Harvey Keitel Movie:

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Editorial Review:
Jane Campion's The Piano struck a deep chord (if you'll excuse the expression) with audiences in 1993, who were mesmerized by the film's rich, dreamlike imagery. It is the story of a Scottish woman named Ada (Holly Hunter), who has been mute since age 6 because she simply chose not to speak. Ada travels with her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano to a remote spot on the coast of New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a farmer (Sam Neill). She gives piano lessons to a gruff neighbor (Harvey Keitel) who has Maori tattoos on his face, and, well, things develop from there. The picture takes on a powerful dream logic that simply defies synopsis. It's a breathtakingly beautiful and original achievement from Campion, a unique stylist. The Piano won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscars for Hunt, Paquin, and Campion's screenplay. --Jim Emerson

The Piano [Region 2] Reviews:
The Piano
2009-05-31 - An excellent story - Holly Hunter does a superior job at her part. I've always liked Sam Neill's work, and Harvey Keitel fits his part so well. Anna Paquin as the little girl connects with the plot in a special way. And a great surprise end!

I am quite the town freak which satisfies
2009-05-17 - The Piano won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making Jane Campion the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. She also captured an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1993 Oscars, while also being nominated for Best Director. Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin both won Oscars as well, and it was also nominated for Best Picture, Costumes, Editing, and Cinematography.

Fast forward to 2009, and Jane Campion is once again at Cannes, this time for Bright Star, which tells of the romance between the 19th century romantic poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Campion's still the only woman to have ever won the Cannes Palme d'Or, and she's one of only 3 women directors who have films in competition at Cannes this year out of 20 (Andrea Arnold and Isabel Coixet are the others).

"The studio system is an old boy's system, and it's difficult for them to trust women to be capable," said Jane. "So good luck to my female friends in the competition. They represent half the population [who] gave birth to the whole world."

With such strongly voiced feminist views it's not surprising that The Piano was a feminist manifesto. Forced into an arranged marriage, Ada (Holly Hunter) is sent to live in New Zealand where she's treated like some kind of commodity--a servant or even a slave. A mail order bride, her husband (Sam Neill) had hoped that being mute she would do as she was told without any back talk. Upon finally seeing her, he is disappointed by how small she is, and also totally indifferent to her desire to play her beloved piano. Under the circumstances, her eventual adultery and supposed neglect of her husband and family is excusable--in fact, her refusal to accept the role forced on her is exemplary. At least that is the point that writer/director Campion espouses.

Following a thread about it on IMDB the audience seemed to fragment, with some saying they didn't like Ada McGrath or approve of her, and they certainly didn't care for her adulterous affair with George Baines (Harvey Keitel). There was even sympathy for her husband, Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), up to a point.

Others sided with Ada, I among them. I think that Campion made her case, and gave the characters enough complexity and ambiguity that they came to life as people rather than cardboard cutouts in a feminist propaganda play.

Sometimes, though, it seemed they were more in danger of becoming symbols. Especially Ada and her piano. The piano was meant to symbolize Ada's feelings and emotions. The fact that she was mute meant that the piano was her only creative outlet. An extended metaphor, if you will. She spoke with her hands, signing to her daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin); or pounding out her emotions on the piano. Hands, fingers, touching, sensual caresses--a recurring motif throughout.

Then, the piano became a bargaining chip, as it was traded for land with little regard for her feelings, to George Baines. Baines was a plantation worker, illiterate, who wore the facial tattoos of the Maori, and also spoke their language. He has "gone native." Though he is a bit rough around the edges, he is more sensitive to Ada's feelings then her husband. He sees that the piano is the key to her heart, so he has it tuned and signs up for piano lessons, a thin pretext to try and seduce her. He proposes a bargain, that he will return her piano to her when she has earned it, one black key at a time, in return for certain favors and indulgences.

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George Baines: I want to lie together without clothes on.
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This of course leads to trouble when Flora mentions something to Alisdair. Though mother and daughter share a strong bond, Flora often acting as translator for her mother's sign language, she doesn't understand what is going on between Baines and Ada. Being a very precocious child she thinks she does.

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Flora: I know why Mr. Baines can't play the piano. She never gives him a turn. She just plays whatever she pleases and sometimes she doesn't play at all.
Stewart: And when is the next lesson?
Flora: Tomorrow.
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I don't want to spoil the ending, but you can see that we are headed for a showdown.

Though the director had a not very well hidden agenda, and was a bit heavy handed with the symbolism, it succeeds as art due to the excellent performances by Hunter and Pacquin, who both won Oscars; and Keitel and Neill. Holly Hunter even played most of the piano parts herself, and Pacquin was nothing short of amazing. She is the second youngest person ever to win an Oscar, and she totally deserved it. Her character was very complex and nuanced, yet she never missed a beat. Upon meeting some women she gives this little speech by way of introduction:

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Flora: One day when my mother and father were singing together in the forest, a great storm blew up out of nowhere. But so passionate was their singing that they did not notice, nor did they stop as the rain began to fall, and when their voices rose for the final bars of the duet a great bolt of lighting came out of the sky and struck my father so that he lit up like a torch. And at the same moment my father was struck dead my mother was struck dumb! She never spoke another word.
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This would explain a lot. Except that it is all lies. We know from the voice over narration that Ada had not spoken a word since she was six years old, and hence was not an opera singer. Flora is a child of uncommon sophistication, yet still she inhabits the land of make believe. Pacquin, being 11, had little trouble acting like a child, but her uncommon sophistication was quite rare and very uncommon indeed.

The Piano reminded me a lot of another feminist manifesto written around the same time that The Piano was set, in the 1850's. In 1899, Kate Chopin's second novel, The Awakening, was published, and was criticized based on moral as well as literary standards. Her best-known work, it is the story of a woman trapped in the confines of an oppressive society. Out of print for several decades, it is now widely available and critically acclaimed for the quality of the writing and its importance as a seminal feminist work (is that an oxymoron?).

The Awakening begins with the Pontellier family vacationing at the summer resort of Grand Isle. Edna, the protagonist, is the wife of a successful businessman, Léonce. Since Léonce is constantly occupied with his work, Edna begins to rely on others in Grand Isle for company. She meets Robert Lebrun, who is the son of the woman who manages the cottages on Grand Isle, and begins to fall passionately in love with him. However, Robert can't handle their forbidden love so he runs off to Mexico. Next she has an affair with Alcée Arobin, a man with a reputation as the biggest flirt in town. She feels guilty for cheating--on Robert--not her husband. Tiring of her affair, she next moves out and completely rejects her role as wife and mother, neglecting her children even.

What I find interesting is that both the novel, The Awakening, and The Piano were met with the same kind of criticism. No matter how oppressive and unfulfilling a marriage is, there are always those who will condemn a woman who rejects it. Yet, The Piano won three Oscars, and was nominated for five others. After a hundred years or so, at least some progress has been made.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHIES:

HOLLY HUNTER

Thirteen (2003) .... Melanie Freeland
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) .... Penny
Crash (1996) .... Helen Remington (not that Crash, the one with James Spader that was directed by David Cronenberg)

HARVEY KEITEL

Bad Lieutenant (1992) .... The Lieutenant
Thelma & Louise (1991) .... Hal
Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (1976) .... Sport

ANNA PAQUIN

The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (2005) .... Lili
Almost Famous (2000) .... Polexia Aphrodisia
Hurlyburly (New Line Platinum Series) (1998) .... Donna

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

The Awakening (1899) .... by Kate Chopin

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Ada: George has fashioned me a metal finger tip, I am quite the town freak which satisfies!
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The Piano
2009-03-26 - Great performances by all actors involved, and a dark, beautiful tale of forbidden love, raw passion, jealousy, wanting, contrasting cultures and personalities. The story is tender and sweet one moment, a psychological thriller the next; a sensual, humorous, curious, fabulous film with spectacular cinematography.

Not for everyone, but good (and who knew HK could be so hawt?!)
2009-02-02 - It's rare that I give a movie 5 stars, but if there were ever a film to deserve one, it's this one. This film was up against What's Love Got to Do With It and won. Being a woman of color, I say it was deserved. From the moment that Ada and her daughter stepped on the beach, I realized that this Piano wasn't just an object, but an extension of the main protagonist. It was her voice and her way of speaking. Her husbands' unwillingness to try to understand her need for this piano only helped to broaden the wall between them. And on that same beach, this ruffian, Baines, was able to experience Ada in a way that her husband wouldn't allow. THAT was his advantage over Stewart. He was able to feel her music and understood that she was inextricably linked to the piano. How else could he coerse her into making that "bargain"? Why else would she agree to such a thing (and please, let's think beyond the "she's a hussy" thing). Though her husband cut her off from her "voice", it was Baines who reunited her with it...but at a price.

I love the fact that no matter what Baines did, he was never able to control Ada' response to him. Sure, he controlled what she needed most, but she was well aware that she controlled what he needed in return and used it to her advantage (See the recital scene. Served him right. You GO, Ada!). So in the end he caught on, he did the right thing and gave her back her piano...He let her go. And when he did that, SHE then decided what she needed, not by forced submission or coercion, but of her own free will (which can't be suppressed anyway).

I disagree about some people's assertion that Harvey Keitel being "miscast" in this role. Many don't find him attractive or classically handsome, so the fact that Ada falls for this very rough looking man instead of her handsome husband seems to speak volumes to beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I thought Keitel was extremely masculine and sexy in this movie (and no, not because of the frontal nudity). There was nothing soft or pretty about him. It was all rough and tumble, rugged male sensuality and I loved it. Again, many will dislike this film because of its moral ambiguity or "preposterous" nature. I think that a more clean version will appeal to those of a...Puritanical moral sensibility. I find it refreshing that this movie presented the characters as not being all good or all bad. They are just people, and that is what I relate to.

Snoozefest!
2009-01-24 - I heard all these great things about this movie so I rented it. I was bored till about a few minutes from the end, thats where all the action is. This Drama is not a winning one in my book. Pass on it.