The Piano (1993)

A mute woman is sent to 1850s New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, but is soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation.

Director:

Jane Campion

Writer:

Jane Campion

Stars:

Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill

Won 3 Oscars. Another 60 wins & 56 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Holly Hunter	...	Ada
Harvey Keitel	...	Baines
Sam Neill	...	Stewart
Anna Paquin	...	Flora
Kerry Walker	...	Aunt Morag
Geneviève Lemon	...	Nessie (as Genevieve Lemon)
Tungia Baker	...	Hira
Ian Mune	...	Reverend
Peter Dennett	...	Head Seaman
Te Whatanui Skipwith	...	Chief Nihe
Pete Smith	...	Hone
Bruce Allpress	...	Blind Piano Tuner
Cliff Curtis	...	Mana
Carla Rupuha	...	Heni (Mission Girl)
Mahina Tunui	...	Mere (Mission Girl)

Storyline

It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada cannot speak and she has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand's North Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbor, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.

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Plot Keywords:

mute | piano | mute woman | triple f rated | f rated | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for moments of extremely graphic sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

New Zealand Australia France

Language:

English British Sign Language Maori

Release Date:

11 February 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Piano

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$40,158,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

CiBy 2000, Jan Chapman Productions, The Australian Film Commission

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby (Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Holly Hunter received three on-screen credits for the film, playing the character of Ada, playing the piano herself, and being a British sign language interpreter for Anna Paquin.

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Goofs

Pianos of the period portrayed in the film were made almost entirely of wood, no metal framing at all, and the piano would therefore float, not sink.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ada: 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. My father says it is a dark talent, and the day I take it into my head to stop breathing will be my last. Today he married me to a man I have not yet met. Soon my daughter and I shall join him in his own country. My husband writes that my muteness does not bother him - and hark this! He says, "God loves dumb creatures, so why not I?" '...

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Connections

Referenced in Not Another Not Another Movie (2011)

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Soundtracks

Delft Waltz
Michael Nyman

User Reviews

Quite vivid

Jane Campion is a director of quiet unease. I was not a big admirer of her "Angel At My Table", which had enormous possibilities but was suffocated under the filmmaker's penchant for what I refer to as 'ugly beauty'. Even the beautiful passages in this film are undermined by either something ghastly, something about to become ghastly, or something borne from ghastliness. A New Zealand woman in the 1800s becomes a mail-order bride for an uninterested working man; she's a self-elected mute and communicates through her wizened little daughter (Oscar-winner Anna Pacquin, a bit over-the-top) and through her passion for playing the piano, which becomes a point of contention in her marriage. Engrossing human drama with a torrid undercurrent of sexuality and violence. Many people I've talked to about this film could not get with it, but perhaps that's the fault of watching movies at home. In the theater, this was a slightly-dazed, rapturous and enveloping brew that held me spellbound until the lights went up. Movies like this don't hold the same spell when butchered up by ads for the CBS comedies. Holly Hunter, Sam Neill and, most especially, Harvey Keitel all do terrific work. Hunter deservedly won a Best Actress Oscar. ***1/2 from ****