Review of The Piano (1993) by Lucas P — 11 May 2013

The Piano is the sort of film that does a great job evoking emotions and conveying its message through imagery and expressionism. The story centers around a women in an arranged marriage who, partly as a product of her obsession with her piano, has an affair with another man.

The story is a unique one, and certainly a strange departure from the conventions of current dramatic film making, being a confined story, and with no overt melodrama. It has mature themes, looking at obsession, love, and isolationism (among others). As the story is confined and devoid of a lot of 'action' (in the traditional sense), the film relies completely in the talents of the actors. In this case, the cast is fantastic all around, with Holly Hunter undoubtedly giving one of the best performances of her career, playing a mute woman. As she has no speaking parts (save a small voice over) the entire film hinges on her expression and ability to convey emotions silently. To that aim, she was phenomenal, achieving a level of depth and intensity without speaking that was uncanny. She is also bolstered well by strong supporting performances from both Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel.

The film is also shot very well, with beautiful cinematography. The main issue, however, lies in the pace of the film. The Piano is one of those films that either has your attention from the start and never lets go, or comes across as tedious, and ultimately never does much to beat those expectations. For me, I found the film to often be slow. I did not have enough vested in Hunter's character to be truly engaged in until later in the film, and simply felt the material was too sparse and devoid of action or conflict to translate well to film. To be sure, The Piano has a very unique sensibility, which might work well for some, but for most, I fear it risks coming across as boring. Still, a smart film with a lot of merit.

3/5 Stars.