Jane Campion was the first female director to win the Palme d’Or. She won with The Piano, a tale of a mute woman’s rebellion in a newly colonised, Victorian-era New Zealand. Holly Hunter picked up an Oscar for her performance as Ada McGrath who hadn’t spoken a word since she was six but expresses herself through piano playing. Sold into marriage by her father, Ada finds herself in New Zealand, unhappily married and without her piano. With the help of her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), Ada makes a bid to retrieve her piano only to find it is held hostage by a man who has a romantic interest in her. With an award-winning soundtrack from Michael Nyman, and accolades for the acting and script too, this screening is not one to be missed.
- Words by
- Hannah Clugston