From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Piano
The Piano
The Piano awards: Best Actress for Hunter, Best Supporting Actress
for Paquin, and Best Original Screenplay. Paquin, who at
Directed by Jane Campion the time was 11 years old, became the second youngest
Produced by Jan Chapman ever Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner, after Tatum
O’Neal, who won the award in 1974 for Paper Moon, at 10.
Written by Jane Campion
Narrated by Holly Hunter
Plot
Starring Holly Hunter
Harvey Keitel
The Piano tells the story of a mute Scotswoman, Ada
Anna Paquin McGrath (Holly Hunter), whose father sells her into mar-
Sam Neill riage to a New Zealand frontiersman, Alistair Stewart
(Sam Neill). She is shipped off along with her young
Music by Michael Nyman
daughter Flora McGrath (Anna Paquin). The voice that
Cinematography Stuart Dryburgh the audience hears is not her speaking voice, but her
Editing by Veronika Jenet
mind’s voice. Ada has not spoken a word since she was six
years old, expressing herself instead through her piano
Studio Australian Film Commission playing and through sign language for which her daugh-
Distributed by Ciby 2000 ter has served as the interpreter. Ada cares little for the
mundane world, occupying herself for hours every day
Release date(s) 15 May 1993 (1993-05-15) (Cannes) with the piano. It is never made explicitly clear why she
19 May 1993 (1993-05-19) (France)
5 August 1993 (1993-08-05) (Australia) ceased to speak. Flora, it is later learned, is the product
of a relationship with a teacher whom Ada believed she
Running time 116 minutes could control with her mind, making him love her, but
Country New Zealand who "became frightened and stopped listening," and
Australia thus left her.
France Ada, Flora, and their belongings, including the piano,
Language English are deposited on a New Zealand beach by the ship’s crew
Māori against her angry objections. As there is no one there to
British Sign Language meet them, they spend the night alone, sheltering under
a tiny tent made of a hoop skirt frame. The following day,
Budget $7 million[citation needed]
Alistair arrives with a Māori crew and his friend Baines
Box office $40,157,856 (Harvey Keitel), a fellow forester and a retired sailor, who
has adopted many of the Māori customs, including tat-
The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute tooing his face and socializing with the Māori instead of
pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th centu- his own race (save Alistair). There are insufficient men to
ry in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast carry everything and Alistair abandons the piano, again
of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by eliciting objections from Ada.
Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Alistair proves to be a shy and diffident man, who is
Neill, and Anna Paquin. It features a score for the piano jokingly called "old dry balls" by his Māori cohorts. He
by Michael Nyman which became a bestselling sound- tells Ada that there is no room in his small house for
track album. Hunter played her own piano pieces for the the piano. Ada, in turn, makes no effort to befriend him
film, and also served as sign language teacher for Paquin, and continues to try to be reunited with her piano. Un-
earning three screen credits. The film was an interna- able to communicate with Alistair, she goes, with Flora,
tional co-production by Australian producer Jan Chap- to Baines and asks to be taken to the piano. He agrees,
man with the French company Ciby 2000. and the three spend the day as she plays tunes on the
The Piano was a commercial and critical success, beach. While he socially allies himself with the Māori,
grossing more than $40 million, against its $7 million Baines has steadfastly refused any sexual activity with
budget. Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin received high Māori women. But he clearly finds Ada attractive due to
praise for their role as Ada McGrath and Flora McGrath. her passion for music. Baines eventually retrieves the in-
At the 66th Academy Awards, The Piano won three strument and suggests that Alistair trade it — and lessons
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Piano
from Ada — for some land that Alistair wants. Alistair opened the film: "There is a silence where hath been no
consents, oblivious to the budding attraction between sound. There is a silence where no sound may be in the
Ada and Baines. She is surprised to find that he has had cold grave under the deep deep sea."
the piano put into perfect tune after its rough journey.
He asks to simply listen rather than learn to play himself,
and then offers to let her buy the piano back, one key at a
Cast
time, by letting him do "things he likes" while she plays. • Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath
Ada reluctantly agrees, as she is attracted to Baines. Ada • Harvey Keitel as George Baines
and Alistair have had no sexual, or even mildly affection- • Anna Paquin as Flora McGrath
ate, interaction even though they are by now formally • Sam Neill as Alistair Stewart
married. • Kerry Walker as Aunt Morag
Baines is sexually aroused by Ada’s playing to the • Genevieve Lemon as Nessie
point that he openly approaches her. Finally, she yields • Tungia Baker as Hira
to her own lust one afternoon, and she and Baines have • Ian Mune as Reverend
intercourse. Alistair finally begins to suspect the love af- • Peter Dennett as Head seaman
fair and after discovering them, he angrily boards up his • Cliff Curtis as Mana
home with Ada inside when he goes off to work on his • George Boyle as Ada’s Father / Flora’s Grandfather
timberland. After that interlude, Ada avoids Baines and
feigns affection with Alistair, though her caresses only
serve to frustrate him more because when he makes a
Production
move to touch her in return, she pulls away. Before Alis- Casting the role of Ada was a difficult process. Sigourney
tair departs on his next journey, he asks Ada if she will go Weaver was Campion’s first choice, but she turned down
to see Baines — she shakes her head no — and he tells her the role because she was taking a break from film at the
he trusts that she won’t go to him while he’s gone. time. Jennifer Jason Leigh was also considered but she
Soon after, Ada sends her daughter with a package for couldn’t meet with Campion to read the script because
Baines, containing a single piano key with an inscribed she was committed to shooting the film Rush.[1] Isabelle
love declaration that says "dear George, you will have my Huppert met with Jane Campion and had vintage period-
heart, Ada McGrath". Flora has begun to accept Alistair as style photographs taken of her as Ada, and later said she
her "papa" and is angered by her mother’s infidelity. She regretted not fighting for the role as Hunter did.[2]
brings the piano key instead to Alistair. After reading the The casting for Flora occurred after Hunter had been
love note burnt onto the piano key, Alistair furiously re- selected for the part. They did a series of open auditions
turns home and cuts off Ada’s index finger with an axe to for girls age 9 to 13, focusing on girls who were small
deprive her of the ability to play her piano. He then sends enough to be believable as Ada’s daughter (as Holly
Flora to Baines with the severed finger wrapped in cloth, Hunter is a rather short actress at 5’ 2"[3]).[4]
with the message that if Baines ever attempts to see Ada Alistair Fox has argued that The Piano was significant-
again, he will chop off more fingers. After Ada recovers ly influenced by Jane Mander’s The Story of a New Zealand
from her injury, Alistair sends her and Flora away with River.[5] The movie also serves as a retelling of the fairy-
Baines and dissolves their marriage. They depart from tale Bluebeard,[6][7] which is hinted at further in the in-
the same beach on which she first landed in New Zealand. clusion of Bluebeard as a piece of the Christmas pageant.
While being rowed to the ship with her baggage and the
piano tied onto a Maori longboat, Ada feels that the piano Reception
is ruined as she can no longer play and insists that Baines
throw the piano overboard. As it sinks, she deliberately The film won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm, shared with
puts her foot into the loop of rope trailing overboard. She Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine) and a Best Perfor-
is rapidly pulled deep underwater connected by the rope mance Prize for Holly Hunter at the 1993 Cannes Film
to the piano — but then she changes her mind and kicks Festival.[8] In 1994, the film won Academy Awards for
free to be pulled back into the boat. Best Actress in a Leading Role (Holly Hunter), as well
In an epilogue, she describes her new life with Baines as Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anna Paquin) and
and Flora in Nelson, where she has started to give piano Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
lessons in their new home, and her severed finger has Anna Paquin was the second youngest person after Ta-
been replaced with a silver finger made by Baines. Ada tum O’Neal to win an Academy Award. Holly Hunter is
says that she imagines her piano in its grave in the sea, notable for being one of three actresses — along with
and herself suspended above it, which "lulls me to sleep." Marlee Matlin (for her American sign language perfor-
Ada has also started to take speech lessons in order to mance in Children of a Lesser God) and Jane Wyman (for her
learn how to speak again. The film closes with the deaf-mute role in Johnny Belinda) − to receive an Academy
Thomas Hood quote, from his poem "Silence," which also Award for Best Actress in the post-silent era for a non-
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Piano
speaking role (her voice is only heard off-screen in a few • Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
scenes). The film made its US premier at the Hawaii In- • Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin)
ternational Film Festival. • National Board of Review:
Critical reaction was overwhelmingly supportive. • Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Roger Ebert wrote: "The Piano is as peculiar and haunting • National Society of Film Critics:
as any film I’ve seen" and "It is one of those rare movies • Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
that is not just about a story, or some characters, but • Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
about a whole universe of feeling." Hal Hinson of The • New York Film Critics:
Washington Post called it "[An] evocative, powerful, extra- • Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
ordinarily beautiful film." On the film site Rotten Toma- • Best Director (Jane Campion)
toes The Piano scored 90 out of 100 percent, in a sample of • Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
top critics, it scored 100 percent.[9] • Southeastern Film Critics:
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
Accolades • Best Director (Jane Campion)
• Best Picture
• : • Writers Guild of America (WGA):
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • Best Screenplay — Original (Jane Campion)
• Best Screenplay — Original (Jane Campion) Nominations
• Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin) • :
• • Golden Palm[8] • Best Cinematography (Stuart Dryburgh)
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter)[8] • Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson)
• • Best Foreign Film • Best Director (Jane Campion)
• Australian Film Institute: • Best Editing (Veronika Jenet)
• Best Actor (Harvey Keitel) • Best Picture
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • American Cinema Editors:
• Best Cinematography (Stuart Dryburgh) • Best Edited Feature Film (Veronika Jenet)
• Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson) • American Society of Cinematographers:
• Best Director (Jane Campion) • Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in
• Best Editing (Veronika Jenet) Theatrical Releases (Stuart Dryburgh)
• Best Film • Australian Film Institute:
• Best Original Music Score (Michael Nyman) • Best Supporting Actor (Sam Neill)
• Best Production Design • Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Walker)
• Best Screenplay — Original (Jane Campion) • :
• Best Sound • Best Cinematography
• : • Best Director (Jane Campion)
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • Best Editing
• Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson) • Best Film
• Best Production Design (Andrew McAlpine) • Best Score (Michael Nyman)
• Boston Film Critics: • Best Screenplay — Original (Jane Campion)
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • Best Sound
• Chicago Film Critics: • Directors Guild of America (DGA):
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • Best Director (Jane Campion)
• Best Score (Michael Nyman) • :
• Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics: • Best Director (Jane Campion)
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) • Best Original Score (Michael Nyman)
• : • Best Picture — Drama
• Best Actress — Drama (Holly Hunter) • Best Screenplay (Jane Campion)
• Independent Spirit Awards: • Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin)
• Best Foreign Film, Australia/New Zealand
• London Film Critics:
• Actress of the Year (Holly Hunter)
Soundtrack
• Film of the Year The score for the film was written by Michael Nyman,
• Los Angeles Film Critics: and included the acclaimed piece "The Heart Asks Plea-
• Best Actress (Holly Hunter) sure First"; additional pieces were "Big My Secret", "The
• Best Cinematography Mood That Passes Through You", "Silver Fingered Fling",
• Best Director (Jane Campion) "Deep Sleep Playing" and "The Attraction Of The Ped-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Piano
Awards
Preceded by Academy Award winner for Best Actress Succeeded by
Emma Thompson Jessica Lange
Howards End Blue Sky
Preceded by Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Succeeded by
Marisa Tomei Actress Dianne Wiest
My Cousin Vinny Bullets Over Broadway
dling Ankle". This album is rated in the top 100 sound- • Cynthia Kaufman "Colonialism, Purity, and
track albums of all time and Nyman’s work is regarded as Resistance in The Piano", Socialist Review 24 (1995):
a key voice in the film, which has a mute lead character 251-55.
(Entertainment Weekly, 12 October 2001, p. 44).
External links
References • The Piano at the Internet Movie Database
[1] "A Pinewood Dialogue With Jennifer Jason Leigh" • The Piano at AllRovi
(PDF). Museum of the Moving Image. 23 November • The Piano at Box Office Mojo
1994. http://www.movingimage.us/pinewood/ • The Piano at Rotten Tomatoes
files/pinewood/2/ • The Piano at Metacritic
24866_programs_transcript_pdf_209.pdf. • Roger Ebert’s review
[2] "Isabelle Huppert: La Vie Pour Jouer - Career/ • The Piano screenplay
Trivia". http://mjf.missouristate.edu/faculty/
wang/ih/career/index_trivia1.htm.
[3] Denise Worrell (1987-12-21). "Show Business: Holly
Hunter Takes Hollywood". time.com.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,966298,00.html. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
[4] Andrew Fish (Summer 2010). "It’s In Her Blood:
From Child Prodigy to Supernatural Heroine, Anna
Paquin Has Us Under Her Spell". Venice Magazine.
http://www.venicemag.com/news/index/view/
235. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
[5] Alistair Fox. "Puritanism and the Erotics of
Transgression: the New Zealand Influence on Jane
Campion’s Thematic Imaginary".
http://www.otago.ac.nz/communicationstudies/
campion/participants/fox.html. Retrieved
2007-10-07.
[6] Heidi Ann Heiner. "Modern Interpretations of
Bluebeard". http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/
bluebeard/themes.html. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
[7] Scott C. Smith. "Look at The Piano".
http://blogcritics.org/video/article/a-look-at-the-
piano/. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
[8] ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Piano". festival-
cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
archives/ficheFilm/id/2567/year/1993.html.
Retrieved 2009-08-22.
[9] "100 percent rating among Rottentomatoes.com
top critics". http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/
piano/?critic=creamcrop. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
• Ellen Cheshire Jane Campion, Great Britain: Pocket
Essentials, 2000.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Piano&oldid=461609799"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Piano
Categories:
• 1993 films
• New Zealand films
• Australian films
• French films
• 1990s drama films
• Australian drama films
• French drama films
• English-language films
• Māori-language films
• British Sign Language films
• Films directed by Jane Campion
• Feminist films
• Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance
• Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winning performance
• Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winning performance
• Films set in New Zealand
• Films set in the 1850s
• Films set in the British Empire
• Films shot in New Zealand
• Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award
• Independent films
• Palme d'Or winners
• Romantic period films
• Ciby 2000 films
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