The Piano - Jane Campion
This is a strangely mesmerizing film that looks at a love triangle set in early during New Zealand’s settlement.
In a bold move, Campion decides to have a mute lead. We hear her speak twice in the film – both in internal monologues. These are right at the beginning and right at the end.
This puts a lot of weight on Holy Hunter’s shoulders. She has to show us all the emotions that her character is feeling. She does this incredibly well.
Her communication with the rest of the characters is left to her daughter who can translate her signing.
Her strength is palpable throughout. It raises to a fever pitch the moment they land on the beach in New Zealand and doesn’t let up for one second.
The story follows Ada who is married to Alisdair, Sam Neil’s character, and shipped to New Zealand. Sam makes the fatal flaw of not recognizing the piano’s significance to Ada as he leaves it on the beach after their arrival.
Left to her own devices, Ada enlists Banes, Harvey Keitel, to transport it from the beach. But Baines hatches a plan and trades the piano from Alisdair for a large tract of land.
So the piano ends up at Baines’ house and he begins trading it back to Ada in return for ‘favors’.
Sam eventually catches on to what is happening after Ada’s daughter all but tells him point blank.
But even when he sees them sleeping together he doesn’t do anything to stop them. It is a weird series of scenes where he ends up watching his wife sleeping with his best friend.
Then he bars Ada in his house and there is a back and forth until he moves to free her. She ends up declaring her love for Baines but her daughter betrays her and takes the message to Alisdair instead.
This culminates in one of the most harrowing scenes in any film I’ve watched.
In a fit of rage Alisdair chops Ada’s finger off. It is silent apart from the rain and her daughter weeping as she watches on. Ada doesn’t make a sound. This makes it much much worse than if she had screamed.
The trauma that this would have done to her daughter as she watches the direct result of her actions is incredible to think about.
But Ada gets what she is after and she is released from her marriage and flees with her daughter and Baines away from New Zealand.
So the story is simple but great and well told. Some really strong moments and good performances all round.
The locations stick with you. The scenes of Mauri hauling the crates and the piano up the soaked gorges in the forest are incredible.
And the mud – the mud is almost a character of its own. It is everywhere and the scenes of the ladies fully dressed up crossing it is just something else.
Holly’s performance is truly magical. She brings to life Ada’s pragmatism and stalwart nature from the get-go. When she is dropped with her belongings on a deserted beach and the Captain offers to take her to the town they are heading to so they can meet up with Alisdair later her blunt refusal to return to the filthy boat is hilarious. Just great.
