When I saw how many Oscars did it win and how many nominations did it obtain, as well as titles like "The best female-director's film", I expected something great. Critic's reviews were highly positive as well. But what did I eventually get? A masterpiece? Definitely no. Speaking of its Oscars, The Piano hardly deserves them. The one for screenplay was won due to weak rivals, among which all of them wouldn't look obvious and were of the same level. I saw only one of them - Philadelphia, and to my mind, it deserves the Oscar for the best original screenplay more than The Piano. The Oscar for Anna Paquin is more or less deserved, though Emma Thompson was great in In the Name of the Father too. Nonetheless, Anna did a great job for a kid. And the last Oscar - the one for the best actress. Though Holly Hunter played well, her performance is a typical role of disabled person, which, along with playing a real person, is one of the cheating ways of winning an Oscar. They just already have someone to repeat after and need less effort to make everything what's needed from them. Playing a usual person, whether it is a book character or the one from original screenplay is tougher, and it's a shame that the Academy doesn't understand it.
Speaking of the film itself, it has two main drawbacks: the story and its color solution. I don't know why did they decide to make the colors so cold and unpleasant, but it didn't do any good. And the story is just shallow and pointless. Everyone tells how deep it is and how it reveals all the passion, but I suspect they just want to seem like critics. Brilliant, modern and tragic love stories are A Star Is Born and Atonement, but not this one. These characters just don't look as they need this affair. Ada looks like a whor, as Harvey Keitel's character described her. His character isn't good either. There's no chemistry and real passion, I just don't believe them. Nothing happens between them except for sx. Thus, I don't recommend to waste your time on this movie. Better watch A Star Is Born or Atonement if you haven't seen them yet.
Speaking of the film itself, it has two main drawbacks: the story and its color solution. I don't know why did they decide to make the colors so cold and unpleasant, but it didn't do any good. And the story is just shallow and pointless. Everyone tells how deep it is and how it reveals all the passion, but I suspect they just want to seem like critics. Brilliant, modern and tragic love stories are A Star Is Born and Atonement, but not this one. These characters just don't look as they need this affair. Ada looks like a whor, as Harvey Keitel's character described her. His character isn't good either. There's no chemistry and real passion, I just don't believe them. Nothing happens between them except for sx. Thus, I don't recommend to waste your time on this movie. Better watch A Star Is Born or Atonement if you haven't seen them yet.