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Piano, The (1993) Rank 3 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give Piano, The (1993) a score of 3.1867 out of 4
based on (67) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Excellent
4
Excellent
(22)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(43)
Good
2
Good
(2)
Fair
1
Fair
(0)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.30 out of 4 stars for DVDnett.noDVDnett.no
Når en film bli betegnet som en storslagen kjærlighetshistorie, og gjør stor suksess hos det brede publikum, skapes det umiddelbart en dyp skepsis hos undertegnede. Det er lett å se for seg en tannløs historie, marinert i sukker og pakket inn i ...read the complete Piano movie review at DVDnett.no
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.25 out of 4 stars for Gareth ReesGareth Rees
The film opens with Ada's "inner voice" (we don't hear her speak out loud during the film) narrating the above and then we cut to a lonely New Zealand shore with men struggling through the surf to unload Ada, her possessions, and her beloved piano (Ada's ...read the complete Piano movie review at Gareth Rees
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.25 out of 4 stars for Mr. Mikey's Video Views (J. Michael Dlugos)Mr. Mikey's Video Views (J. Michael Dlugos)
This Aussie import all but cleaned up at last year’s Academy Awards, copping 3 statues, one for Best Actress, one for Best Supporting Actress, and one for Best Original Screenplay. It deserved them all. The movie tells the story of Ada (Holly Hunter) a ...read the complete Piano movie review at Mr. Mikey's Video Views (J. Michael Dlugos)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.25 out of 4 stars for Bad Movie Night (Jennifer Valley)Bad Movie Night (Jennifer Valley)
Art is a highly subjective matter. In the local modern art museum (in these here parts), a man nailed a large peice of wood to the wall and sat on top of it. Someone snapped a photograph, and He went home to his bleak, miserable, ...read the complete Piano movie review at Bad Movie Night (Jennifer Valley)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.25 out of 4 stars for Roger A. RubioRoger A. Rubio
Allow me to digress so that I may describe what I believe a film to be and a movie to be (before I get any flames from die-hard JURASSIC fans). A movie is what I would consider to be pure entertainment with little or no artistic content (a la DIE HARD I ...read the complete Piano movie review at Roger A. Rubio
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
"Sweetie" and "An Angel at My Table" have taught us to expect startling as well as beautiful things from Jane Campion, and this assured and provocative third feature offers yet another lush parable--albeit a bit more calculated and commercially ...read the complete Piano movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
...read the complete Piano movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for TV Guide (Staff (Not Credited))TV Guide (Staff (Not Credited))
Campion's eye is extraordinary. She searches out the detail that makes the image, and the image that tells the story more eloquently than words ever could. ...read the complete Piano movie review at TV Guide (Staff (Not Credited))
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.05 out of 4 stars for Young Actress ReviewsYoung Actress Reviews
The Piano revolves around Ada (Holly Hunter), a mute Scottish woman who has been sent as a wife to New Zealand. Together with Ada travels her piano – Ada's only means for communication – and her eight year old daughter Flora (Anna Paquin). Ada's ...read the complete Piano movie review at Young Actress Reviews
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Steve RhodesSteve Rhodes
Saw THE PIANO (***) on Friday night. If you thought how wonderful it would be living in New Zealand a hundred years ago, this movie will disabuse you of that notion. This is a dark and depressing show about the evils of life. Depressing shows can be ...read the complete Piano movie review at Steve Rhodes
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Doug Pratt's Laserdisc ReviewDoug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Set in the wilds of New Zealand some time in the last century, The Piano stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Sam Neill. Director Jane Campion's tale of moral adultery is heaped in interpretative images, so that the objects and environments under ...read the complete Piano movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)
Jane Campion knows what she likes about New Zealand and has an eye for a shot. Her shots, for the most part, are a great deal more moving than the action taking place on screen. A lot's been said about the piano being a metaphor for this or that, but I ...read the complete Piano movie review at Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for ReelViews (James Berardinelli)ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
A solid motion picture with a universal message and occasional splashes of genius, but it is remarkable only as Holly Hunter's performance is concerned. ...read the complete Piano movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for moviediva, for the last word on classic filmsmoviediva, for the last word on classic films
Director Jane Campion's model for The Piano was Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. But, one reviewer thought if nonsense poet Edward Lear dreamed of sex, it would have looked like this. Campion aims at a neglected aspect of the Victorian age, its ...read the complete Piano movie review at moviediva, for the last word on classic films
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for ReelViews (James Berardinelli)ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The Piano is about passion, the most basic and primal element of human nature. No matter how thick the veneer of civilization is, or how deeply-buried beneath layers of social repression those latent emotions are, passion ultimately cannot be denied. ...read the complete Piano movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Mark R. LeeperMark R. Leeper
Holly Hunter plays Ada, a woman who has chosen at an early age to remain mute for reasons that even she does not understand. Already we can see that Ada gets caught up in situations where she does not understand her own behavior and motives. Rather than ...read the complete Piano movie review at Mark R. Leeper
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Time Out (--)Time Out (--)
Nineteenth century Scotland: Ada (Hunter) hasn't spoken since she was six. She communicates with hand signs, and doesn't consider herself silent, thanks to the joy she takes in playing her piano. But when she arrives in New Zealand for an arranged ...read the complete Piano movie review at Time Out (--)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Video Reviews with Joan EllisVideo Reviews with Joan Ellis
In "The Piano," Jane Campion transports the audience to another world and time immediately and with absolute precision. The gray of her New Zealand sea and sky is grayer, grander, more forbidding than our experience of it elsewhere. The stark image of ...read the complete Piano movie review at Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Dragan AntulovDragan Antulov
Last decade of this dying century was rather harsh for many people who used to live in my part of the world, especially if those people were civic-minded intellectuals or technocrats. For them, it was natural to seek happiness somewhere else and one spot ...read the complete Piano movie review at Dragan Antulov
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Doug Pratt's Laserdisc ReviewDoug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Set in the wilds of New Zealand some time in the last century, The Piano stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Sam Neill. Director Jane Campion's tale of moral adultery is heaped in interpretative images, so that the objects and environments under ...read the complete Piano movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Linda Lopez McAlister (c/o inforM Women's Studies)Linda Lopez McAlister (c/o inforM Women's Studies)
Jane Campion is, to my mind, the most interesting and accomplished of the very impressive younger generation of women filmmakers currently active on the international scene. Still in her thirties, the New Zealand-born writer and director has ...read the complete Piano movie review at Linda Lopez McAlister (c/o inforM Women's Studies)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for filmrezension.de (Dilek Akinci)filmrezension.de (Dilek Akinci)
Ada, die seit ihrer Kindheit stumm ist, reist im 19. Jahrhundert mit ihrer unehelichen Tochter Flora in das für sie unbekannte Neuseeland zu einer arrangierten Heirat mit Stewart. "Das Piano", zu Adas Gepäck gehörend und einziges Ausdrucksmittel ihrer ...read the complete Piano movie review at filmrezension.de (Dilek Akinci)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Movieline Magazine Movieline Magazine
The very best movies have not only a strong opening and a strong ending, but a strong spine that connects them. The Piano is a movie that has it all. Jane Campion has a gift for mysterious, almost preternatural images. Since she also wrote the script, ...read the complete Piano movie review at Movieline Magazine
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Apollo Movie Guide (Brian Webster)Apollo Movie Guide (Brian Webster)
This beautiful and unusual film follows a young woman (Holly Hunter), her little daughter (Anna Paquin) and her piano, who are sent from their 19th Century Scottish home to the wilds of New Zealand for an arranged marriage. Excellent performances. ...read the complete Piano movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Brian Webster)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.97 out of 4 stars for DVD TimesDVD Times
The mid-nineteenth century. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) has not spoken since the age of six. She is sent by her father from her native Glasgow to the South Island of New Zealand, accompanied by her young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano, ...read the complete Piano movie review at DVD Times
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.97 out of 4 stars for At-A-Glance Film ReviewsAt-A-Glance Film Reviews
The Piano is one of the most critically-acclaimed films of 1993, but I can't help feel that its value is over-estimated as a result of its literary appearance and quality. It's a solid film, to be sure. Holly Hunter turns in a spectacular performance as ...read the complete Piano movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.96 out of 4 stars for CultureDose.net (Rachel Gordon)CultureDose.net (Rachel Gordon)
...read the complete Piano movie review at CultureDose.net (Rachel Gordon)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.94 out of 4 stars for Movie-Vault.com (Tyler Cruz)Movie-Vault.com (Tyler Cruz)
While I enjoy slow-paced romantic movies, The Piano just left me tired and annoyed at the film for not giving me anything worthwhile to take from it. The Piano is about a mute woman who has been set up in an arranged marriage to a man in New Zealand. ...read the complete Piano movie review at Movie-Vault.com (Tyler Cruz)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.93 out of 4 stars for Guess the GrossGuess the Gross
The Piano is the story of Ada (Holly Hunter), a mute by choice who comes to New Zealand with her prepubescent daughter Flora (Paquin) to fulfill an arranged marriage to Stewart (Sam Neill). Husband and wife start off on the wrong foot right away when ...read the complete Piano movie review at Guess the Gross
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.91 out of 4 stars for Christian Spotlight on the MoviesChristian Spotlight on the Movies
The setting is the 19th century. The film opens with a cold, bleak shot of the New Zealand coast as Ada (Holly Hunter), accompanied by her 11-year-old daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), arrive from Scotland with a few possessions to an arranged marriage to ...read the complete Piano movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.88 out of 4 stars for The Sydney Morning Herald The Sydney Morning Herald
Writer director Jane Campion's exquisite study of repression and eroticism in 19th-century New Zealand is as lyrical today. Holly Hunter is the mute who rejects an arranged marriage with farmer Sam Neill for a forbidden liaison with his brooding ...read the complete Piano movie review at The Sydney Morning Herald
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.77 out of 4 stars for Deseret News, Salt Lake City Deseret News, Salt Lake City
"The Piano" is getting such uniform praise that I know this puts me in a distinct minority — in fact, maybe I'm alone. But despite elements that I found invigorating, most of the film left me cold. ...read the complete Piano movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.75 out of 4 stars for Chad PolenzChad Polenz
Allow me to digress so that I may describe what I believe a film to be and a movie to be (before I get any flames from die-hard JURASSIC fans). A movie is what I would consider to be pure entertainment with little or no artistic content (a la DIE HARD I ...read the complete Piano movie review at Chad Polenz
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.75 out of 4 stars for Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
The piano symbolises love, passion, beauty and better times in the distant past. It's a rather large memento, but Ada (Holly Hunter) must have it with her, even when she's sent from Scotland to an arranged marriage in the 19th Century bush of New ...read the complete Piano movie review at Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.75 out of 4 stars for New York Times (Vincent Canby)New York Times (Vincent Canby)
Don't let the mountains of superlatives that have already been heaped on "The Piano" put you off: Jane Campion's 19th-century love story lives up to its advance notices. Prepare for something very special. ...read the complete Piano movie review at New York Times (Vincent Canby)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.72 out of 4 stars for Edinburgh U Film Society (Neil Chue Hong)Edinburgh U Film Society (Neil Chue Hong)
Arriving in nineteenth century New Zealand with her two prize possessions, her daughter and her piano, Ada (Holly Hunter) finds herself trapped into a restrictive arranged marriage with landowner Sam McNeill who leaves her beloved piano, on arrival, at ...read the complete Piano movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Neil Chue Hong)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.71 out of 4 stars for CinemaZone.dkCinemaZone.dk
1800-tallet. Skotske Ada er stum. Det er ikke hendes munds stemme, vi hører i voice-over i filmens indledning. Det er hendes sjæls. Ada er lovet bort til en ukendt handelsmand i en gudsforladt newzealandsk flække. Med sig bringer hun sit klaver og sin ...read the complete Piano movie review at CinemaZone.dk
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.69 out of 4 stars for Spirituality & Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)Spirituality & Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
In the middle of the 19th century, Ada (Holly Hunter) is a Scottish widow who has not talked since she was six years old. Her silence veils a deeply passionate and willful nature. She speaks in sign language with her nine-year-old daughter Flora (Anna ...read the complete Piano movie review at Spirituality & Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.59 out of 4 stars for DVDBeaver DVDBeaver
Ada (Hunter), a severe-expressioned, handsome woman, has just arrived in New Zealand with 9-year-old, illegitimate daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), luggage and her precious piano in tow. By arrangement, she is to marry Stewart (Sam Neill), a genial, ...read the complete Piano movie review at DVDBeaver
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.57 out of 4 stars for World Socialist Web SiteWorld Socialist Web Site
n Jane Campion's film The Piano, mute Scottish widow Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) and her child take themselves off to New Zealand in 1852 to start a new life. Ada and her stuffy, but earnest, new husband Stewart (Sam Neill) do not hit it off. She does, ...read the complete Piano movie review at World Socialist Web Site
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.53 out of 4 stars for Boston Review (Alan A. Stone)Boston Review (Alan A. Stone)
THERE IS A MOMENT in The Piano when the crazed husband takes an axe and chops off his wife's finger. We do not see the awful blow, but both times I watched the film the audience gasped and a few women hurried from the theater. It is a disturbing but ...read the complete Piano movie review at Boston Review (Alan A. Stone)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.51 out of 4 stars for Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Jane Campion's pet themes and ideas never came together with more physical clarity and emotional resonance than they did with her 1993 masterpiece The Piano. A mute Scottish woman, Ada (Holly Hunter), and her daughter (Anna Paquin) arrive by boat in a ...read the complete Piano movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Piano, The (1993) scores a combined 2.50 out of 4 stars for Chad PolenzChad Polenz
Taking into consideration the elements that make up "The Piano," you'll realize it's not much more than a Victorian soap opera full of passion, seduction, sex, and violence. It's interesting and well acted, but it's just OK and not ...read the complete Piano movie review at Chad Polenz
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Piano, The (1993) Reviews
Piano, The (1993)

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.2708
Piano, The (1993) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.1867
Piano, The (1993) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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