniously deposited by the ship that ferried them from Scotland. When the instrument is sold to their neighbour George Baines (Keitel) in exchange for land, Ada is asked to give him piano lessons. Baines offers Ada the return of her piano in exchange for escalating sexual demands. She gradually develops affection for Baines and the pair pursues an affair.

When her husband discovers the affair, he initially tries to lock her into their house; then tries to trust her. Ada sends her daughter to deliver a package to Baines, containing a piano key with an inscribed love declaration. Her daughter Flora disapproves of the affair, instead informing Alistair who punishes Ada wife by chopping off one of her fingers and threatening further mutilation if she continues the affair with Baines.

Finally, Ada and Alistair divorce, and Ada moves away together with Baines. She attempts to drown herself during the boat journey to their new home by ordering the piano to be thrown overboard and placing her foot in the loops of rope so that she is pulled into the sea with it. However, as she sinks through the water, she chooses to live instead, untangles herself, and swims to the surface, leaving the piano on the ocean floor. In an epilogue she describes how she is living with Baines, and has chosen to speak. She adds that she is still regarded as the town freak - "which satisfies".

[edit] Awards

The film won the 1993 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm, shared with Kaige Chen's Farewell My Concubine) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1994, the film won Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Holly Hunter), as well as Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anna Paquin) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Anna Paquin was the second youngest person to win an Academy Award. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture.

Critical reaction was overwhelmingly supportive. Roger Ebert called it "one of the most enchanting love stories ever made." In an Entertainment Weekly sample of critics at the time of release, The Piano scored a unanimous 'A' rating; a feat that only a handful of other films have been able to manage.

One of the few dissenters was feminist critic bell hooks who condemned it as racist in her book Outlaw Culture.

[edit] Interpretations

Some regard The Piano as a feminist film about a woman trying to maintain control over her own life in an age when women were considered the property of their husbands.^{[citation needed]} Others see this interpretation to be compromised by the heroine's capitulation to, and apparent enjoyment of, Baines's sexual blackmail.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Soundtrack

The score for the film was written by Michael Nyman, and included the acclaimed piece 'The Heart Asks Pleasure First', additional pieces were 'Big My Secret', 'The Mood That Passes Through You, 'Silver Fingered Fling', 'Deep Sleep Playing' and 'The Attraction Of The Peddling Ankle'. The sheet music has sold many hundred thousands of copies.

[edit] References

• Cheshire, Ellen. Jane Campion. Great Britain: Pocket Essentials, 2000.
• Kaufman, Cynthia. "Colonialism, Purity, and Resistance in The Piano." Socialist Review 24 (1995): 251-55.

[edit] External links

• The Piano at the Internet Movie Database
• Roger Ebert's review