5.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 09/07/2008

A real peice of art this movie is beautifuly put together with an outstanding soundtrack. deffinatly for the adult viewer however just devine acting and a beautiful story of romance. My husband didnt seem to enjoy it as much as i did but would definatly watch again 5 stars for me.

3.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 21/06/2007

really did not enjoy this film. we had to watch it in english class, and it was pretty disturbing. not really suitable for teenagers, is all i can say. apart from the sex scenes however, the story was quite romantic and touching, and it will be great to analyse for the end of year exams. probably more of an adult movie however, i think mature audiences would be able to appreciate it better.

4.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 07/06/2007

Before the plethora of Peter Jackson films hit the world cinemas, there was really only one notable movie out there which put New Zealand on the cinematic map. This is it.

The Piano is a hauntingly beautiful story, with superb acting (including what is clearly one of the best performances ever given by a child star), a gorgeous soundtrack, and a beautiful setting. The plot has literary merit, while remaining believable.

As said in other reviews, this is definitely not intended for the younger audience. But for everyone else, it is a gem.

5.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 31/05/2007

great great movie!! one of those real NZ classics, that shows the true horrors of what it would have been like to arrive in NZ at the time of colonialism! soem great acting from holly hunter (ada) and anna paquin ( flora), they both got academy awards for this i think. a great movie to study, as there are loads of themes in it, and also some good symbolism. some really shocking scenes at the end, and some quite explicit sex scenes, but all in all an amazing movie!

5.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 01/04/2007

I had to study this movie for an English class i took and though i didn't like it at first, it really started to grow on me. it takes a bit to understand the characters which made them rather off putting to begin with because they werent really likeable, until the very end when you finally understand. And after watching this I will never see Sam Neil in the same light. Very disturbed.

4.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 13/02/2007

A very slow moving and challenging film. Very bleak scenery (yet strangely beautiful) , bleak cinematography and bleak story. The story of a mute woman, what an acting challenge that is! No dialogue yet she manages to humanise this woman to such a degree that we can know her feelings and understand her motivations and struggle, sensational acting.

4.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 31/01/2007

This is a very visual Australian production based in New Zealand. It's a romance like no other. You may find it disturbing, wrong or sick or might like it for what it is - an original film.

It's all about a mute woman, with her daughter, travels to New Zealand to marry a man. She plays the piano, but they can't bring it with them so she makes a deal with a tattooed stranger who will give her her piano back - one key per visit, if he can do things to her while she plays.
It might seem wrong, but the film is very good.

The M15+ Rating is a joke. There is a lot of Nudity - Both Female and Male - Full frontal. The sex scenes seem very realistic and some people may find it as pornographic. It should be atleast MA15+.

I REALLY Liked this film - For it's originality and it's brilliance and for some moments of brilliance.

It may be disturbing at times or frightening.

It was directed from the Director of In The Cut, which was said to be Art-House Porn. If you've seen that, you'd know what kind of themes and sexual scenes to expect.

4.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 20/01/2007

this is a really interesting movie, but i must say that i prefer the book, as it is easier to understand what is going on when you are reading about it. there are some amazing shots of nz, you can really see how primitive it must have seemed when they all got off the ship. this tale is a real must see, it aids with imagining the book too

5.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 03/01/2007

This is a haunting, almost ethereal movie that is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack. It must've been very difficult for them to write and film with a lead character who cannot speak, but they covered that with Holly Hunter narrating as the inner voice of Ada. This is a beautiful film, the New Zealand landscape is very lush and mysterious.

This was a brave film as it was one of the first (non porno) to feature a full-frontal nude male. Too bad it's Harvey Keitel. Otherwise, this is a great movie - probably more for the older generation than our acid-high action and sex kids.

3.0 out of 5 based on 17 reviews. – Customer review on 12/12/2006

Strange story about a mute woman and her daughter who, with her beloved piano, travel to early NZ for an arranged marriage with a wealthy landowner, only to fall for Harvey Keitel with Maori tattoos --- why would anyone as beautiful as Holly Hunter fall for Harvey Keitel? Please...

The NZ landscape is rugged and beautiful...

The Piano won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and also garnered Oscars for Hunt, young Anna Paquin, and for Kiwi Jane Campion's screenplay