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Piano.

Holly Hunter (Actor), Harvey Keitel (Actor), Jane Campion (Director) | Rated: R (Restricted) | Format: VHS Tape

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Actors: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin, Kerry Walker
Directors: Jane Campion
Writers: Jane Campion
Producers: Alain Depardieu, Jan Chapman, Mark Turnbull
Format: NTSC, Import
Language: English, Maori
Number of tapes: 1
MPAA Rating:
Studio: Live / Artisan
VHS Release Date: April 22 1997
Run Time: 121 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

ASIN: 630439845X

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Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

Jane Campion's The Piano struck a deep chord (if you'll excuse the expression) with audiences in 1993, who were mesmerised by the film's rich, dreamlike imagery. It is the story of a Scottish woman named Ada (Holly Hunter), who has been mute since age 6 because she simply chose not to speak. Ada travels with her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano to a remote spot on the coast of New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a farmer (Sam Neill). She gives piano lessons to a gruff neighbor (Harvey Keitel) who has Maori tattoos on his face, and, well, things develop from there. The picture takes on a powerful dream logic that simply defies synopsis. It's a breathtakingly beautiful and original achievement from Campion, a unique stylist. The Piano won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscars for Hunt, Paquin and Campion's screenplay. --Jim Emerson

Amazon.com Essential Video

Jane Campion's The Piano struck a deep chord (if you'll excuse the expression) with audiences in 1993, who were mesmerized by the film's rich, dreamlike imagery. It is the story of a Scottish woman named Ada (Holly Hunter), who has been mute since age 6 because she simply chose not to speak. Ada travels with her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano to a remote spot on the coast of New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a farmer (Sam Neill). She gives piano lessons to a gruff neighbor (Harvey Keitel) who has Maori tattoos on his face, and, well, things develop from there. The picture takes on a powerful dream logic that simply defies synopsis. It's a breathtakingly beautiful and original achievement from Campion, a unique stylist. The Piano won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscars for Hunt, Paquin, and Campion's screenplay. --Jim Emerson

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Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

Five star film - two star DVD (transfer) Mar 19 2004

By Kun

Format:DVD

I just got my copy from Amazon and what a disappointment. The Piano is one of my favorite films and living in Quebec I had a hard time finding the widescreen version of the film. Imagine my joy to find it, finally, here on Amazon. However, having got it, and looked at it, I realize that the picture is a scan from one of the theatrical copies - it is full of dust (black specks that appear all over the image. In a day and age where even the cheapest DVD's are cleaned in post-production it is an outrage to see such a beautiful film with dust all over it. I wish they'd do another transfer from the original negative. Furthermore the widescreen - although considered wide is actually a 3:4 image letterboxed - it is not a real 16:9 widescreen transfer - meaning that you will have a lot fewer lines of image than you would have if it had been transferred anamorphic - For DVD lovers this is really a disappointment - and only 2.0 surround. If you love the film enough to live with these disappointments - I actually do - get the film. If you prefer pristine images and great sound - you'll be disappointed.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Words cannot convey... Mar 17 2004

By Susan J. Keenan

Format:DVD

Words cannot convey...and this is one of the things this incredible movie teaches us. The Piano is one of my favorite movies of all time. The scenery is breathtaking. Holly Hunter is brilliant as Ada, the mute (by choice) "victim" of an arranged marriage. Her facial expressions and physical movements express more than words could ever say. In fact, I found that once I become aware of watching her gestures, I began watching the expressions of other characters in the movie also. Harvey Kietel is cast in a very different role for him and the result is impressive and shows a much larger range of his acting ability. The music in the film is beautiful and is Ada's true "voice".

This movie must not be watched in the ordinary way one would watch any other movie. If you're just going to watch it in a literal way, this isn't the movie for you. The Piano is a wonderous combination of music, scenery and symbolism. It's like a dream sequence. The movie feels almost enchanted. The filming of 2 major scenes of violence is exquisite. I didn't notice the violence itself so much as I felt the pain of the characters.

I highly recommend this film...no matter how many times I watch it, it never fails to move me.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

If Looks Could Kill Mar 15 2004

By gobirds2

Format:DVD

THE PIANO is a very unusual, enigmatic and haunting film. To say anything less would be incredulous. It is a story set in some remote coastal hills of a very bleak eighteenth century New Zealand overrun by dense jungle, mud, the elements and crude natives. Ada (Holly Hunter) and her young mischievously meddlesome daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) arrive on the New Zealand beach to meet Stewart (Sam Neill) whom has arranged to marry Ada. Ada, as we discover in the prolog is a woman who has not spoken since she was 6 years old. She is not only mute but strangely introverted and repressed. A piano, which Ada has brought with her, is her only means of expression. The ex-seaman ex-whaler Baines (Harvey Keitel) is a rather crude looking character who becomes enchanted by Ada's piano, which has been left on the beach. He retrieves it, buys it and then has Ada barter for its return setting the conflict of personalities and their repressed feelings into motion. Ada's mute playing of the piano is juxtaposed by her piercing dark eyes focusing from her face shrouded in ever so pale white skin. Her looks are riveting and disturbing. The image of Paquin's face is unnerving. As the film progresses we see that the primary characters are truly misunderstood from what our initial impressions had ascertained them to be. This is an exceptional film that you have to watch and listen to closely because of its very subtle nature that envelops your senses. The characters and the actors that portray them are brilliantly presented. Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography is equally important because the images on the screen take on a life and spirit of their own in this haunting film.

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The Piano

INTERESTING NOTE: I purchased this DVD title, a Canadian release on LIONS GATE, not listed on Amazon anywhere that I could find. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Eddy B

A moody drama that was very bittersweet.

This is the first film I have seen with Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel. They both gave good performances, and the movie itself was strange but likeable. Read more