The Piano (1993)
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A mute Scottish woman travels to remote New Zealand with her daughter, only to find her identity and safety entangled with a local man and her beloved piano.
The story
In the mid-19th century, Ada McGrath, a Scottish woman with elective mutism, travels to colonial New Zealand with her daughter Flora for an arranged marriage to settler Alisdair Stewart. Ada has not spoken since the age of six and communicates through playing the piano and sign language. While traveling, they are stranded on a beach where they meet Alisdair and a retired sailor named George Baines. When Alisdair refuses to retrieve Ada's piano from the beach, she seeks George's help. This interaction sparks a complex dynamic of musical connection and burgeoning tension as Ada navigates her isolation and the demands of her new life in a remote land.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the mid-19th century, Ada McGrath, a mute Scottish woman, travels to New Zealand with her daughter Flora for an arranged marriage to Alisdair Stewart. After being stranded on a beach, Ada's piano is left behind. When Alisdair refuses to retrieve it, she seeks help from George Baines, a local sailor. George becomes enamored with her music, and a deal is struck where he receives land in exchange for piano lessons. This leads to a clandestine emotional and physical connection between Ada and George. Alisdair, discovering their affair, becomes violent and eventually mutilates Ada's hand to prevent her from playing. After a tense period of coercion, Ada and George eventually flee together. In the aftermath, Ada lives in a new home with George and Flora, practicing speech and playing her piano, while dreaming of the instrument left behind in the ocean.
- Original title
- The Piano Lesson
- First release year
- 1993
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- Australia; France; New Zealand
- Original languages
- English; Māori; British Sign Language
- Directors
- Jane Campion
- Writers
- Jane Campion · writer
- Cast and characters
- Holly Hunter · Ada McGrath; Harvey Keitel · George Baines; Sam Neill · Alisdair Stewart; Anna Paquin · Flora McGrath; Kerry Walker · Aunt Morag; Genevieve Lemon · Nessie
- Genres
- historical romance; drama
- Themes
- communication; isolation; passion; motherhood
- Tone and mood
- haunting; evocative; passionate
- Setting
- Colonial New Zealand in the mid-19th century.
- Premise and plot tags
- mute protagonist; historical romance; musical connection
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Story of a New Zealand River (1920 novel) and Wuthering Heights
- Reception
- The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, was named the most acclaimed film of 1993 by 86 critics, and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 90% · scale: percentage · review count: 73; Metacritic · score: 89 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled The Piano Lesson.; Anna Paquin became the second youngest competitive Academy Award winner.; The score was inspired by the traditional Scottish song 'Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa''.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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