The art film The Piano is like no other film I have seen before. The director Jane Campion, known for her feminist approach to films, does a wonderful job of just that. Though the film was produced in 1993, the story takes place in early times, around 1850 and does a good job of defining masculinity and feminism of the earlier times through a unique portrayal of a mute woman who will do anything for love, love for her piano, and love for her unexpected partner.
Campion’s film would definitely be classified as a contemporary film (398) because of the present era it was made in. When Ada and her daughter Flora, arrive to their new home in New Zealand and move in with her husband who her father had arranged marriage with, things almost seemed to be going as planned. I think this particular instance in the movie portray two views of the earlier times male dominance. Not only was Ada sent away by her father to get married, no choice or say in the matter, but as soon as she arrives her new husband Alisdair also displays his “ownership” over his unknown wife. When she and her property arrives, Alisdair immediately makes a deal for some land and in exchange for the land he would trade Ada’s piano away, despite her love for it, and it not belonging to him and all.
When Ada finds out about her piano, despite her reluctant but open-minded approach to her new marriage, she is devastated and if nothing else, has lost her loyalty and any chance of loving Alisdair. Because of the realism (377) in this film it is easy to get lost in its plot, and as soon as you do Campion shocks you with literally a “smack in the face” twist that you never saw coming. Despite her unwillingness, Ada is forced by Alisdair to go teach the man he sold it to, George Baines, how to use the piano. The two could be considered exact opposites in many ways, she is a well dressed seemingly polite woman, and George is a native tribe member of New Zealand with a tattooed face.
Their piano lessons almost immediately turned into what I can only describe as blackmail. You can tell that George does not have very much interest in the piano, or how to play it, but was much more focused on Ada herself. George offered Ada to give her piano back to her if he was able to “do things to her as she played” and at first she was reluctant, but out of desperation for her piano she agrees to give one lesson for each black key on the piano, and during each lesson George could pretty much do what he wanted. The visits got increasingly sexual, and at this point you feel like George is doing something wrong, and despite Ada’s willingness to engage in these acts to get her piano back it just seemed morally wrong.
Eventually, Ada had finished her lessons with George and got her piano back. When she did, she returned to George’s house, and after she slaps him for doing that to her she leaps in his arms because she has fallen in love with him. With the unintentional help from Flora, Alasdair soon finds out of the affair, and prohibits both Flora and Ada from ever seeing George. When she disobeys him, through another portrayal of male dominance he severely punishes her by cutting her finger off, disabling her from playing the piano.
Although I never expected it, Alasdair and George seemed to change personas throughout the film. Because in the end, George was the hero and Alasdair was the bad guy. Luckily for Ada, she managed to get away from Alasdair and sailed off to a happy ending with Flora, George, and her piano. Ada originally insists on her piano coming on board of their small sailboat, despite the captain’s advice to leave it behind. Half way through her trip she seems to have a moment of realization, and because the piano symbolizes everything bad in her past, after the many obstacles she overcame to get it this far, she decides to throw it over board and start her life from scratch.
Works Cited
“The Piano.” Dir. Jane Campion. Perfs. Holly Hunter, Sam Neill, Harvey Keitel. Miramax Films.
1993. (film)
Armond White “The Piano.” Photo. Wordpress.com. Accessed April 26, 2010.
www.armondwhitebook.wordpress.com
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