Denzel Washington is known for some of the most memorable roles in film history. He clearly passed on his pursuit of excellence as an actor and producer to his children as his youngest son, Malcom Washington, makes his directorial debut with The Piano Lesson. This movie is an adaptation of the 1987 stage play written by August Wilson which tells the story of ancestorial lineage as relatives go head-to-head over a family heirloom. The original playwright was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and nominated for 5 Tony Awards for its Broadway run. Now, Malcom Washington’s contribution is already catching Oscar buzz for its beautiful cinematography, intense screenwriting, and its amazingly talented cast. The Washington family came together as a team for this project, with Denzel Washington and Katia Washington producing and co-producing, and John David Washington starring in a lead role.
The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburg around the end of The Great Depression and tells the story of the Charles family. Much of the film focuses on conflict amongst the trio, Boy Willie, played by John David Washington, Bernice Charles, played by Danielle Deadwyler, and Doaker Charles, played by Samuel L. Jackson. The Charles family have a heavily traumatic past, coming from a lineage of slavery, and are forced to confront that past throughout the film. Bernice is a soft spoken, timid woman with strong spiritual beliefs who’s mother made her practice playing the piano daily on a piano inherited by her mother. Her mother’s former slaveowner traded two slaves for the piano. An artist carved the faces of the entire Charles family into the wooden piano. Although this history made Bernice feel connected to her family, she was simultaneously repulsed by the energy and memories it held.
Boy Willie, played by John David Washington is an ambitious hustler with big plans. He understands the sentimental value behind the piano, but when the owner of the home they were once enslaved on passed away, Boy Willie sees it as the perfect opportunity to buy the 100 acres then sell it for profit. To get the money, he plans to sell the piano. Bernice believes it’s important to keep the family legacy by preserving the piano, meanwhile Boy Willie believes it’s important use the piano as a tool to improve their lives, and the lives of generations after them. Their debates over the piano escalate to a boiling point, causing Bernice to experience spiritual and emotional turmoil that Boy Willie foolishly assumes is just her being dramatic. Mysterious sightings become unsettling to the point of them needing to call on help from Preacher Avery Brown, played by Corey Hawkings.
Samuel L. Jackson made his Broadway debut as Boy Willie in the 1990 tour of The Piano Lesson. Now, Jackson plays Doaker Charles, the Uncle who tries to help but ultimately stays on the fence of the budding feud. Jackson spoke with Next Best Picture about the differences between performing this classic piece on stage and performing it on film.
“Film is difficult because you don’t have that immediate feedback you have from the audience when you’re doing a play. When were on stage, we can hear them sigh, hear them laugh, we can hear them mumble or say something back to us, we feel all that energy. When you’re on a filmset its quiet. People don’t applauds when you finish, you just think ‘I know I killed it right?’” It’s hard to imagine that a seasoned actor of Jackson’s caliber would second guess his own performance, but with the responses audiences have given over this movie its safe to say he can assure he did his part well. One of the producers, Todd Black, made mention in the same event that he had complete confidence in this movie being a hit. He understood Washington’s vision and excitedly joined the project knowing they were paying full respect to one of August Wilson’s greatest pieces of work. “Malcom had a literate way of making it cinematic. There’s only so much you can do on a stage. They did it beautifully on stage, but he had a way of telling it that was so cinematic and we really wanted to make sure that we could build on each movie, and pay the respect of August Wilson as the playwright, and at the same time service the film as a film. He told the story beautifully.”
The Piano Lesson is only being shown in select theaters but has already won the Audience Prize at Newport Beach Film Festival, and the Breakthrough and Spotlight Awards in Chicago. The title is an idiom, seemingly about a basic piano lesson but it’s really about the lessons each character learns as they fight for personal vindications. The dialogue is heavy in this movie, with the characters giving exaggerated inflections and the type of vocal cadence you usually hear only in stage plays or live television performances. Anything with Samuel L. Jackson in it is bound to have a ton of cursing, no matter what the topic is. Be prepared to hear some hard “ER’s” as Jackson tells stories about the piano. Erykah Badu is listed as a character, but don’t expect much; she’s a singer in one scene. The Piano Lesson carried heavy messages about black culture, processing grief, and what is the real meaning of preserving a legacy. The climax of the film was a bit too real for me. If you’re a faithful church-goer who is offended by ritualistic practices, this might end up being disturbing and scary for you. The impressive camerawork, done by Mike Gioulakis, (Us) set the scenes and pulls the audience back and forth into each characters emotionally driven monologues. The story buildup was a little slow, however, the storyline was good, the script was thought-provoking, the few songs that were sung were catchy, and the acting was consistent. This movie wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but technically, I can see the value of this work and agree with the hype of The Piano Lesson being an Oscar-worthy production. I give it a 9 out of 10.
