A brilliantly filmed and performed love story that's a bit different- 86%

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2012)

Part of the downside of writing movie reviews is that on occasion, you are forced or compelled to watch some utter tripe. Movies that have little value as entertainment are all too easily found on the shelves of your local rental store or lurking hidden on TV schedules, ready to pounce on unsuspecting viewers. Thank God for that rare film that comes along that is not only beautiful to watch but also contains a powerful story lit up by electric performances and also offers a very different experience to other movies out there. This might be a little Oscar-friendly for some but that shouldn't detract from what is a haunting love story with the oddest of protagonists.
Holly Hunter plays Ada McGrath, a Scottish mute living in the mid-1800's who is married by her father to landowner Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill). Together with her treasured piano and her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), they are shipped off to New Zealand to spend the rest of their lives with Stewart. At first, Ada and Flora distrust Stewart after he leaves her piano on the beach but eventually, it is retrieved by Stewart's right-hand man Baines (Harvey Keitel), a fellow Scot who has integrated himself with the local Maori. As time passes, Ada's attention is diverted to Baines after he asks her to teach him how to play the piano and soon, their romance threatens to boil over and ruin everything.
You can always tell which performances have been recognised by the Academy - films like "Training Day" and "Monster's Ball" both feature actors that lift the film beyond mere drama. Hunter's in "The Piano" is another, giving a faultless performance as Ada, whose haunting looks stay with you some time after the film has finished. Keitel is also superb, being both fearless and sympathetic as Baines. But for me, this is director Jane Campion's masterpiece - it is just a wonderful film to watch, each shot feels painted and lit with painstaking effort. Take the shot of the piano on the beach or of Flora skipping over the hills singing. It looks fabulous, a real pleasure for the eyes and as the ears too as the soundtrack is equally haunting and most of it played by Hunter herself.
It might not be everyone's cup of tea but "The Piano" gives you something that you just don't get from most other movies. It's a wonderfully quirky romance that doesn't resort to quick titillation (as I suspect a male director would have done) but builds the tension nicely as the film progresses. It also offers a wealth of acting talent on display and then gives them a decent script to get their teeth into, meaning they have to do more than just deliver lines. It even gives your ears something pleasant to listen to, assuming that delicate piano notes are your thing - which they are. It's difficult to say that this is entertaining because it's more cerebral than that, like a Booker Prize winning novel. You might not get it first time and if you're not used to thinking about films then this will turn you right off. However, it's good to catch a film that really delivers and thankfully, "The Piano" is just such a film.