Having seen a critically acclaimed Off Broadway revival of this Pulitzer Prize winning play (circa 2012), I was looking forward to the film version from 17 years before, and found a thrilling, perfectly edited family drama that keeps it all together. A superb cast, led by Charles S. Dutton and Alfre Woodard, brings this drama to life and reminds the viewer that the past disappears when you get rid of the important artifacts that were important to keeping those emotional memories alive, especially when it's part of family history like this piano is.
You get flashbacks of why the piano is so important to all but Dutton only cares about himself in his desire to sell it, just like the leading male character in "A Raisin in the Sun" lost the money that would have bought his family a house in a middle class neighborhood. The ghosts of the past intervene here, giving this subtle supernatural elements that indicated that unhappy spirits still guided destiny and the selling of the piano truly upset them.
The conflicts of siblings Dutton and Woodard are presented realistically, and that makes for fascinating, complex drama. Woodard can be fiery when angry, but mostly, her softness expresses a vulnerability that indicates strength of character and the desire not to allow the past family tragedies go forgotten so that the generations to come can be strengthened by them. This was recently revived in an instantly sold out Broadway production that is leading to a second film version, but I hope that this one never gets forgotten, just like the complex past of this family struggling to come together.
You get flashbacks of why the piano is so important to all but Dutton only cares about himself in his desire to sell it, just like the leading male character in "A Raisin in the Sun" lost the money that would have bought his family a house in a middle class neighborhood. The ghosts of the past intervene here, giving this subtle supernatural elements that indicated that unhappy spirits still guided destiny and the selling of the piano truly upset them.
The conflicts of siblings Dutton and Woodard are presented realistically, and that makes for fascinating, complex drama. Woodard can be fiery when angry, but mostly, her softness expresses a vulnerability that indicates strength of character and the desire not to allow the past family tragedies go forgotten so that the generations to come can be strengthened by them. This was recently revived in an instantly sold out Broadway production that is leading to a second film version, but I hope that this one never gets forgotten, just like the complex past of this family struggling to come together.