The Piano (1993)

Director:

Jane Campion

Writer:

Jane Campion (written by)

Release Date:

12 November 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A mute woman along with her young daughter, and her prized piano, are sent to 1850s New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, and she's soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation.

Plot Keywords:

Stepfather | Female Nudity | Music Score Features Piano | Neighbor | Moving

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 53 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Holly Hunter	...	Ada McGrath
Harvey Keitel	...	George Baines
Sam Neill	...	Alisdair Stewart
Anna Paquin	...	Flora McGrath
Kerry Walker	...	Aunt Morag
Geneviève Lemon	...	Nessie (as Genevieve Lemon)
Tungia Baker	...	Hira
Ian Mune	...	Reverend
Peter Dennett	...	Head Seaman
Te Whatanui Skipwith	...	Chief Nihe
Pete Smith	...	Hone
Bruce Allpress	...	Blind Piano Tuner
Cliff Curtis	...	Mana
Carla Rupuha	...	Heni - Mission Girl
Mahina Tunui	...	Mere - Mission Girl

Also Known As:

Leçon de piano, La (France)
Pleasure (Australia) (working title)
The Black Keys (Australia) (working title)
The Piano Lesson (Australia) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated R for moments of extremely graphic sexuality.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Australia | New Zealand | France

Language:

English | British Sign Language | Maori

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:L | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Malaysia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

Holly Hunter played most of the piano sequences herself.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the boat leaves the island, Ada trails her hand in the water, which is still and calm. On long shots, it is foaming from the action of the oars, and the boat on the water.

Quotes:

Ada: At night! I think of my piano in its ocean grave, and sometimes of myself floating above it. Down there everything is so still and silent that it lulls me to sleep. It is a weird lullaby and so it is; it is mine.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Coupling: Inferno (#1.4)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise

A movie that remind us why movies are made!

"The Piano" is full of Feeling,Color,Beauty & is one of the most undescribable films i've ever seen I've seen.No special effect,No twisted plot and no to all clichés you are seeing in now days Hollywood movies. First it may seem as a usual slow paced love story, but after 20 minutes you can't move away from screen. I usually don't mention story in my comments unless it's necessary for rivaling the hidden layers of movie and in this aspect piano is one of the best movies ever made. It tells a story of love and fierce pride, and places it on a bleak New Zealand coast where people live rudely in the rain and mud, struggling to maintain the appearance of the European society they've left behind. The opening scene is arrival of mute women named Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) and her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) on a stormy beach. Almost immediately we find out Ada has come here to marry Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), a rich men whom she never met. Ada's voice (in the soundtrack) tells us that she hasn't spoken since she was 6 years old. Ada communicates with the world through her piano, and through sign language, which is interpreted by her daughter. Stewart and his laborers, local Maori tribesmen, take one look at the piano crate and decide it is too much trouble to carry inland to the house, and so it stays there, on the beach, in the wind and rain. It says something that Stewart cares so little for his new bride that he does not want her to have the piano she has brought all the way from Scotland - even though it is her means of communication. He does not mind quiet women, is one way he puts it. No intimacy grows between Ada and her new husband. One day she goes down to the beach to play the piano, and the music is heard by Baines (Harvey Keitel), a neighbor who has affected Maori tattoos on his face. He is a former whaler who lives alone, and he likes the music of the piano - so much that he trades Stewart land for the piano. Baines asks Stewart to let Ada to teach him piano. As the film goes on, a leading to love affair is settled between them.

The director Jane Campion was one of most acclaimed director at 1993. Movies like "Sweetie" & " An angel at my table" received international acclaim and I should say "The piano" is better than them.

The performances are as original as the characters. Hunter's Ada is pale, grim and hatchet-faced at first, although she is capable of warming. After watching the movie, you might think that the role was had been written for her. Probably this was the best performance by an actress in 90's that led her to an Oscar .Harvey Keitel is good and deserved an Oscar nomination. He has unexpected turns at movie. Neill's taciturn husband conceals a universe of fear and sadness behind his clouded eyes. And the performance by Paquin as Flora is one of most extraordinary child performances in movie history. She has most lines in film. Her anger of her own works and lie she tells without stopping is superb.In one magical scene,Anna paquin's character tell's his mother ada "Mama,Watch me" in the shore and starts to dance with the film's superb music.It's really unordinary for a childactor to play this scene with such a skill.

Stuart Dry burgh's cinematography is not simply suited to the story, but the beautiful scenes he shots of jungles, buildings, beach and mountains will make the sad atmosphere of movie quietly feelable. The gem of movie is its really great music. You can close your eyes and listen to it and imagine what's going on.

It is one of those rare movies that is not just about a story, or some characters, but about a whole universe of feeling - of how people can be shut off from each other, lonely and afraid, about how help can come from unexpected sources, and about how you'll never know if you never ask. I wish it didn't come in same year of Schindler's list.

Made my top 102 at:18