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The Piano (1993)
This is a captivating and powerful film from New Zealander Jane Campion, who had received rave reviews for An Angel at My Table in 1990. Here she has attracted internationally renowned actors Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel to portray out-of-the-ordinary interpersonal relations and human emotions in alien circumstances: settler New Zealand at the turn of the century. Campion's observations are poignant: how the reserved and apathetically civilized Brits are stripped of their sophistication and become absurdities when they find themselves in a society whose norms they do not know. And in contrast, how the natives stand as their sensible, uncivilized counterparts. Campion's implicit satire is based on the contrast between how civilized people are expected to behave and how humans behave instinctively. The lead character, the mute Ada (Holly Hunter), is full of complexities for us to interpret. And her young daughter Flora, played with amazing passion by Anna Paquin, is her complete opposite: uninhibited, expressive, and unshaped by society. Her behaviour stirs up emotions that are taboo in this world. The Piano
breaks free from narrative conventions and presents its uncontrived
characters and relations with confidence. The most conspicuous among the
latter is the erotic relationship between Ada and George
Baines (Harvey Keitel). Their peculiar attraction and lust for each
other is wonderfully explored. This primitive force will always bring
people together, claims Campion. And the same goes for the item in the title,
which represents the only other form of expression that Ada realizes is
not inhibited by morals and etiquette.
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