The Piano (1993)
88%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: Won 3 Oscars
64 wins & 56 nominations total
Powered by Holly Hunter’s main performance, The Piano is a truth-seeking romance played in the key of erotic passion
The Piano” is a movie that’s so good, it’ll make you want to throw out your own piano and take up sign language instead. The performances are outstanding, the cinematography is dark and moody, and the story is as tender and sincere as they come. Plus, who doesn’t love a good axe-wielding climax? It’s a work of art that’s inscrutable at times, but constructed so confidently that any flaws are forgivable. All in all, “The Piano” is one of the all-time greats and a must-see for anyone who loves a good gothic heroine and some gaspingly restrictive widowy petticoats.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm,
Distributor
Cinemussy, Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Auckland, New Zealand
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for moments of extremely graphic sexuality
Year of Release
1994
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 0m
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Language(s):English, British, Sign, Language, Maori
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 12, 1993 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 25, 2011
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $40,185,556
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $81,300,418
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,119
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,865,913
US/Canada gross: $40,157,856
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $81,244,378
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 854
US/Canada opening weekend: $151,419
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $306,340
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,534
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $7,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $14,161,878
Production budget ranking: 1,536
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,626,171
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $59,512,369
ROI to date (est.): 273%
ROI ranking: 496
Harvey Keitel – George Baines
Sam Neill – Alisdair Stewart
Anna Paquin – Flora McGrath
Kerry Walker – Aunt Morag
Geneviève Lemon – Nessie
Director(s)
Jane Campion
Writer(s)
Jane Campion
Producer(s)
Jane Campion
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 3 Oscars
64 wins & 56 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (69) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (7)
From a distance, “The Piano” seems too preposterous for words; but then, as Ada knows all too well, words merely get in the way.
September 6, 2018
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Hunter’s gothic heroine is complemented by Stuart Dryburgh’s dark cinematography and gaspingly restrictive widowy petticoats.
June 27, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
This is cinema that fills every sense.
June 20, 2018
Lizzie Francke
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
As tender, remarkable and sincere as drama comes.
June 15, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Hannah Strong
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
Hunter’s performance is outstanding. So is the film.
June 15, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The film is a masterclass in dramatic structure and rolls through Campion’s meticulous screenplay beats with effortless elan, right up to the axe-wielding climax. Almost the perfect film.
June 15, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
In film after film, with ever-increasing depth and intensity, [Campion] invites us to contemplate human beings lost in the sleep of reason.
May 3, 2022
Thomas Bourguignon
Positif
This is a deliberately arty film riddled with blue-filtered photographs of the landscape, but at the last, it commits one of the most egregious errors of taste that the cinema has ever known.
April 6, 2022
Quentin Crisp
Christopher Street
Beautifully gothic.
March 11, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Michael J. Casey
Boulder Weekly
Campion seems to understand sexual attraction and isn’t afraid to delve deep in this exquisite, lyrical look at one woman’s triumph over the patriarchy.
February 7, 2022 | Rating: A
Frank J. Avella
Edge Media Network
The Piano is without a doubt a work of Art – inscrutable at times, and not without its flaws, but constructed so confidently that they are, in the end, forgivable.
January 30, 2022
Aly Caviness
Midwest Film Journal
One of the all-time greats.
January 29, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
After being sold into marriage to a local man in New Zealand, pianist Ada McGrath becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts in The Piano.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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