The Piano

Starring: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Director: Jane Campion
A mute woman, Ada (Holly Hunter) and her spirited daughter, natives of Scotland, find themselves on the shores of 19th Century New Zealand. They wait for Stewart, a colonist and Ada’s husband by arrangement. Among her belongings the piano, Ada’s prized possession and her voice, stands menacingly in front of the sea. Stewart, against her wishes, orders for the encumbering piano to be left behind on the shores as they enter the wilderness.

The natives of the region, the Maori, represent values which strongly oppose the husband’s Victorian sensibilities, especially in matters of sexuality and marriage. Ada and her daughter are suddenly caught between these two world as they seek a place of their own. The piano, which becomes the cause of the estrangement between Stewart and Ada, arouses violent passions within Baines, a rugged, earthy illiterate who has adopted the Maorian ways. He helps Ada retrieve her piano and in exchange takes lessons from her, which become a series of threatening sexual encounters. The strong-willed Baines, overcome with passion, turns gentle and passionate as his love for Ada deepens. The film is an exploration of human character, eroticism and sexuality finding release behind locked doors. It thematically observes the tug-o-war between the individual and an oppressive society, between passion and reason.

The cinematography is brilliant: The blue-grey tones prevalent in most of the scenes provide a depressing, haunting quality contrasted by the use of rich, warm colours during the love scenes. The symbolism in the film is significant: The piano itself is a metaphor – It is Ada’s voice but it also represents a destructive passion that consumes her. The sea with its waves symbolise the turbulent forces of life itself. The sea that brings Ada to the shores of New Zealand ends up engulfing her piano. The music is minimalistic, sensual and a tangible presence in the film, composed by Michael Nyman. Hunter, an able pianist, plays her own pieces.

The Piano is a stimulating experience and a must-watch for those who seek more in cinema