The third film in Denzel Washington’s long-term project to bring the plays of August Wilson to the screen (after Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), The Piano Lesson is directed by Denzel’s son Malcolm, and features a stellar turn by Malcolm’s older brother, John David Washington. We are in Pittsburgh, 1936. Boy Willie (John David Washington) shows up unannounced at the home of his widowed sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler). He brings with him a friend — Lymon (Ray Fisher) — a truckload of watermelons, and a plan to capitalize on the ornately carved piano that sits, neglected, in the living room. Berniece, however, is having none of it.
Aside from a prologue set in 1911 and a handful of brief flashbacks to slavery times, the action is predominantly restricted to the family parlour; the stage origins are obvious. But that’s no drawback when the dialogue is so richly marbled with resonant ideas, flavourful character, and emotional conflict. Wilson is grappling with the legacy of trauma, here, with different ways of coping with grief and exorcizing the past. It’s a riveting piece, superbly performed.
Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith
USA
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Jennifer Roth, Constanza Romero Wilson, Katia Washington
Producer
Denzel Washington, Todd Black
Screenwriter
Virgil Williams, Malcolm Washington
Cinematography
Michael Gioulakis
Editor
Leslie Jones
Production Design
David J. Bomba
Original Music
Alexandre Desplat
Malcolm Washington
Malcolm Washington is a Los Angeles-born filmmaker known for his award-winning short Benny Got Shot (2016). After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the American Film Institute, he has produced the short films Summer of ’17 (2017) and The Dispute (2019), and the feature North Hollywood (2021). The Piano Lesson is his feature film directorial debut.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Straight Story
David Lynch goes a different direction in this linear Midwestern about a septuagenarian (Richard Farnsworth) who drives nearly 400km on a lawnmower to visit his ailing brother (Harry Dean Stanton).
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Franz
Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.