The Piano Lesson
August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is brought to the screen a second time, but remains a rather stagey experience.
Something to talk about: Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Ray Fisher
Image courtesy of Netflix.
Of course, a piano is not just a piano. For the Charles family it symbolises many things: an heirloom, a work of art, an escape from poverty, a bone of contention – even a musical instrument. In 1911, the father of Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), rescued it from the plantation where he served as a slave, before being burned alive by white thugs. To this day, the high relief carvings of the faces of Berniece’s family peering out over the keyboard hold a strong resonance for her. Then, one night out of the blue, her brother Boy Willie turns up at her house in Pittsburgh with every intention of selling the heirloom. His arrival, along with his best friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) from Mississippi, sparks a confrontation of tears and memories, as the family determines how best to resolve their differences.
Deploying much of the original cast from the 2022 Broadway revival of August Wilson’s 1987 play, the film is quite the family affair. Produced by Denzel Washington, it marks the feature directorial debut of Denzel’s son Malcolm Washington and stars his other son, John David Washington, as Boy Willie. However, the true standout in a strong cast is Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece, a woman attempting to bring up her young daughter Maretha (Skylar Aleece Smith) while burying the ghost of her past, in particular a very real manifestation of a white slave trader who died in mysterious circumstances, having plunged down a well (and may have been pushed…).
As Berniece’s Uncle Doaker, Samuel L. Jackson lends solid support, although the rest of the ensemble tends towards the theatrical. There is an attempt in the 1911 prologue to bring a cinematic flourish to the proceedings, but the later scenes, set in 1936, are unable to shed their stagey origins. As a record of the play, though, it is a commendable stab at the work, although it fails to generate the thespian fireworks of the last two August Wilson film adaptations, Fences (2016) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020).
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith, Danielle Deadwyler, Corey Hawkins, Jerrika Hinton, Gail Bean, Stephan James, Pauletta Washington, Olivia Washington.
Dir Malcolm Washington, Pro Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Ex Pro Katia Washington, Screenplay Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams, Ph Mike Gioulakis, Pro Des David J. Bomba, Ed Leslie Jones, Music Alexandre Desplat, Costumes Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, Sound Ando Johnson, Harry Cohen and Benjamin L. Cook.
Mundy Lane Entertainment-Netflix.
127 mins. USA. 2024. UK and US Rel: 22 November 2024. Cert. 12A.
