The Piano

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 ...more

Not just another costume drama, Jane Campion's The Piano (1993) lushly visualizes the emotional complexities of a 19th century woman's sexual awakening. Mute in a world that silences women, Ada has to find other means to express her responses to the untamed New Zealand landscape, her stiff husband Stewart, and the sensualist Baines. The elliptical narrative minimizes rational explanations in favor of visceral and emotional effects, often structured around parallels between Ada and the natural ...more