First off, an apology for the forthcoming review. I watched the film three months ago, and have gotten so far behind on my post writing that I've not had any real desire to review it, as to be honest it wasn't that inspirational of a film. Nonetheless, I shall do my best, but I'm relying almost solely on the notes I made during the movie, as I can't for the life of me remember very much of it. As you can probably guess, this isn't going to be much of a recommendation to watch the film.
Holly Hunter plays Ada McGrath, a woman who, aged six, willed herself mute, and has since never spoken a word. She moves from Scotland to New Zealand for an arranged marriage with Sam Neill's landowner/writer Alisdair, and brings her young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin in her first live action picture) and their piano, Ada's pride and joy. Neill is less than impressed with his new bride-to-be ("You're small, I never thought you'd be small"), and refuses to cart her piano across the difficult swampland between the beach and his home, so they abandon it on the sand, much to Ada's discontent. Fortunately local plantation worker George Baines (Harvey Keitel) takes a shine to Ada, and trades some land with Alisdair for the piano, and agrees to trade it back to Ada in return for 'piano lessons,' during which George will get to know Ada far more intimately than she'd like.
