In 1993, “The Piano” shared the Golden Palm at Cannes. It alone deserved the award. Few love stories have been written and made with such an intense passion for beauty.
Set in Victorian times, the film revolves around Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a young mute European woman arranged to marry Stewart (Sam Neill), a bachelor and land owner in New Zealand. Ada and her child, Flora (Anna Paquin), arrive at the New Zealand shore to meet and live with her soon-to-be husband.
“The voice you hear is not my speaking voice but my mind’s voice. I have not spoken since I was six years old. No one knows why — not even me,” she narrates.
She wears a pad and pencil around her neck so she may communicate with others when her daughter is absent, for her daughter translates her sign language.
As Stewart and his men unload Ada’s luggage onto the beach, his men decide Ada’s piano is far too heavy to carry up the steep trails to Stewart’s house. Stewart leaves the piano exposed to harsh wind and rain on the beach. Thus begins the wretched relationship between Ada and Stewart, for the piano is her most important implement of expression and communication.
Ada and her daughter move into Stewart’s home. Ada’s disdain for her new home and husband are obvious. Stewart sells Ada’s piano to George Baines (Harvey Keitel), a neighbor who offers him land in exchange. Baines asks Ada for lessons, but Baines does not want to learn how to play. He knows Ada will do anything to get her piano back, so he offers to trade the piano for her physical companionship. There are 88 keys on the piano, and he’ll give her one key to take off her overcoat, five keys to peek beneath her skirt, and ten keys to “lie with her naked.”
In some ways reminiscent of Scorsese’s “Age of Innocence,” the film explores the desire cloaked in timidity so prevalent in Victorian society. In Ada, writer-director Jane Champion creates a female antagonist who is less a victim and more a woman who takes a chance. By the end of the movie the viewer realizes Ada’s mind was not changed through the movie, but a drape suffocating her was vanished, leaving behind what should remain.
“The Piano” not only explores intriguing themes wonderfully, but pleases the senses while doing it. It is a feast for the eye and ear. The soundtrack consists of dreamlike piano pieces composed for the film which match the gray-toned visuals and the wet, green forests of New Zealand perfectly.
The film bursts with great performances. Academy Award recipient Hunter is perfect as Ada. For some actresses the quality of a mute character would be difficult to pull off well, but Hunter fits Ada’s character like a glove. Paquin also received an Academy Award; her portrayal of Flora is one of the finest performances ever recorded by a child actor. Flora is a malevolent little creature clever enough to conjure incredibly believable lies, and Paquin plays her up with gusto.
Jane Champion made a piece of surreal art with “The Piano.” Her movie is about people who take chances out of necessity, get away with them and leave satisfied. As her heroine is speechless in the beginning, the audience is speechless at the end. It is a movie that stays within a viewer, nestled in a shell of power, beauty and grace.