The Piano Lesson
This is the conflict at the heart of "The Piano Lesson," an adaptation of the 1987 play by August Wilson. The movie opens in 1906 as the Charles family makes off with a piano from the estate at which they are enslaved. 30 years later, Boy Willie (John David Washington) blows into town to visit his sister Bernice (Danielle Deadwyler) and try to convince her to sell the piano that now sits in her house. The piano is a powerful symbol for both of them, the polished wood intricately decorated with carved images of their ancestors, serving as reminder of their family’s achievement and sacrifice.
For Boy Willie, the piano also represents a bright new future. He has saved up a little bit of money, and with additional proceeds from selling the valuable piano, he plans to buy a piece of the same land his family once worked as slaves, taking it back for the family and starting a farm of their own, beholden to no one but themselves. For Bernice, the piano is a window to the past, reminding her of all that her parents endured so that subsequent generations could be free. For her, it is priceless and not for sale.
Much of the movie is the siblings bickering, pleading, and remembering. Bernice is happy to live in her home with her uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson) and young daughter. She is less than enthused to see Boy Willie and his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) around the house, knowing that trouble follows them wherever they go. There is an easy chemistry between the actors, creating a warm and believable family atmosphere. While Bernice and Boy Willie argue, Doaker smiles and shakes his head almost directly to the audience like we are in the room with them, as if to say, "these two again, am I right?" Family friends like Wining Boy Charles (Michael Potts) and Pastor Brown (Corey Hawkins) come and go, creating a busy bustle around the house and tell stories of family history.
It's these moments of shared history that provide the best cinematic moments, giving debut director Malcolm Washington (Denzel's son and John David's brother) a chance to flex his muscles and break up long stretches of conversation in a mostly single-room setting. The piano heist is filmed in conjunction with a 4th of July fireworks show, providing the only light, bursting with bright color with each explosion before fading into darkness, all while covering the movement of the Charles family. In another standout scene, the men sit around a table in conversation before breaking into a soulful prison song, the camera punctuating each foot stomp and hand clap, the sounds elevated to roar like thunder. It's a goosebump-inducing moment similar in raw emotional power to that famous group acapella moment in "Small Axe: Lover's Rock."
As we learn more about the family's history, the piano begins to take on a supernatural significance, both figuratively and literally. Bernice hasn't even played the piano since her mother died, and convinced their ancestors' spirts live inside. Both siblings come to believe that the ghost of the white man who owned their family (and recently passed away) is right upstairs, here to get his piano back and take revenge on the family. This all culminates in an extremely powerful climax that pits the family's shared psychological trauma against everything holding them back from moving on, with the piano right in the middle of it. It's a perfect visualization of finally being able to see how your heritage and your past can and will continue to guide you in ways that you never realized.
It seems appropriate that this movie is a personal and family affair for the people making the movie as well, with Malcom Washington directing, John David starring, and Denzel producing. The Washingtons have vowed to continue playwright August Wilson's legacy by adapting his plays for a wider audience; this is the third adaptation they have made happen following Wilson's death, including "Fences" (2016) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020). You can feel the care and love that the Washington's have for the material, and Malcom does a terrific job on his film debut by making "The Piano Lesson" feel fresh and vibrant, even for a project so rooted in the past.
I've never been quite sold on John David Washington as an actor; he tends to play things a lot more subdued than I would like, resulting in some characters pretty light on charisma. That's not a problem here, as he gets a much more energetic role and subsequently delivers some of the best work of his career. While the Washington family might get most of the headlines, its Danielle Deadwyler that really steals the show. Deadwyler, robbed of an Oscar nomination for Till (2022), is an absolute powerhouse in every scene she's in (which is thankfully a lot of them), effortlessly going from stern to gentle, confident rage to vulnerable fear, often within seconds of each other. She just has "it", drawing the eye even when surrounded by more famous co-stars.
Movies that are adaptations of stage plays might alienate (or outright bore) some people -- the movie is a lot of people in a room talking, that is true -- but Malcolm Washington and the excellent cast have created a captivating, and at times visually arresting, piece of work.
