Film Studies

Cinema Classics Seminar: The Piano

And The Award Goes To . . . : Leading Ladies
Tuesday, March 10, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm  
Instructor: Elizabeth Nathanson, Ph.D., Muhlenberg College

Although The Piano tells the story of a woman who cannot speak, it landed loudly on the global film scene when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993. A complex mixture of Gothic storytelling, costume drama, maternal melodrama, and torrid romance, The Piano was widely celebrated on the awards circuit, with director Jane Campion becoming the first woman to ever win a Palme d’Or and the second to be nominated for the Best Director prize at the Academy Awards.  

Set in the 19th century, the film tells the story of Ada (Holly Hunter), a mute Scottish woman who is sent with her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) to live with a new husband in rural New Zealand. Ada and Flora land on desolate beaches accompanied by Ada’s beloved piano, an instrument that not only speaks with and for Ada but is imbued with deep symbolic and emotional meaning. 

This seminar will explore this richly complicated film, considering the array of relationships that it presents, and its depictions of romance, motherhood, colonialism, and freedom. We will also discuss the movie’s visual style, exploring how the lush, haunting images of windswept landscapes and the use of Victorian costuming set the stage for this fraught human drama, and how it tells its story, sometimes using no words at all.

Are you interested in “just” seeing this movie? Visit the public screening page here. This And the Award Goes to…: Leading Ladies seminar is presented in partnership with 6abc in advance of the 98th Academy Awards.

Cinema Classics Seminars offer an entertaining and engaging way to learn more about some of the true classics of world cinema. All students receive an introductory lecture before the film and a guided discussion after the film. In addition, those in attendance receive a ticket to see it on the big screen, as well as popcorn and a drink. Please note: the screening associated with this seminar will be open to the public, as well.

Please contact BMFI Programs and Education Manager Jill Malcolm with any questions.