1110 The Piano
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
1110 The Piano
The Piano
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
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
-
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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.
The lack of Michael Nyman in the extras is disappointing. A bit surprised that neither Paquin nor Keitel are there, either.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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.
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.
- willoneill
- Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
- Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: 1110 The Piano
The special features have been updated to include:
“ Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman”
“ Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman”
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
willoneill wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:54 pmThe special features have been updated to include:
“ Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman”
- ryannichols7
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
old commentary? anyone know the source?
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: 1110 The Piano
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
- yoloswegmaster
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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
-
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:35 am
Re: 1110 The Piano
Michael Nyman interview! awesome!!
- FrauBlucher
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
- Location: Greenwich Village
- hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
Re: 1110 The Piano
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).
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
- hearthesilence
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
- Location: NYC
Re: 1110 The Piano
That color's pretty different...did they forget the intended color timing when they did the BD, or is the UHD revisionism?
- andyli
- Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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.
- FrauBlucher
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
- Location: Greenwich Village
- ianthemovie
- Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:51 am
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
Re: 1110 The Piano
Can anyone confirm whether Criterion has retained the subtitles for the sign language and the Maori dialogue?
- cdnchris
- Site Admin
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
- Location: Washington
- Contact:
Re: 1110 The Piano
There are subs there for both, yes.
-
- Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 10:18 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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.
- omegadirective
- Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:34 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
Maybe Fassbender?trobrianders wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:21 amIs 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.
-
- Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 10:18 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
Quite so.omegadirective wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:58 pmMaybe Fassbender?trobrianders wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:21 amIs 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.
- Habit Rouge
- Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:11 pm
- cdnchris
- Site Admin
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
- Location: Washington
- Contact:
Re: 1110 The Piano
I missed this message initially, but yes, they're on the standard Blu-ray as well.
Re: 1110 The Piano
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."
- tenia
- Ask Me About My Bassoon
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am
Re: 1110 The Piano
It's interesting because it seems, judging by the restoration credits, that Criterion wasn't involved directly in the restoration process.
-
- Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:23 pm
Re: 1110 The Piano
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.
Previous releases had them at the bottom, and this seems an odd choice since it covers up part of Holly Hunter's face.