Beautiful, troubling

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2004)

This is a beautifully shot and composed film by Jane Campion, featuring a brilliant Oscar-winning performance by Holly Hunter. Hunter plays Ada, a woman who refuses to speak and does so only through her piano. She also has a young illegitimate daughter Flora, (Anna Paquin, who also won an Oscar), compromising her marriagibility in their native Scotland. Ada is thus shipped by her father to New Zealand and an arranged marriage to a troubled, sexually frustrated Alisdar (Sam Neill). Alisdar is having money troubles and as collateral to neighbor George Baines (Harvey Keitel), sells Ada's beloved piano. Baines agrees to sell it back to Ada if she gives him lessons, beginning a torrid relationship that sets off a chain of events that changes everything. Holly Hunter is brilliant as mute Ada, as is the very young Paquin. Keitel and Neill are also very good in their respective roles as the men in Ada's life. The nudity, sex and some themes in this film are unsettling to some, but overall this is a sumptuous, exquisite film about desire and the pursuit of happiness. A must-see.