The Piano

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This article is about the film. For the instrument, see Piano. For other uses, s
ee Piano (disambiguation).
The Piano
The-piano-poster.jpg
US theatrical release poster
Directed by Jane Campion
Produced by Jan Chapman
Written by Jane Campion
Narrated by Holly Hunter
Starring Holly Hunter
Harvey Keitel
Sam Neill
Anna Paquin
Music by Michael Nyman
Cinematography Stuart Dryburgh
Editing by Veronika Jenet
Studio Jan Chapman Productions
CiBy 2000
Distributed by Bac Films (France) Miramax Films (US) Entertainment Film Distrib
utors (UK)
Release dates
15 May 1993 (Cannes)
19 May 1993 (France)
5 August 1993 (Australia)
Running time 117 minutes
Country New Zealand
Australia
France
Language English
Maori
British Sign Language
Budget $7 million[1]
Box office $40,157,856[2]
The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand romantic drama film about a mute pianist and her
daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater
on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Camp
ion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin, in her f
irst acting role. It features a score for the piano by Michael Nyman which becam
e a best-selling soundtrack album. Hunter played her own piano pieces for the fi
lm, and also served as sign language teacher for Paquin, earning three screen cr
edits. The film is an international co-production by Australian producer Jan Cha
pman with the French company Ciby 2000.
The Piano was a success both critically and commercially, grossing $40.2 million
, against its $7 million budget. Hunter and Paquin both received high praise for
their respective roles as Ada McGrath and Flora McGrath. In March 1994, The Pia
no won 3 Academy Awards out of 8 total nominations: Best Actress for Hunter, Bes
t Supporting Actress for Paquin, and Best Original Screenplay for Campion. Paqui
n, who at the time was 11 years old, is the second youngest Oscar winner ever in
a competitive category, after Tatum O'Neal, who also won Supporting Actress in
1974 for Paper Moon, at 10.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
5 Accolades
6 Soundtrack
7 Home media
8 References
9 External links
Plot[edit]
The Piano tells the story of a mute Scotswoman, Ada McGrath, whose father sells
her into marriage to a New Zealand frontiersman, Alisdair Stewart. She is shippe
d off along with her young daughter Flora. The voice that the audience hears in
the opening narration is "not her speaking voice, but her mind's voice". Ada has
not spoken a word since she was six years old and no one, including herself, kn
ows why. She expresses herself through her piano playing and through sign langua
ge for which her daughter has served as the interpreter. Flora later dramaticall
y tells two women in New Zealand that her mother has not spoken since the death
of her husband who died as a result of being struck by lightning. Ada cares litt
le for the mundane world, occupying herself for hours every day with the piano.
It is never made explicitly clear why she ceased to speak. Flora, it is later le
arned, is the product of a relationship with a teacher with whom Ada believed sh
e could communicate through her mind, but who "became frightened and stopped lis
tening," and thus left her.
Ada, her daughter Flora, and their belongings, including a piano, are deposited
on a New Zealand beach by a ship's crew. As there is no one there to meet them,
they spend the night alone on the beach amongst their crated belongings. The fol
lowing day, the husband who has bought her, Alisdair, arrives with a Maori crew
and his white friend Baines. Baines is a fellow forester and retired sailor, who
has adopted many of the Maori customs, including tattooing his face and sociali
zing with the Maori. There are insufficient men to carry everything and Alisdair
abandons the piano on the beach, eliciting strong objections from Ada.
Alisdair proves to be a shy and diffident man, who is jokingly called "old dry b
alls" by his Maori neighbors. He tells Ada that there is no room in his small ho
use for the piano. Ada, in turn, remains cold to him and continues to try to be
reunited with her piano. Unable to communicate with Alisdair, she goes with Flor
a, to Baines with a note asking to be taken to the piano. He explains he cannot
read. When Flora translates her mothers wishes, he initially refuses, but the th
ree ultimately spend the day on the beach with Ada playing music. While he socia
lly aligns himself with the Maori, Baines has not taken a woman for himself. He
is taken by the transformation in Ada when she plays her piano. Baines soon sugg
ests that Alisdair trade the instrument to him for some land. Alisdair consents,
and agrees to his further request lessons from Ada oblivious to his attraction to
her. When Ada hears that her prized possession has been traded away without so
much as a word about it, she is enraged. She explains that she does not want a m
an with filthy hands and no ability to read touching her piano. Alisdair shouts
the finality of his decision and demands that she fulfill the contract of provid
ing lessons. On the day she arrives at his hut, she attempts to make an excuse t
hat she can't play on the piano because it is out of tune. She is stunned to fin
d that Baines has had the piano put into perfect tune. She begins by asking him
to play anything he knows, he asks to simply listen rather than learn to play hi
mself. It becomes clear that he procured the piano not for his own interest in m
usic, but because he enjoys what it does for her when she plays. He proposes, at
one lesson that they make a bargain so that she can earn her piano back. He sug
gests that in exchange for one piano key per "lesson", he might observe her and
do "things he likes" while she plays. She is not anxious to accept the deal, but
cannot refuse the notion of getting her piano back. She agrees, but negotiates
for a number of "lessons" equal to the number of black keys only. While Ada and
her husband Alisdair have had no sexual, nor even mildly affectionate, interacti
on, the lessons with Baines become a slow seduction for her affection. Baines re
quests gradually increased intimacy in exchange for greater numbers of keys. But
she does so grudgingly and does not give herself to him the way he desires. Rea
lizing that she only does what she has to in order to regain the piano, and that
she has no romantic attachment to him for himself, Baines in despair simply ret
urns the piano to Ada. He feels that their arrangement "is making you a whore, a
nd me a lecher", and that what he really wants is for her to actually care for h
im, which he doesn't believe she can do.
Despite Ada having the piano back, she ultimately finds herself missing Baines w
atching her as she plays. She returns to him one afternoon, where they submit to
their desire for one another. Alisdair, having begun to suspect something going
on between them, hears them making love as he walks by Baines' house, and then
watches them through a crack in the wall. Outraged, he follows her the next day
and confronts her in the forest, where he attempts to force himself on her, desp
ite her intense resistance. He then boards up his home with Ada inside so she wo
n't be able to visit Baines while Alisdair is working on his timberland. After t
his, Ada realizes she must show affection with Alisdair if she is ever to be rel
eased from her home prison, though her caresses only serve to frustrate him more
because when he tries to touch her, she pulls away. Eventually resolving to tru
st her, he removes the barriers from the house, and exacts a promise from Ada th
at she won't see Baines.
Soon after, Ada sends her daughter with a package for Baines, containing a singl
e piano key with an inscribed love declaration and the side reading "Dear George
you have my heart Ada McGrath". Flora does not want to deliver the package and
brings the piano key instead to Alisdair. After reading the love note burnt onto
the piano key, Alisdair furiously returns home with an axe and cuts off Ada's i
ndex finger, while Flora watches on in horror. He then sends Flora to Baines wit
h the severed finger wrapped in cloth, with the message that if Baines ever atte
mpts to see Ada again, he will chop off more fingers.
Later that night, while touching Ada in her sleep, Alisdair hears what he believ
es to be Ada's voice inside of his head, asking him to let Baines take her away.
Deeply shaken, he goes to Baines' house and asks if she has ever spoken words t
o him. Baines assures him she has not. Ultimately, he decides to send Ada and Fl
ora away with Baines and dissolve their marriage once Ada has recovered from her
injuries. They depart from the same beach on which she first landed in New Zeal
and. While being rowed to the ship with her baggage and the piano tied onto a Ma
ori longboat, Ada insists that Baines throw the piano overboard. As it sinks, sh
e deliberately tangles her foot in the rope trailing after it. She is pulled ove
rboard but, deep underwater, changes her mind and kicks free and is pulled to sa
fety.
In an epilogue, Ada describes her new life with Baines and Flora in Nelson, wher
e she has started to give piano lessons in their new home, and her severed finge
r has been replaced with a silver finger made by Baines. Ada says that she imagi
nes her piano in its grave in the sea, and herself suspended above it, which "lu
lls me to sleep." Ada has also started to take speech lessons in order to learn
how to speak again. The film closes with the Thomas Hood quotation, from his poe
m "Silence," which also opened the film: "There is a silence where hath been no
sound. There is a silence where no sound may be in the cold grave under the deep
deep sea."
Cast[edit]
Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath
Harvey Keitel as George Baines
Sam Neill as Alistair Stewart
Anna Paquin as Flora McGrath
Kerry Walker as Aunt Morag
Genevieve Lemon as Nessie
Tungia Baker as Hira
Ian Mune as Reverend
Peter Dennett as Head seaman
Cliff Curtis as Mana
George Boyle as Ada's father
Production[edit]
Casting the role of Ada was a difficult process. Sigourney Weaver was Campion's
first choice, but she turned down the role because she was taking a break from f
ilm at the time. Jennifer Jason Leigh was also considered but she couldn't meet
with Campion to read the script because she was committed to shooting the film R
ush.[3] Isabelle Huppert met with Jane Campion and had vintage period-style phot
ographs taken of her as Ada, and later said she regretted not fighting for the r
ole as Hunter did.[4]
The casting for Flora occurred after Hunter had been selected for the part. They
did a series of open auditions for girls age 9 to 13, focusing on girls who wer
e small enough to be believable as Ada's daughter (as Holly Hunter is a rather s
hort actress at 5' 2"[5]). Anna Paquin ended up winning the role of Flora over 5
,000 other girls.[6]
Alidtair Fox has argued that The Piano was significantly influenced by Jane Mand
er's The Story of a New Zealand River.[7] Robert Macklin, an associate editor wi
th The Canberra Times newspaper, has also written about the similarities.[8]
The film also serves as a retelling of the fairytale "Bluebeard",[9][10] which i
s hinted at further in the inclusion of "Bluebeard" as a piece of the Christmas
pageant.
In July 2013, Campion revealed that she originally intended for the main charact
er to drown in the sea after going overboard after her piano.[11]
Production on the film started in April 1992, filming began on 11 May 1992 and l
asted until July of 1992, and production officially ended on 22 December 1992.[1
2]
Reception[edit]
Reviews for the film were overwhelmingly positive. Roger Ebert wrote: "The Piano
is as peculiar and haunting as any film I've seen" and "It is one of those rare
movies that is not just about a story, or some characters, but about a whole un
iverse of feeling." Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called it "[An] evocative,
powerful, extraordinarily beautiful film." On the film site Rotten Tomatoes, Th
e Piano earned a 90% "Certified Fresh" rating.[13] On Metacritic, it holds a sco
re of 89 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim".[14]
At the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, the film shared the Palme d'Or Best Film Award
with Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine, and Holly Hunter was awarded the Best
Actress Award.[15] In 1994, the film won 3 Academy Awards; Best Actress (Holly H
unter), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin) and Best Original Screenplay (Jane
Campion). Anna Paquin was the second youngest person after Tatum O'Neal to win
an Academy Award. Holly Hunter is notable for being one of three actresses along
with Marlee Matlin (for her American sign language performance in Children of a
Lesser God) and Jane Wyman (for her deaf-mute role in Johnny Belinda) - to rece
ive an Academy Award for Best Actress in the post-silent era for a non-speaking
role (her voice is only heard off-screen in a few scenes). The film made its US
premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival.
Accolades[edit]
Won
Academy Awards:
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Holly Hunter)
Best Original Screenplay (Jane Campion)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anna Paquin)
Cannes Film Festival
Golden Palm[15]
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)[15]
Csar Awards
Best Foreign Film
Australian Film Institute:
Best Actor (Harvey Keitel)
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Cinematography (Stuart Dryburgh)
Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson)
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Editing (Veronika Jenet)
Best Film
Best Original Music Score (Michael Nyman)
Best Production Design
Best Screenplay Original (Jane Campion)
Best Sound
BAFTA Awards:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson)
Best Production Design (Andrew McAlpine)
Boston Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Chicago Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Score (Michael Nyman)
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Golden Globe Awards:
Best Actress Drama (Holly Hunter)
Guldbagge Awards:
Best Foreign Film[16]
Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Foreign Film, Australia/New Zealand
London Film Critics:
Actress of the Year (Holly Hunter)
Film of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Cinematography
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin)
National Board of Review:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
National Society of Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
New York Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
Southeastern Film Critics:
Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Picture
Writers Guild of America (WGA):
Best Screenplay Original (Jane Campion)
Nominations
Academy Awards:
Best Cinematography (Stuart Dryburgh)
Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson)
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Editing (Veronika Jenet)
Best Picture (Jan Chapman)
American Cinema Editors:
Best Edited Feature Film (Veronika Jenet)
American Society of Cinematographers:
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (Stuart Dryburg
h)
Australian Film Institute:
Best Supporting Actor (Sam Neill)
Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Walker)
BAFTA Awards:
Best Cinematography
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Editing
Best Film
Best Score (Michael Nyman)
Best Screenplay Original (Jane Campion)
Best Sound
Directors Guild of America (DGA):
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Golden Globe Awards:
Best Director (Jane Campion)
Best Original Score (Michael Nyman)
Best Picture Drama
Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin)
Soundtrack[edit]
For more details, see The Piano (soundtrack).
"The Piano"
MENU0:00
Extract from the score of the 1993 film "The Piano"
Problems playing this file? See media help.
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". This album is rated in the top 100
soundtrack albums of all time and Nyman's work is regarded as a key voice in the
film, which has a mute lead character (Entertainment Weekly, 12 October 2001, p
. 44).
Home media[edit]
The film was released on DVD in 1997 by LIVE Entertainment and on Blu-ray on 31
January 2012 by Lionsgate, but already released in 2010 in Australia.[17]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Box Office Information for The Piano. The Wrap. Retrieved 4 April 2013
Jump up ^ Box Office Information for The Piano. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 4 Apr
il 2013
Jump up ^ "A Pinewood Dialogue With Jennifer Jason Leigh" (PDF). Museum of the M
oving Image. 23 November 1994.
Jump up ^ "Isabelle Huppert: La Vie Pour Jouer Career/Trivia".[dead link]
Jump up ^ Denise Worrell (21 December 1987). "Show Business: Holly Hunter Takes
Hollywood". time.com. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
Jump up ^ Andrew Fish (Summer 2010). "It's in Her Blood: From Child Prodigy to S
upernatural Heroine, Anna Paquin Has Us Under Her Spell". Venice Magazine. Retri
eved 22 July 2010.[dead link]
Jump up ^ Alidtair Fox. "Puritanism and the Erotics of Transgression: the New Ze
aland Influence on Jane Campion's Thematic Imaginary". Retrieved 7 October 2007.
Jump up ^ lingua franca, Vol. 10, No. 6, September 2000
Jump up ^ Heidi Ann Heiner. "Modern Interpretations of Bluebeard". Retrieved 12
April 2010.
Jump up ^ Scott C. Smith. "Look at The Piano". Retrieved 12 April 2010.[dead lin
k]
Jump up ^ Child, Ben. "Jane Campion wanted a bleaker ending for The Piano." The
Guardian. 8 July 2013. Retrieved on 9 July 2013.
Jump up ^ The Piano (1993) Box office / business
Jump up ^ "The Piano". Retrieved 31 July 2008.
Jump up ^ The Piano Reviews Metacritic
^ Jump up to: a b c "Festival de Cannes: The Piano". festival-cannes.com. Retrie
ved 22 August 2009.
Jump up ^ "The Piano (1993)". Swedish Film Institute. 23 March 2014.
Jump up ^ Piano [Blu-ray] (1993)
Ellen Cheshire Jane Campion, Great Britain: Pocket Essentials, 2000.
Cynthia Kaufman "Colonialism, Purity, and Resistance in The Piano", Socialist Re
view 24 (1995): 25155.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Piano
http://www.miramax.com/movie/the-piano
The Piano at the Internet Movie Database
The Piano at the TCM Movie Database
The Piano at Box Office Mojo
The Piano at Rotten Tomatoes
The Piano at Metacritic
Roger Ebert's review
The Piano screenplay
Awards
Preceded by
Moonstruck Academy Award winner for
Best Actress and
Best Supporting Actress
Succeeded by
Shakespeare in Love
[show] v t e
AACTA Award for Best Film (1990-2009)
[show] v t e
AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score (19801999)
[show] v t e
Films directed by Jane Campion
[show] v t e
Palme d'Or winning films
Categories: 1993 films1990s drama filmsNew Zealand filmsAustralian filmsAustrali
an drama filmsFrench filmsFrench drama filmsEnglish-language filmsMaori-language
filmsBritish Sign Language filmsFilms directed by Jane CampionBest Foreign Lang
uage Film Csar Award winnersFeminist filmsFilms featuring a Best Actress Academy
Award winning performanceFilms featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winni
ng performanceFilms featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winning pe
rformanceFilms set in New ZealandFilms set in the 1850sFilms set in the British
EmpireFilms about pianos and pianistsFilms shot in New ZealandFilms whose writer
won the Best Original Screenplay Academy AwardIndependent filmsIndependent Spir
it Award for Best Foreign Film winnersPalme d'Or winnersRomantic period filmsCib
y 2000 films
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