Jane Campion’s film ‘The Piano’ released in 1993 quickly gained huge critical acclaim as it became a feature film representing NZ and our unique cinema. Set in the mid-19th century, this film portrays many important themes and ideas which inspire all audiences and stay within the guidlines of NZ ‘cinema of unease’.
Watching ‘The Piano’ recently, made me realise the beautiful cinematic imagery and mystery that the film conveys. The impenetrable landscape of dark trees and NZ beaches. Holly Hunter’s cello-like torso. The rigid hair and clothing of the time. The constant, and near tangible dampness of skin and hair and muddy clothes. The idea of being unable to speak and of music being a therapy. Its distinctive aesthetic. Seeing the film I was able to see the perfectly symphonic allegory being play which is emphasized by NZ nature. Here are some of my thoughts.
Ada is mute; the obvious allegory being a woman made to fit into a male dominated environment and having no voice there. She is imprisoned within her own world, only capable of limited communication via her daughter, an imperfect translator, using signs and symbols.
Ada’s clothing: Black, multi-layered, rigid and confining, represents the confinement of her sexuality. She is clothed in her repression. Her corset tied tightly around her torso both restricts her movement and disguises her femininity. The sharp line of the corset literally and metaphorically obscures the natural softness beneath. When Baines encourages her to remove first her tunic, then her over-skirt, he is simultaneously encouraging her to remove the layers of tension, hostility and mistrust that she has been carrying. In a perfect representation of her status, the bone and fabric structure we see beneath her skirts ‘resembles a bird cage’.
The piano on the beach: The piano is the instrument of Ada’s self-expression is dismissed and left behind on a beach by her husband, where it threatens to be washed away , never to be played again. Ada is trapped in a world where her husband can only understand the language of his own world, not hers. Interestingly, the image of a piano is the first and only suggestion of refined culture within the story. It seems to say that it is only when a woman is accepted on her own terms into a male-dominated environment, the beginnings of civilisation and cohesiveness are possible.
A certain dark tone is set in one of the films first sequences. A crew of sailors unloads Ada’s belongings in the surf. Mother and daughter , Ada and Flora, appear vulnerable and frail. The men, on the other hand, are crude and careless. They clearly have no appreciation of the significance of the piano. To them, it is simply something heavy to lug around. Throughout this opening scene the ideas behind ‘cinema of unease’ are put forward through the use of reoccurring themes such as people in authority evoking fear,patriarchs and ‘lone’ characters within a unsettling environment. “I think that humans believe themselves to be rational beings when they are not, they are governed by something completely different” – Jane Campion. This significant quote resembles her creative vision and over riding themes throughout her bodies of works which makes her a very distinct Auteur in the film industry.
Jane Campions work is socially and politically charged art which is negotiated physical and phycological trauma through irrational and mythical imagery.The film’s great popularity stems from the fact that it applies a sensitive outlook to fairly uneasy and dark real life themes. ‘The Piano’ is one of my favourite films because of its distincly NZ styled cinematography and the simplicity that is explored through a complicated yet socially moving story.
daisythorpoet 