WIN: The
Piano 4K UHD version...
STUDIOCANAL
is delighted to announce the
release of the 4K UHD version of Jane Campion’s
(The Power of The Dog) multi-Oscar winning
classic, The Piano, on September 5...
THE BRAND-NEW RESTORATION of this ground-breaking Cannes Palme D'Or winner
marks the first time that the film will be available on 4K UHD. Bonus material
for the release will include new featurettes including interviews with cinematographer
Stuart Dryburgh, production Designer Andrew McAlpine, and the film's Maori
advisor Waihoroi Shortland. The release also comes complete with a limited
addition poster.
Starring Holly Hunter (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Sick),
Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets, Bad Lieutenant), Sam Neill (Dead Calm,
Sirens, Hunt for The Wilderpeople) and Anna Paquin (X-Men, The Squid
and The Whale, 'True Blood'), The Piano won widespread critical
and audience acclaim on its release.
The film's writer, director and producer, Jane Campion, was the first female
director to win the Cannes Palme d'Or for the triumphant masterpiece that
centres on a mute woman's rebellion in a newly colonised, Victorian-era New
Zealand. Soundtracked by Michael Nyman's evocative score, the film also won
Oscars for both Holly Hunter (Best Actress in a Leading Role) and Anna Paquin
(Best Actress in a Supporting Role) in career-defining roles as well as a
Best Screenplay statue for Campion's typically individualistic and female-centric
script.
Hunter (who has an impressive three screen credits; alongside her starring
role she played all of the piano pieces and served as sign language teacher
for Paquin) gives a majestic silent performance as Ada McGrath, the mute Scotswoman
and talented pianist who arrives with her strong-willed young daughter Flora
(Paquin) in the New Zealand wilderness.
She is to marry frontiersman Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill), having been sold
him by her father, but takes an immediate dislike to him after he refuses
to carry her beloved piano home with them, instead selling it to his overseer
George Baines (Harvey Keitel). Attracted to Ada, Baines agrees to return the
piano in exchange for lessons that gradually become a series of erotically
charged sexual encounters. As the story unfolds like a Greek tragedy, complete
with a chorus of Maori tribes, all of the characters' long suppressed emotions
come to the fore, as if elicited by the wildness of the natural world around
them.
Concerning itself with Campion's prevailing theme — women on the edge
of societal norms (arriving after 1989's Sweetie and An Angel at My Table
but before Portrait of a Lady, Holy Smoke, In the Cut, Bright Star and
her acclaimed HBO/BBC TV series Top of the Lake) The Piano remains
perhaps Campion's most definitive work.
A tale of immediate urgency and tremendous expressive power by one of the
most compelling filmmakers at work today.
MotorBar has two copies of the Limited Edition 4K UHD DVD to be won.
To enter the competition, answer the following question.
In 1994 Jane Campion's hauntingly compelling The Piano won three Academy
Awards (Best Actress for Holly Hunter, Best Supporting Actress for Anna Paquin,
and Best Original Screenplay for Campion). It also won the coveted Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival, making Jane Campion the first female director
to ever receive this award. In what year did it win at Cannes? Was it:
A) 1993
B) 1994
C) 1997
Only one entry per person. Email your answer to win@motorbar.co.uk before
the closing date of 15 January 2023.
Please also make sure you put 'PIANO' in the subject line and include
your name, age, address, and a contact number.
