The Piano Movie

The Piano: Oscar-winning movie about a mute woman Ada (played by Holly Hunter) and her prized piano!

Things You Probably Didn’t Know About THE PIANO

The film revolves around a mute woman Ada, who is sent to New Zealand by her father for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner. Her new husband trades her beloved piano to his friend, A furious Ada resolves to reclaim her prized piano instrument through a bargain with the new owner. Soon she falls in love with a local worker on the plantation and the rest of the movie captures the dilemma of her relations.

Here are some little known facts about the Oscar-winning film.

• The piano used in the Oscar-winning movie ‘The Piano’ was sold at an auction for just NZ$1,000. The piano used in the movie’s famous beach scene was a non-playable prop and had no working parts. The prop was earlier on display at Wellington props studio ‘Westside Studios’.
• Director Jane Campion, at the time of writing the script for the movie, had named the movie ‘The Piano Lesson’
• Holly Hunter played most of the piano sequences herself.
• Music composer Michael Nyman wrote the main theme on a synthesizer resting on a Black & Decker workbench, because there was no piano or table in the house in France. ‘Jane locked me in a hotel room with a piano and said she wouldn’t let me out until I’d finished,’ says Michael Nyman.
• Entertainment Weekly ranked The Piano in the top 100 soundtrack albums of all time and Michael Nyman’s work is regarded as a key voice in the film. Buy the soundtrack here.

Michael Nyman – The heart asks pleasure first (“The Piano” theme)

Story – The Piano Movie

The movies is set in the the mid-nineteenth century in a rainy, muddy & marshy New Zealand forest. Ada, and her young daughter Flora, are sent to NewZealand for an arranged marriage. Once they land in New Zealand, they find that the living conditions are harsh there.

Ada suffers more grief when her husband Stewart decides to leave her piano behind since he does not have enough people to carry all their belongings further from the shore.

Baines, who is a local guy takes the piano and gets it perfectly tuned after that long journey. Ada, who desperately wants her piano back, goes to Baines to try to convince him to return the Piano.

But Baines asks Ada to earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons. He says that during the lessons, he would simply like to listen to her playing the piano… with other conditions. Ada agrees to it, though reluctantly.

Soon, Ada and Baines start geting closer to each other and their relationship is transformed. Stewart, who is Ada’s husband, finds out about their relationship… and in a fit of rage chops off the index finger of Ada with an axe. He tells her that if she does not forget Baines, he will chop her remaining fingers as well.

But, by then Ada and Baines had already started liking each other. Stewart realises this and lets Ada go with Baines… Towards the end, it is shown that Ada’s missing finger is replaced with a silver digit made by Baines.

The Piano is definitely one of the better movies I have ever seen; it has been appreciated by both critics as well as audiences everywhere!

Please note that this movie is suitable only for Adult Viewing!

• Buy The Piano on Amazon

Also Read: The best piano themed movies

KeytarHQ Editorial Team

KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.