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The Piano (1993)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
6/14
6/14:
Jane Wyman did it first.
Up next were Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. Then, it was Marlee Matlin's turn. And not to miss out the excitement, Holly
Hunter and Anna Paquin became the latest to grab the headlines. They're Oscar winners who used sign language in film,
and, of course, Louise Fletcher doesn't count.
Only Jane Wyman, Anne Bancroft, and Patty Duke are deserving winners, but I can't say the same for the rest. Honestly,
I don't understand the logic of an actress who's able to win a truckload of awards by baring her breasts, but Holly Hunter
seems to have pulled off the trick. Kate Winslet nearly did for Titanic. How else am I
going to judge Holly Hunter's performance...her facial expressions? Yeah, right.
I know the signs as shown in the film are completely made up although I've read accounts that sign language wasn't
invented yet which is not true. This brings up another point: exactly where is the setting? Is it Australia or
New Zealand, or is it the wild jungle of some faraway country? Also, this needs to be addressed: is Holly Hunter's character
Irish, English, Scottish, German, or what? She seems to be American for the most part.
By the way, sign language was invented in France, Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and other former British colonies. So,
why make it up when there existed a crude system of sign language? Amazingly enough, no fingerspelling is shown throughout
The Piano. It usually takes up at least 30% of any conversation and may have been higher in 1850. Why? It's
because not every word has a sign and many signs hadn't been invented.
Anyway, enough of that. One reason I'm dropping points is that The Piano was made to be purposely bizarre in order to
shock everybody. Take it away, and what we've got here is a substanceless picture with weakly developed characters.
Harvey Keitel does what he can but looks miscast because it's a unusual performance coming from him.
Perhaps he's the only actor who was willing to bare it all? Yet Harvey Keitel did it already in
Bad Lieutenant the year
before. Oh, oh...remember the moment when Ada wrote a love note on the piano key? But George can't read. On the other
hand, Sam Neill is more miscast than Harvey Keitel; he always has the same look of disbelief.
The plot is rubbish as the focal point of the romantic relationship is predicated on a mute female who's sexually violated
through blackmail and then develops some sort of a syndrome to feel love for her offender. In short, Holly Hunter's character
is confused and needs professional therapy to sort her feelings out. But it's 1850 and nothing I've said had been in vogue yet.
In fact, I'm surprised this happened considering the film was directed by a female because it's what a male director would've done.
All in all, The Piano received so much acclaim in 1993 only because it's a bizarre film.