Shadows on the Wall | The Piano Lesson

The Piano Lesson

dir Malcolm Washington
scr Virgil Williams, Malcolm Washington
prd Todd Black, Denzel Washington
with Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, Michael Potts, Skylar Aleece Smith, Stephan James, Erykah Badu, Malik J Ali, Charity Jordan, Isaiah Gunn
release US/UK 8.Nov.24
24/US Netflix 2h05

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August Wilson's beefy play is adapted for the big screen by producer Denzel Washington and his children: director-cowriter Malcolm, actor John David and producer Katia. It's a great-looking film with punchy emotions and rich themes. But even with clever cinematic touches it feels oddly stagebound, largely due to heightened theatrical performances. This makes the film feel pushy as it explores vivid ideas about the nature of legacy and identity.

In 1936 Mississippi, Boy Willie (Washington) and his pal Lymon (Fisher) head to Pittsburgh to sell a truckload of watermelons. Boy Willie also wants his sister Berniece (Deadwyler) to sell the piano their father (James in flashbacks) stole 25 years ago. He wants the cash to buy the land their ancestors worked as slaves, while she wants to keep it because it's carved with their family history. Berniece and her daughter (Smith) live with Uncle Doaker (Jackson), whose brother Wining Boy (Potts) drops in for a visit. And Berniece thinks she saw a ghost upstairs.

While almost everything happens in Doaker's living room, Malcolm Washington skilfully adds flickers of flashbacks to evoke events that have a hold on these people. Each takes a different approach to their family history, with the extremes being Boy Willie's refusal to look back and Berniece's struggle to look to the future. While pretty much everything in this story symbolises something much larger, the interaction is beautifully written, as humour and emotion reveal colourful details.

The cast is uniformly excellent, even if performances are too highly pitched for a movie screen. This makes more emotional moments feel melodramatic, making it tricky to keep up with the cleverly worded dialog. Deadwyler is the heart and soul of the film, anchoring everything in her big-hearted role. And Washington has a kinetic energy that's fascinating, as if Boy Willie is desperate to crush the past entirely. Fisher has enormous charm as the shy Lymon, while Potts gets the most comical moments. And Hawkins brings sharply distinct energy as a preacher wooing Berniece.

Overflowing with thematic resonance, this is a powerful fable that grapples with the nature of history and justice, weaving important topicality into the people themselves as they interact in pointed ways. Played at such a fever pitch, this film adaptation makes all of this feel overstated. That doesn't take away from Wilson's words or the skilled filmmakers and performers, but it definitely makes it more difficult for the urgent central ideas to resonate with the audience.

themes, language 12.Oct.2024 lff

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