Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2002
Journal Title or Book Title
Cinema & Culture: Independent Film in the United States, 1980-2001
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
Permission has been granted to include this PDF. Please check the CC license below for use restrictions. Full book may be found on the publisher's website at https://www.peterlang.com/view/product/69142?rskey=5QYOr4&result=1
Abstract
The voice Stewart (Sam Neill) hears in his head is Ada's (Holly Hunter) "mind's voice" which the audience hears twice: in voice-over narration at the opening and closing of The Piano. The otherwise mute Ada describes her mind's voice to nine-year-old Flora (Anna Paquin) while attempting to explain the disappearance of the child's father. The scene is subtitled for the audience as mother communicates with daughter in sign language. Ada tells Flora that she did not need to speak with him (he remained unnamed) as she could, instead, lay her thoughts in his mind, "like they were a sheet." They were never married, however, because he got frightened and stopped listening.
Related Pillar(s)
Study
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Pribram, E. Deidre Ph.D., "Psychic Cleavage: Reading the Art Against the Politics in Independent Film" (2002). Faculty Works: COM (1993-2016). 14.
https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/com_fac/14
Included in
Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons
