1110 The Piano

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swo17
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1110 The Piano

#1 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 12:48 pm

The Piano

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With this sublimely stirring fable of desire and creativity, Jane Campion became the first woman to win a Palme d'Or at Cannes. Holly Hunter is achingly eloquent through silence in her Academy Award–winning performance as Ada, an electively mute Scottish woman who expresses her innermost feelings through her beloved piano. When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited daughter (Anna Paquin, in her Oscar-winning debut) to the wilderness of nineteenth-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her ineffectual husband (Sam Neill) and a rugged frontiersman (Harvey Keitel) to whom she develops a forbidden attraction. With its sensuously moody cinematography, dramatic coastal landscapes, and sweeping score, this uniquely timeless evocation of a woman's inner awakening is an intoxicating sensory experience that burns with the twin fires of music and erotic passion.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Stuart Dryburgh and approved by director Jane Campion, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New conversation between Campion and film critic Amy Taubin
• New interviews with Dryburgh and production designer Andrew McAlpine
• Interview with actor Holly Hunter on working with Campion
"The Piano" at 25, a program featuring a conversation between Campion and producer Jan Chapman
• Excerpts from an interview with costume designer Janet Patterson
Water Diary, a 2006 short film by Campion
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Carmen Gray

beamish14
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#2 Post by beamish14 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:19 pm

Happy to see that it includes Water Diary

The lack of Michael Nyman in the extras is disappointing. A bit surprised that neither Paquin nor Keitel are there, either.

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Re: 1110 The Piano

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:30 am

As if I needed more proof that revisits are worthwhile for appreciating a film on an entirely new level, this film played entirely different for me tonight compared to my first watch many years ago when I liked it just fine but did not comprehend the intricacies of what Campion is doing. One could argue that it takes a female auteur's temperament, patience, and expansive worldview to demonstrate such a mature, psychologically complex work, where motivations, fears, defense mechanisms, and subconscious desires brew to reveal themselves as authentic and worthwhile of empathy divorced from the surface-level behaviors. However, Pablo Larraín accomplished a similar effect with Ema, as have many male filmmakers, so regardless of gender, Campion's composed posture, and willingness to meet people where they're at, yields a startlingly adult twist on what appears to be either Oscar Bait or quiet indie fare, but is shoehorned into neither.

The gender dynamics rooted into the 19th century era and place are significant though. Campion doesn't shame Keitel or Neill into unidimensional aggressors for initiating hair-raising actions to forge intimacy, and even Neill's irredeemable immoral acts are clearly born from a pervasive powerlessness all the characters breathe in the air of their social environment, without the coping skills or communicative tools within social structures to maneuver around them. Neill's final scene in the film may be its very best, for how he does eventually evolve into a surrender of vulnerability against all odds- developing as a character just as much as the other principals, perhaps even moreso. Though just as Campion gives the male characters rope, she doesn't conversely champion Hunter or Paquin in absolute measures either, for each also exhibit confusion and impulsivity around emotional turmoil, and capitalize on situations not only out of resilience but from fear and insecurity in problematic, immature ways as well. The focus is on the unconditional value of 'feelings', not higher-level morality, and I love this film today for how faux-tangible judgments are secondary to the celebration of the rare miracles we get to actualize our feelings in tangible forms. This corporeal magic might even allow us to see new colors, access new tools to bridge these gaps and ascend past the isolating, antisocial traps we find ourselves in. I can't wait to see this unconventionally beautiful film in its new restoration.

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willoneill
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#4 Post by willoneill » Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:54 pm

The special features have been updated to include:

“ Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman”

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#5 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:57 pm

willoneill wrote:
Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:54 pm
The special features have been updated to include:

“ Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman”
Image

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ryannichols7
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#6 Post by ryannichols7 » Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:40 am

old commentary? anyone know the source?

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swo17
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#7 Post by swo17 » Mon Nov 22, 2021 12:48 am

It looks like it was on prior releases in the UK and Australia. Also, you can currently pre-order this in Target's B2G1 sale

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yoloswegmaster
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#8 Post by yoloswegmaster » Mon Nov 22, 2021 8:20 am

The have also included the following:
  • New interview with Maori adviser Waihoroi Shortland
  • Interview with composer Michael Nyman
  • Inside “The Piano,” a featurette including interviews with Hunter and actors Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill

black&huge
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#9 Post by black&huge » Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:00 pm

Michael Nyman interview! awesome!!

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#10 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:18 am


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hearthesilence
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#11 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:00 pm

black&huge wrote:
Mon Nov 22, 2021 3:00 pm
Michael Nyman interview! awesome!!
During a discussion on The Power of the Dog, someone asked about Johnny Greenwood. Campion made a point that getting him was tough from a bureaucratic perspective because he wasn't from New Zealand, a requirement for any funding or tax break (forgot which) that the production got from the government, meaning they had to apply for a waiver. Obviously she liked working with Nyman and what he brought, but some of the details in her answer felt unintentionally amusing, like she was saying, "we used to get Nyman because he was a local" (though again it was more than that).

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Finch
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#12 Post by Finch » Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:04 am


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hearthesilence
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#13 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:53 pm

That color's pretty different...did they forget the intended color timing when they did the BD, or is the UHD revisionism?

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andyli
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#14 Post by andyli » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:09 pm

The color grading on the UHD seems pretty close to the 25th anniversary Blu-ray (colder, bluish overall), which was not included here for comparison.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#15 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:29 pm


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ianthemovie
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#16 Post by ianthemovie » Mon Jan 31, 2022 4:33 pm

Can anyone confirm whether Criterion has retained the subtitles for the sign language and the Maori dialogue?

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Re: 1110 The Piano

#17 Post by cdnchris » Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:00 pm

There are subs there for both, yes.

trobrianders
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#18 Post by trobrianders » Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:21 am

Is Jane Campion unique? Don't know of any filmmaker whose filmography comprises one portrait of a woman after another like Campion's. In The Cut is my favorite of them all and I really loved Holy Smoke and Angel At My Table in particular but The Piano is well up there too. I have the 2018 Studiocanal Blu-ray which I think is outstanding but this will really be a significant upgrade I'm sure.

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Re: 1110 The Piano

#19 Post by omegadirective » Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:58 pm

trobrianders wrote:
Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:21 am
Is Jane Campion unique? Don't know of any filmmaker whose filmography comprises one portrait of a woman after another like Campion's. In The Cut is my favorite of them all and I really loved Holy Smoke and Angel At My Table in particular but The Piano is well up there too. I have the 2018 Studiocanal Blu-ray which I think is outstanding but this will really be a significant upgrade I'm sure.
Maybe Fassbender?

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Re: 1110 The Piano

#20 Post by trobrianders » Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:04 pm

omegadirective wrote:
Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:58 pm
trobrianders wrote:
Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:21 am
Is Jane Campion unique? Don't know of any filmmaker whose filmography comprises one portrait of a woman after another like Campion's. In The Cut is my favorite of them all and I really loved Holy Smoke and Angel At My Table in particular but The Piano is well up there too. I have the 2018 Studiocanal Blu-ray which I think is outstanding but this will really be a significant upgrade I'm sure.
Maybe Fassbender?
Quite so.

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Habit Rouge
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#21 Post by Habit Rouge » Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:41 pm

cdnchris wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:00 pm
There are subs there for both, yes.
Has the included blu-ray been updated with this correction?

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Re: 1110 The Piano

#22 Post by cdnchris » Fri Feb 04, 2022 3:10 pm

I missed this message initially, but yes, they're on the standard Blu-ray as well.

britcom68

Re: 1110 The Piano

#23 Post by britcom68 » Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:25 am

During the Wexner Center QandA last night, Criterion's Lee Kline and Russell Smith both talked about how interesting a project it was to work with Campion on The Piano, but that there were some scenes where that they had to work hard to keep the look in some shots which had the intentional appearance like, in their words, "the bottom of a fishbowl."

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tenia
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#24 Post by tenia » Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:38 am

It's interesting because it seems, judging by the restoration credits, that Criterion wasn't involved directly in the restoration process.

StarSalF19
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Re: 1110 The Piano

#25 Post by StarSalF19 » Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:35 pm

Hi - new user here. I recently bought this release and was wondering if anyone else had noticed that the first couple of subtitles for the sign language (about 8 1/2 minutes in) are at the top of the screen instead of the bottom? Was this intentional?

Previous releases had them at the bottom, and this seems an odd choice since it covers up part of Holly Hunter's face.

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