The Piano (1993)

After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.

• 19th century
• adultery
• arranged marriage
• beach
• culture clash
• eroticism
• isolation
• jealousy
• love triangle
• maori
• mother daughter relationship
• mute
• new zealand
• piano
• piano lessons
• playing piano
• secret love
• settler
• severed finger
• sexuality
• sign languages
• strangeness
• violent husband
• wilderness
• woman director