The Piano (1993)
Director:
Jane Campion
Actors:
Ada McGrath
George Baines
Alisdair Stewart
Flora McGrath
Aunt Morag
Rating:
(101’921 votes)
(101’921 votes)
Quotes:
[first lines]
« Ada: The voice you hear is not my speaking voice – -but my mind's voice. I have not spoken since I was six years old. No one knows why – -not even me. My father says it is a dark talent, and the day I take it into my head to stop breathing will be my last. Today he married me to a man I have not yet met. Soon my daughter and I shall join him in his own country. My husband writes that my muteness does not bother him – and hark this! He says, "God loves dumb creatures, so why not I?" 'Twere good he had God's patience, for silence affects everyone in the end. The strange thing is, I don't think myself silent. That is because of my piano. I shall miss it on the journey.
»
[last lines]
« Ada: There is a silence where hath been no sound / There is a silence where no sound may be / In the cold grave, under the deep deep sea. -Thomas Hood…
»
« Stewart: [to George Baines] She said, "I have to go, let me go, let Baines take me away, let him try and save me. I am frightened of my will, of what it might do, it is so strange and strong".
»
Trailer:
The Piano
Runtime:121 minutes
Plots:
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 farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada cannot speak and she has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand’s North 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 neighbor, 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 but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.
After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada (Hunter) and her young daughter, Flora (Paquin), are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair (Neill). Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his acquaintance George (Keitel), leading to life-altering conflicts.
Official website:
Official Facebook
