The Piano

The Piano is an intensely emotional film about a love affair between a married woman and a New Zealand man played by Harvey Keitel. It is evident that the film was written and directed by a female, because the strongest character in the story is the leading female role, a woman torn between two men. Ada is a mute woman who is very much alone in the world and her only cares in the world are for her daughter and her piano, which Ada uses as a vehicle for her voice and emotions. Keitel wins Ada over by saving her piano and showing her a loving touch and attraction she has never felt from a husband she was married off to. The two male characters are similar to those of many stories, the possessive husband and the caring lover. The movie does not have many action scenes where the story takes a dramatic turn, but is carried by its characters and their emotions. Jane Campion, the film’s writer and director is successful in keeping her characters consistent, making the audience recognize them easily and keep closer to their characters. Campion emphasizes the power of attraction of Ada through making her deaf. Even though Ada cannot speak, she has both men feeling for her. She falls for Kietel because of his appreciation of her piano, which she and him connect over and understand each other through. Another interesting point Campion makes, is that in this time period woman were treated less equally and were purely objects of beauty and the mothers of the children. Ada’s inability to speak symbolizes this facet of the era, and even without a voice she still is powerful as a female as she finds love and defies her husband even after her cuts her finger off.