Jane Campion's lush study of repression, "The Piano," contains an enduring image: high cliffs tower over a deserted beach, waves crashing and rolling upon the cold sand. Deposited in the tide is a black piano, a misplaced presence seemingly dropped from...
[more]Jane Campion's lush study of repression, "The Piano," contains an enduring image: high cliffs tower over a deserted beach, waves crashing and rolling upon the cold sand. Deposited in the tide is a black piano, a misplaced presence seemingly dropped from heaven. It is a solitary signifier of humanity in the wild heart of nature.
The film's story focuses on Ada (played by Holly Hunter), who arrives in New Zealand as a mail-order bride. Ada is mute, presumably stripped of her voice by the patriarchal forces of the Victorian era. The piano represents her sole means of expression: a symbol for freedom, sexuality, and the romantic vision of life.
Such are the symbols and characters typically explored by Campion, whose films address social pressures and the prisons of femininity. Her first feature, "Two Friends" (1986), tells the story of a pair of girls whose childhood bond is torn apart as they each adapt differently to imminent womanhood. One retains her prim and proper schoolgirl ways, while the other becomes a full-blown punk. The innocence of their friendship is destroyed by the external demands of gender and sexuality. "Sweetie," Campion's next film, explores similar tensions between two sisters, one of whom is "normal" but deeply insecure, while the other is outrageous, imperious, and mentally ill.
Perhaps Campion's most disturbing look at "abnormal" women comes in 1990's "An Angel at my Table," her film about the autobiographical writing of Janet Frame. Gifted but stigmatized by her impoverished upbringing and odd manners, Frame was diagnosed as schizophrenic and forcibly institutionalized for eight years. The film is terrifying in its portrayal of padded rooms, shock therapy, and the threat of lobotomy. Because she uses her art to retain her unique identity, Frame is the type of subject that attracts Campion.
Campion herself is no stranger to the pressure to conform: she knows the trials of being a female director in a field dominated by men. Yet even her more recent, big-budget projects persist in their focus on women's struggle for self-definition. "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996), adapted from the Henry James novel, asks us to identify with its heroine's efforts to break from a manipulative marriage.
And her efforts have been noticed: Campion was the first female director to receive the prized Palme d'Or at Cannes. She was originally given the award for her early short, "Peel," then won it again for "The Piano." "The Piano" also brought her an Academy Award for best original screenplay.
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