The Piano (1993)
First of all, goddamn impressive to win a best actress Oscar without speaking. Hunter’s portrayal of all of Ada’s internal struggles, emotions and agency stands as very powerful given the constraint of not having any spoken words. Ada’s devotion to her piano is equally puzzling as it is fascinating. The two men’s lust for her is easy enough to understand and how they both use the piano as a bargaining factor really underlines the depressive unfree condition this woman is in. She has to work around her circumstances the best way she can. While both Sam Neil’s and Harvey Keitel’s characters commit abhorrent actions against her, they are still written and portrayed as complex men that who struggles with the gender dynamics of their time. It is never quite clear where Ada’s affections truly lies, and she probably doesn’t know that entirely herself, as the beautiful ending shows. A beautifully shot film that incites a lot of thoughts and impressive that such an “artsy” film was also a general commercial success.
Rating: 4