The Piano [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

The Piano [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

 Cast: Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
, Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
, Sam Neill
Sam Neill
, Kerry Walker
Kerry Walker
The Piano [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

The Piano [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

 Cast: Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
, Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
, Sam Neill
Sam Neill
, Kerry Walker
Kerry Walker

Blu-ray

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Overview

Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-willed young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) find themselves in the New Zealand wilderness, with Ada the imported bride of dullard land-grabber Stewart (Sam Neill). Ada immediately takes a dislike to Stewart when he refuses to carry her beloved piano home with them. But Stewart makes a deal with his overseer George Baines (Harvey Keitel) to take the piano off his hands. Attracted to Ada, Baines agrees to return the piano in exchange for a series of piano lessons that become a series of increasingly charged sexual encounters. As pent-up emotions of rage and desire swirl around all three characters, the savage wilderness begins to consume the tiny European enclave. Campion imbues her tale with an over-ripe tactility and a murky, poetic undertow that betray the characters' confined yet overpowering emotions: Ada's buried sensuality, Baines' hidden tenderness, and Stewart's suppressed anger and violence. The story unfolds like a Greek tragedy of the Outback, complete with a Greek chorus of Maori tribesmen and a blithely uncaring natural environment that envelops the characters like an additional player. Campion directs with discreet detachment, observing one character through the glances and squints of another as they peer through wooden slats, airy curtains, and the spaces between a character's fingers. She makes the film immediate and urgent by implicating the audience in characters' gazes. And she guides Hunter to a revelatory performance of silent film majesty. Relying on expressive glances and using body language to convey her soulful depths, Hunter became a modern Lillian Gish and won an Oscar for her performance, as did Paquin and Campion for her screenplay. Campion achieved something rare in contemporary cinema: a poetry of expression told in the form of an off-center melodrama.

Product Details

Release Date: 01/25/2022
UPC: 0715515267717
Original Release: 1993
Source: Criterion Collection
Language: English
Time: 2:01:00
Sales rank: 2,897

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Holly Hunter Ada
Harvey Keitel George Baines
Anna Paquin Flora
Sam Neill Stewart
Kerry Walker Tante Morag
Tungia Baker Hira
Ian Mune Reverend
Peter Dennett Head Seaman
Te Whatanui Skipwith Chief Nihe
Pete Smith Hone
Bruce Allpress Blind Piano Tuner
Cliff Curtis Mana
Mahina Tunui Meni (Mission Girl)
Hori Ahipene Muturu
Geneviève Lemon Nessie,Actor
Kirsten Batley Marama
Carla Rupuha Heni
Gordon Hatfield Te Kori
Mere Boynton Chief Nihe's Daughter
Tania Burney Mahina
Annie Edwards Te Tiwha
Harina Haare Roimata
Christina Harimate Parearau
Steve Kanuta Amohia
P.J. Karauria Taua
Sonny Kirikiri Tame
Alain Makiha Kahutia
Greg Mayor Tipi
Neil Gudsell Tahu
Guy Moana Kohuru
Alison Barrett Actor
Susie Figgis Actor
Diana Rowan Actor
Eru Potaka-Dewes Pitama
Greg Johnson Seaman
Jon Brazier Wedding Photographer
Karen Colston Bluebeard's Wife
Julian Lee Cloud Carrier Boy
George Boyle Flora's Grandfather
Stephen Hall Seaman
Michael Nyman Composer

Technical Credits
Jane Campion Director,Screenwriter
Jan Chapman Producer
Alison Barrett Casting
Alain Depardieu Executive Producer,Producer
Susie Figgis Casting
Gethin Creagh Sound Mixer,Sound Effects
Lee Smith Sound/Sound Designer
Diana Rowan Casting
Roger Cowland Special Effects
Steve Burgess Sound Effects
Jeanine Chiavlo Sound Effects
Robert Deschaine Sound Effects
Simon Hewitt Sound Effects
Jason Docherty Special Effects
Robert Bruce Stunts
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