ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Alexandre Arena Filho I don't understand some of the praise The Piano received. Holly Hunter's acting is not as good as I expected. She mostly keeps the same emotionless face throughout the movie, even in the two scenes where Ada certainly feels incredible pain. I don't see how challenging could it be for an actress to pull that off. Young Anna Paquin is good, but not as good as I thought she would be. She is adorable and does an accent and all, but not for a moment blew my mind.Some say this is feminist. Maybe it's because I'm a man and can't fully understand it, but watching the movie I thought my female feminist friends would feel offended by the screenplay. Ada is weak and allows awful things to happen to her - yes, she loves that piano and wants it back (you could never tell by Hunter's expressions), but maybe she should have been more "vocal" about it instead of becoming a prostitute. She hardly resists such disgusting proposals, even though she's not supposed to be perceived as a slut.Some say this is romantic and passionate. To me, it felt like a creepy story about a woman who falls in "love" with a disgusting man, and it reminded me of Stockholm syndrome. It worked a lot better in Beauty and the Beast. The Piano is a very unpleasant movie, and no eye candy could save it.

cnycitylady The Piano is considered a most romantic movie. And in a way it is, but not really in the classic use of the word "romantic."The characters are far from two dimensional, with ups and downs, highs and lows; both good and bad. No one is just one thing and it is a very fresh, raw take on humanity. The script colors their characters beautifully, and the story has many different aspects. But the one that stands out most, as it should, is Holly Hunter's journey from saddened, numbed woman to vibrant lover of life.The men that desire her are scoundrels and undeserving of her, and yet both are good men in their own ways. Patient, kind, understanding. It's interesting to see how and why both of these men want this woman who has abandoned all hope of ever loving anyone other than her daughter ever again. Hunter's character is an enigma. She can love fiercely on one end of the spectrum but she cannot hate. She also doesn't realize that she has a say in her life until she falls for one of the men who desire her. This movie is odd to say the least. Each time you view it you will think differently of all of the characters. You will never be quite sure who the villain is or who the hero is. But you can be sure that it is a gripping original take on love and starting over. 7.8/10

pablofreaky I watched this movie 22 years after it's release in 1993, and can really see why so many people raved about this movie. Holly Hunter, who won a best actress Oscar for her performance in this film, shows her incredible acting skills with only her facial expressions and movement (except for the two voice overs at the beginning and end of the film, which were great too, of course). Her character has been mute since she was six years old, and this just gives the whole love story between the forcefully wedded woman and the poor Harvey Keitel character, a nice cherry on top. This film has so many powerful scenes and every scene adds to the story and gives us something new to learn about a certain character. Holly Hunter's Character, Ada McGrath has a daughter too, played by Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as a 10 year old, which was probably the best child performance I've ever seen (with Jacob Tremblay for Room) and the scene *SPOILER ALERT* where Sam Nell's character cuts off Ada's Finger to stop her from playing the piano, after she finds out she's been sleeping with Harvey Keitel's character is truly one of my favorite scenes of all time. The pain Ada must be experiencing is extreme, but still no spoken reaction from her yet you can see how broken and physically/mentally hurt she is and the way Hunter portrayed that scene was when I realised that Holly Hunter is one of the best actresses of our time, truly magnificent. The ending is beautiful, yet disturbing, yet very powerful. I watched it over and over again!In the end, The Piano is a must-see movie for anyone who enjoys the art of motion pictures.

hall895 Holly Hunter, without saying a word, turns in a remarkable performance in The Piano. It's a shame that performance is stuck in such an unremarkable movie. This is a slow, plodding, grim and quite dull movie. Hunter creates a compelling character but the movie really has very little else going for it. The whole thing is rather pretentious. This is a tough movie to get through.The story unfolds in the mid-19th century. Hunter plays Ada McGrath, a mute Scotswoman who has been sold into an arranged marriage to a New Zealander, Alisdair Stewart. So after a long journey Ada comes ashore in New Zealand. She brings two very important things with her. Her young daughter, Flora. And her piano. Playing the piano is the way this woman who cannot speak expresses herself. She pours her heart into her piano playing. So suffice to say her relationship with Alisdair gets off to quite a rocky start when he decides he can't be bothered transporting the piano to his home and leaves it to rot on the beach. This is not going to be a happy marriage.Alisdair ends up selling the piano, which mind you isn't even his, to his neighbor George Baines. Ada is of course enraged. Further enraged when Alisdair orders her to give George piano lessons. George is a very simple man. He can't read. He has adopted many of the local Maori customs, including tattooing his face. Why does this crude man want to learn how to play the piano? Well he doesn't. He wants Ada. He just wants to watch her play. They come to an arrangement where she can earn her piano back by letting him do things while she plays. And the things George wants to do are not at all innocent. Maybe he'll start by just looking up her skirt. But before long they're naked and in bed. Well, what's a girl to do when she wants her piano back, right? Anyhow, this whole arrangement goes badly because George actually has affection for Ada but she's just using him to get her precious piano. And of course there is the small matter of Ada's marriage to Alisdair. That loveless marriage, with its complete lack of affection, greatly frustrates Alisdair. That frustration will manifest itself in rather terrible ways.This all seems like it could make for an interesting story but for whatever reason the movie just doesn't work. It is not entertaining at all. The whole thing is so bleak, perfectly matching its backwater setting. Hunter does so well to convey so much emotion without even speaking. You always know exactly what Ada is thinking, great credit to Hunter for being able to convey that. The role of Ada's young daughter turns out to be a critical one and Anna Paquin does well with it. Flora is an intelligent, mischievous little schemer and Paquin's performance is very good, very mature. An Academy Award was probably a bit much though. Whereas Hunter and Paquin shine the men in the picture don't come off nearly as well. Admittedly they're not helped by a script which gives them some rather clunky, awkward dialogue. Harvey Keitel plays George and never really seems comfortable in the role. Meanwhile Sam Neill's portrayal of Alisdair falls hopelessly flat. This is a movie largely about passion but it comes across as almost entirely passionless. It's a movie that is badly out of tune.