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The Piano

The Piano

Drama · Romance · 1993

When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited pre-teen daughter Flora to the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.

Movie details

The Piano

“Silence affects everyone in the end.”

1993 Drama · Romance 2h 0m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited pre-teen daughter Flora to the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Piano?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jane Campion

Written by

Jane Campion

Holly Hunter

Holly Hunter

Ada McGrath

Harvey Keitel

Harvey Keitel

George Baines

Sam Neill

Sam Neill

Alisdair Stewart

Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin

Flora McGrath

Cliff Curtis

Cliff Curtis

Mana

Kerry Walker

Kerry Walker

Aunt Morag

Ian Mune

Ian Mune

Reverend

Court is in session

Put The Piano on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.