the black keys

With male dominance being a main theme in Jane Campion’s film I found it interesting to see how Ada (Holly Hunter) handled Baines’ blackmailing her one sexual favor for one key of the piano. Ada gave in immediately and without thought to his desires excluding the moment when Baines initially touched and kissed the back of Ada’s neck. It was not fully clear to me that Ada had deep feelings for Baines until they had sex. Until then I felt as if she was alright with the sexual behavior because she was receiving more intense pleasure from playing the piano. During the film I was very fixated on the piano and what it meant to Ana. Initially I believed the piano to be her voice and I listened to the music to find out what emotion Ana was trying to express. When Ana freaked out about having other people play her piano I felt as if the piano was an extension of herself, and for someone else to play her instrument would be like having someone violate her own body. Flora (Anna Paquin) really surprised me as the film progressed. I couldn’t understand why Flora was so quick to tell her new father about the piano lessons and then not deliver the key. At the beginning of the movie the bond between Ana and Flora seemed so deep, at times their body language even mimicked one another. Also Flora adamantly told her mother that she was not going to call the new man papa. I thought that Flora would keep her word and stay true to her mother. I feel as if Flora believed herself to be the only one who truly understood her mother’s relationship to the piano. Also Flora must have felt special about being the sole link between her mother and those to whom Ana communicated. As Ada’s relationship with Baines deepened Flora no longer could claim the role of being the means of communication. Perhaps Flora’s sense of abandonment led her to Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill). While most romantic films often refer to that which is unspeakable in terms of love, The Piano managed to convey all emotion solely through music. To me this deepens the effects of the film and expands the possibilities under which profound romance can occur.