Sunday, August 1, 2021

The Piano (1993)

IMDb plot summary: In the mid-19th century, a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, but is soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation.
Directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin.

While I'll remain vague about how it ends, there is so much about this movie that set off uncomfortable alarm bells for me, especially in the dynamic between the women and the two men she's involved with. It most certainly seems to be telling a specific story of a specific woman's specific unique-to-her circumstances, rather than identifying what makes a relationship good or bad, but I certainly can't root for what the story ultimate wants me to root for, even when it seems that it's what the sympathetic main character (maybe?) wants. It's a compelling story, but a troubling one, and while it tries to wrap it up neatly at the end, I remained troubled by it long after the credits rolled.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Piano < The Misfits
The Piano > Firewall
The Piano > The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
The Piano > Hysteria
The Piano > I'm Not Rappaport
The Piano < Twisted Nerve
The Piano > The Madness of King George
The Piano < The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
The Piano > Chocolat
The Piano > Stage Fright (2014)
The Piano > Jack Strong
The Piano < Unbroken
Final spot: #1772 out of 3407, or 48%.

No comments: