The Piano

Starring: Holly Hunter, Sam Neill, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Cliff Curtis
Directed by: Jane Campion
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
1993

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A mute woman (Holly Hunter) and her daughter (Anna Paquin) travel to New Zealand as part of an arranged marriage to a landowner (Sam Neill).

Review:

Tim: This movie is creepy, man. I was interested in seeing The Piano, as it won 3 Academy Awards. I wasn't prepared for the sheer creepiness of the story. I tried to like this movie, I tried to get into it. I couldn't. The film certainly has some strengths, but as a whole, I was very underwhelmed. I can't fathom how it was nominated for Best Picture.

While watching this uncomfortable movie, I tried to put myself into the time period and the culture the characters might find themselves. Even with some imaginative mental work, I couldn't get past the weirdness of the story and the characters. You could try and argue that this movie just depicts a different time and what was acceptable then, but it just comes across as uncomfortable.

One of my biggest complaints is that there's no likable characters in the entire film. Sam Neill is a hard, cold man who at one point commits a sexual assault. His actions at the end of the film are deplorable. Harvey Keitel plays a total creep- someone who basically blackmails a woman into quasi-prostitution, even though he knows she's married. Holly Hunter plays a woman who may love her daughter, but treats her curiously, often abandoning her to the woods so she can conduct her "piano" lessons. She seems far more interested in her piano and her affairs than her daughter for much of the film. Finally, we have Anna Paquin, who plays a fairly innocent girl who behaves in some questionable behavior, placing her loyalty where it least belongs. Yes, all the characters here are complex and broken- they're also the least enjoyable bunch of characters I've seen in a long time. That makes the movie hard to like, when you're not invested in anyone.

Now, while the characters we bad, the actors were quite strong. Holly Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance here. I suppose I have a slight problem with this. While her performance is undoubtedly strong, she's mute. So, besides some narration at the beginning and end, she utters not a word. She deserves credit for a compelling performance, but she literally didn't have to say a single word on camera for the entire film. It's hard to judge something like that a great piece of acting. I almost certainly wouldn't have given her the award. Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel both add good performances. While I didn't like their characters, they were both believable on screen. Their performances certainly added to the film. I saved Anna Paquin for last, because she gives the best performance of the film. She was the second youngest actor to ever win an Academy Award, and she absolutely deserved it. She has this unmistakable spark that felt completely and totally natural. It never felt like she was acting, she just inhabited this character. She was a delight every second on screen. Again, I didn't care for her character, but I was wowed by her performance.

The Piano won 3 Academy Awards and was nominated for 5 others. That is impressive. I wouldn't fault anyone for liking this movie. However, I just couldn't get myself to enjoy it. It just felt a bit inaccessible to me. I never cared for the characters and most of their actions were despicable. The movie offers some strong performances, but outside that, there's not a whole lot to enjoy here.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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