Beautiful and Stoic

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2011)

The Piano a 1993 award-winning film was written and directed by Jane Campion and starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill and Anna Paquin. The film tells an intriguing story of a mute woman who, along with her eight-year-old daughter, are shipped by her father to New Zealand to marry a man whom she never met. The story begins with Ada, Flora and Ada's piano landing on a beach having been rowed there to meet her soon-to-be husband. He (Alistair Stewart played by Sam Neill) greets them rather blandly and comments about Ada's small size as if she couldn't hear him. Along with local natives he decided the piano was too difficult to transport so they left it on the beach. The piano was beloved by Ada because she expressed herself through it. Later Alistair decided to trade it for some land owned by George Baines (Keitel). George seemed to understand how important the piano was to Ada so he strikes a deal with her that she can earn it back by giving him piano lessons. He had no intention of learning to play the piano but more interested in Ada herself. Ada made numerous trips to George's meager hut to play the piano, but a romantic relationship ensues. Alistair eventually finds out about the affair and in retaliation chopped off one of Ada's index fingers. At last Alistair dissolves the marriage. The ending contains a bit of a surprise.
The extraordinary will of a disabled woman to overcome hardship describes the theme of this film. We see it first as she arrives on the beach after an extremely rough voyage to meet her husband and having been fondled by a bunch of nasty sailors. We also witness her incredible will to get back her piano, her will to maintain her stoicism when her finger was amputated, and her will to live when she accidentally was pulled into the ocean when she finally sacrificed her piano to the sea. We see it again later after George crafted a silver prosthesis for her finger as she taught piano lessons. This film in many ways parallels The Miracle Worker, the story of Helen Keller and her stubbornness and extraordinary will to thrive.
The subjective angles of the close-up facial shots in The Piano play a huge role in capturing the theme. Ada so many times expresses herself through her lack of verbal communication simply with her eyes. One can tell her inner-thoughts just by reading the close-ups of her face and interpreting her stoic, Victorian expressions. They are used during the most dramatic moments – as her finger was being amputated and as she fell into the sea, just to name a few.
Was this my most favorite movie of all time? Probably not, however from living first-hand with a person with a disability, I marvel every day at the incredible will that disabled persons muster just to be "normal" and overcome adversity. This film was a display of just that.