I went and saw a movie this evening at the Michigan Theater, and on the walk over I thought of the last time I was there-which was last Labor Day and I saw Casablanca for the first time-and I thought of the first time I was there...
It was the winter of 1994. It was a dark and cold night. The middle of February in Michigan is usually dark and cold! I remember sitting in my apartment-bored and not wanting to sit alone watching tv-so I looked in the newspaper that Sunday evening and found the movie The Piano was playing in the Michigan Theater. It gave the address and I knew the location. So despite not having been there before, but having driven around it many times I bundled up and went out into the cold night. The Michigan Theater was not so much warmer inside as the outside that night. I sat near the front on a side aisle, and watched the previews and anxiously waited for the film to start.
The Piano was an excellent film. It starred Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin, Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel. It presents a story where the heroine has lost her husband-and the daughter has a very interesting story on how her father died, as well as why he mother does not speak! Hunter moves to the other side of the world to marry and brings her daughter with her. The film was interesting and the ending was very symbolic-depending on which one you saw. Apparently there were two endings-one where Hunter dies and one where she does not. I was fortunate to see the revised version where she did not die, and it made the movie much more symbolic, rather than depressing.
I don’t know if this movie will ever be released again, but it’s worth seeing if you enjoy drama and aren’t looking for a Hollywood movie with a lot of guns, drugs and violence.
The Piano
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107822/
Amazon.com-the Piano [1993]
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Holly-Hunter/dp/0784011176/ref=sr_1_5/103-3049609-4562242?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1190263305&sr=1-5
Thursday September 20th, 2007
