The Piano (1993)

August 1, 2024 1:04 PM

[TRAILER] After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) and her young daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin), are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill). Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines (Harvey Keitel), leading to tense, life-altering conflicts

Also starring Cliff Curtis, Kerry Walker, Ian Mune, Geneviève Lemon, Pete Smith, Bruce Allpress, Rose McIver, Verity George, Stephen Papps, Karen Colston, Eddie Campbell, Te Whatanui Skipwith, Tungia Baker, Neil Gudsell, Jon Sperry, Greg Mayor.

Written and directed by Jane Campion. Produced by Jan Chapman for Jan Chapman Productions/CiBy 2000. Cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh. Edited by Veronika Jenet. Music by Michael Nyman. Distributed by Miramax/Roadshow/BAC.

90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Winner of three Academy Awards: Holly Hunter, Best Actress; Anna Paquin, Best Supporting Actress (second youngest winner!); and Jane Campion, Best Original Screenplay.

Currently available to rent in the US via Apple TV. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (10 comments total)

I finally saw this for the first time and, very late to the game here, but it's great.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:05 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]

[Spoiler] The novelization explains why she became mute ... it was because of her strong will.

Great movie when it came out, I have mixed feelings about it now, including how she is very, very cruel to her (jerk) husband.

Anna Paquin steals the entire show and makes it so much better.
posted by Melismata at 1:44 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]

I had no sympathy at all for Neil's character. He was the worst. Male entitlement personified.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:03 PM on August 1

Probably one of my most favourite movies, but I've not watched it in over 20 years.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:55 PM on August 1

I haven't seen this since it came out, and it still pops up in my head every now and then. I should do a re-watch. I remember hated Sam Neill's characters SO MUCH. I watched it with my friend Jenna, who later recommended it to her parents. Her mom's review was "Holly Hunter was ungrateful," which kinda broke my 19-year-old mind a little. I think I learned more about misogyny from that comment than from the movie.
posted by mrphancy at 7:45 AM on August 2 [7 favorites]

I remember not liking this when I first watched it (in theaters at 14) but I think some of that reaction was that it was a lot and I was probably too young for it. I like it quite a bit now, though, and I'm overdue for a rewatch.

A while back, I asked friends/family what movie(s) they walked out of. A good friend mentioned this one but he didn't offer an explanation as to why. We have fairly compatible tastes in most things (movies, music, books, etc.) so it was a surprise to me.
posted by edencosmic at 2:52 PM on August 3

A Boy once took me to see this on a First Date.

They said they'd already seen it and wanted to see it again with someone special because it's such a "Romantic Film."

There was no second date.
posted by Faintdreams at 4:58 AM on August 5

Anna Paquin steals the entire show and makes it so much better.
Counterpoint: My friend could not stand Anna Paquin and went around for days shrieking, "My motha wants hah PYANOOOOO."
posted by Don Pepino at 7:55 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]

I was in college when this came out and I remember one of my professors saying he liked the movie but didn't understand what the piano had to do with any of it.
posted by archimago at 8:42 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]

The soundtrack is wonderful, I should practice piano more. I loved that the composer wanted to have her playing, not "great piano" pieces, but things that sounded more of the period and were appropriate for her background in Scotland.
I love this film, it's what I would call "Jane Eyre" genre-- a bit of magical realism, cruelty, sensuality. I was thrilled to see a non-binary Maori character portrayed. Later, I dated someone who hated the film, and that among other things was a big flag for me (like above comments, that person thought Ada was cruel to the person she was married off to, and had no right to look elsewhere). For a while there we had Harvey Keitel competing with Ewan MacGregor for who can do more full frontal films, not a bad time to be alive. It's not a tidy film, but it feels very real in terms of taking big leaps into strange lands. I have always been impressed that Sam Neill did this film, wanted to be that character, not exactly a villain, but when you consider the saccharin story line of Jurassic Park, this is worlds away.
posted by winesong at 4:02 PM on August 7 [3 favorites]