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The Piano Details

1993 Certificate 15
  • 70
  • from 8679 members

Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-willed young daughter Flora (.. Read more

Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Genevieve Lemon
Director Jane Campion
Genres Drama

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The Piano

Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-willed young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) find themselves in the New Zealand wilderness, with Ada the imported bride of dullard land-grabber Stewart (Sam Neill). Ada immediately takes a dislike to Stewart when he refuses to carry her beloved piano home with them. But Stewart makes a deal with his overseer George Baines (Harvey Keitel) to take the piano off his hands. Attracted to Ada, Baines agrees to return the piano in exchange for a series of piano lessons that become a series of increasingly charged sexual encounters. As pent-up emotions of rage and desire swirl around all three characters, the savage wilderness begins to consume the tiny European enclave. Campion imbues her tale with an over-ripe tactility and a murky, poetic undertow that betray the characters' confined yet overpowering emotions: Ada's buried sensuality, Baines' hidden tenderness, and Stewart's suppressed anger and violence. The story unfolds like a Greek tragedy of the Outback, complete with a Greek chorus of Maori tribesmen and a blithely uncaring natural environment that envelops the characters like an additional player. Campion directs with discreet detachment, observing one character through the glances and squints of another as they peer through wooden slats, airy curtains, and the spaces between a character's fingers. She makes the film immediate and urgent by implicating the audience in characters' gazes. And she guides Hunter to a revelatory performance of silent film majesty. Relying on expressive glances and using body language to convey her soulful depths, Hunter became a modern Lillian Gish and won an Oscar for her performance, as did Paquin and Campion for her screenplay. Campion achieved something rare in contemporary cinema: a poetry of expression told in the form of an off-center melodrama.~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Genevieve Lemon
Director Jane Campion
Studio ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO
Run time DVD: 2 hrs
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Released Production year: 1993

To Rent:
DVD: 30 Aug 1999

  • Critic's review of The Piano

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    • "...A severely beautiful, mysterious movie that, as if by magic, liberates the romantic imagination....[The] principal performances are extraordinary..."

    • 7190

  • Most helpful member's review of The Piano

    View all members' reviews (82)

    • Rated - 5.0 stars  

      • 30
      • 1

      The Passion of the Piano

      The first thing that has to be mentioned about this film is the wonderful, dramatic music that stays in your head for days afterwards - It was playing in both ... read more »

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    • 429632

  • Most recent members' reviews of The Piano

    View all members' reviews (82)

    • Rated - 1.0 star  

      • 0
      • 2

      utterly unwatchable

      One of the worst films I have ever seen. The story is odd, with many unanswered questions, and the acting hammy. It simple has nothing going for it.

      Report this review

    • 1059165

    • Rated - 2.0 stars  

      • 0
      • 1

      Epic yawn

      Breathtaking cinematography but unfortunately painfully slow. I got it also for the music, however that turned out nothing special. Imaginary story with very ... read more »

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    • 1036833
  • View all members' reviews (82)

  • News and features

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    New Zealand

    Hunter reuniting with Campion for TV drama

    • WENN Newsdesk
    • 04 Nov 2011

    Oscar winner Holly Hunter is reuniting with her The Piano director Jane Campion to star in TV drama Top Of The Lake. The star won a Best Actress Academy Award for her turn in the 1993 film, and now Hunter and Campion are to work together again on a six-part BBC TV series. The actress is to star opposite Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss, who will play a detective hunting for a pregnant 12-year-old girl in the show. Campion, who is filming the series in New Zealand from February (12), says, "I am in... Read more

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Rating breakdown

8,679 Member ratings
  • 100
1,138
  • 90
886
  • 80
1,885
  • 70
1,664
  • 60
1,291
  • 50
669
  • 40
458
  • 30
277
  • 20
285
  • 10
126

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    • The Piano

    • The Piano
      Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-...

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