The Piano

Jane Campion’s fourth feature is a visually sumptuous and tactile tale of adultery set during the early European colonisation of New Zealand, with Harvey Keitel daringly cast in the role of a passionately romantic lover and Holly Hunter as a woman physically unable to articulate her feelings. Ada McGrath (Hunter) can hear and communicates in sign language through her young daughter, Fiona (Anna Paquin), but she can’t talk. Apart from her child, Ada’s most treasured possession is her piano. She marries a man she’s never met, a pioneer settler (Sam Neill) in New Zealand. The marriage starts badly when Neill refuses to transport Ada’s piano to his settlement. Later, he allows George Baines (Keitel), who has ‘gone native’ to have the piano. Baines then offers to return the piano to Ada - if she gives him piano lessons. These lessons become stages in an increasingly erotic courtship. Campion unfolds this striking story boldly with flashes of unexpected humour. The settlement is chilly, muddy and rainswept, a place where civilisation is barely making an impact. Hunter played solo piano and acted as piano coach on this production. Paquin became one of the youngest actors to receive an Academy Award for her performance. Cast also includes Kerry Walker, Genevieve Lemon.