The Piano

From Freepedia

The Piano is a 1993 Australasian film about a mute woman 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 an impressive score for the piano by Michael Nyman. Hunter played her own piano pieces for the film, and also served as teacher for Paquin, earning herself three different screen credits.

Contents 1 Story 2 Awards 3 Interpretations 4 Trivia 5 External Links

Story

The Piano tells the story of a Scottish woman whose father sells her in marriage, by mail, to a New Zealand frontiersman, and is shipped off with her young out-of-wedlock pre-adolescent daughter to live with him. She has not spoken a word since she was six years old, apparently without cause, and her daughter serves as translator for her sign language communications. She has mastered the piano, and obsessively plays it.

Her new husband does not appreciate this fixation, however, and abandons the piano on the beach where she, her daughter and their belongings have been unceremoniously deposited by the ship which has transported them from Scotland. Furious with him, she enters into an affair with his best friend who, attracted to her, has rescued the piano to his own cabin to lure her into his company.

Awards

The film won the 1993 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1994, the film won Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Holly Hunter), 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 the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture.

Critical reaction was generally supportive as well.

Interpretations

Although some regard The Piano as a feminist film, others claim it is misogynistic, if not entirely misanthropic: the protagonist could be interpreted as a narcissist whose refusal since the age of 6 to speak makes her dependent on others for her care, while she amuses herself with her piano playing. She has no misgivings about infidelity when her husband proves to be less than ideal, believes that she mentally forced her daughter's father into having sex with her , and kisses herself in the mirror . Meanwhile, her husband is a sexually shy, cold boor who is more interested in his logging operations than his new wife and child and her paramour, who has partly "gone native," is an instant cuckolder of his best friend. The husband's pompous cousin and niece are portrayed by two obese actresses.

Trivia

The former President of the U. S., Bill Clinton is rumoured to have said, after viewing and obviously enjoying the film, "What was that all about?".

External Links

• The Piano at the Internet Movie Database