Classic 90s Movie: “The Piano”
May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from John Hörnschemeyer
Movie Title: The Piano
Year: 1993
Writer: Jane Campion
Lead Actors: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neil, Anna Paquin
Director: Jane Campion
IMDB Plot Summary: In the mid-nineteenth century, Ada, a mute widow, leaves her native Scotland for New Zealand, and an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, accompanied by her young daughter, Flora, and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand’s South 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 neighbour, 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, as he uses her body for his pleasure, but slowly their relationship is transformed, resulting in an intense passion with dramatic consequences.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 90s Movies: The Piano is a classic movie in every sense of the term. Qualitatively, it won 3 Academy Awards out of 8 total nominations: Best Actress for Hunter, Best Supporting Actress for Paquin, and Best Original Screenplay for Campion. It also won over thirty other international awards, including the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Commercially, it grossed $40.2 million, against a budget of $7 million. From a screenwriter’s point of view, Campion’s script is a wonderful combination of dramatic poetry and visual tension, resulting in a film that is difficult to forget. The Piano is also a great example of what a character-driven story should be. Nothing is contrived, and everything that passes on the screen stems from a need that emerges from the depths of the tortured psyche of each of the characters.
Roger Ebert wrote: “The Piano is as peculiar and haunting as any film I’ve seen” and “It is one of those rare movies that is not just about a story, or some characters, but about a whole universe of feeling.”
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: There are so many moments to enjoy in this movie, yet, it is impossible to ignore the force of the dramatic climax, and Holly Hunter’s incredible performance, composed of silent expression, in the face of the despairing madness of the axe-wielding Sam Neil.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Two intense moments that punctuate the extremities of Ada and Baines’ passion, revealing the evolution of Baines’ torment.
George Baines: I want to lie together without clothes on.
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George Baines: I have given the piano back to you. I’ve had enough. The arrangement is making you a whore, and me, wretched. I want you to care for me. But you can’t. It’s yours, leave. Go on, go.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Beyond the incredible performances of the main characters, the backdrop of the remarkable landscape and the justness of the Campion’s directing, that immerses us in a very particular time and place, a film that is titled The Piano, concerning a mute central character, is somehow obliged to speak through its music, which, of course, it does… by way of Michael Nyman’s magnificent soundtrack.
Thanks, John! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of 80s Movies. This month we cover 90s movies. So thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies they should watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!
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