Written by Edith Manfred. Photos by Olivia Longoria.
“The Piano Lesson,” a story of family legacy and generational trauma, was shown in Trustees Theater on Oct. 26th. This film was adapted from American playwright August Wilson’s 1987 stage production of “The Piano Lesson” and it carried his legacy from the stage onto the screen. The panel discussion with director Malcolm Washington and the star cast members after the screening gave insight into the process it took to create the film.
Set in Pittsburgh in 1936, the movie chronicles the lives of the Charles family as their immediate family reunites and faces a difficult decision: what to do with their heirloom piano. The piano was stolen in 1911 by their enslaved ancestors from their slave owners in Mississippi and it has been passed down through the generations to current matriarch Bernice. As they grapple with this decision, Bernice and her brother, Boy Willie, painfully uncover the emotional significance the piano holds for both of them. For Bernice it’s a symbol of both family tradition and childhood trauma, as her mother claimed that Bernice’s piano playing helped her talk to her deceased father’s spirit. In contrast, Boy Willie is not emotionally attached and wants to sell the piano to buy land to start a farm back in Mississippi. Meanwhile, Bernice and her daughter Aretha have been having eerie encounters with a spiritual presence that’s haunting their home.
The conflict between Bernice and Boy Willie takes the form of a series of arguments throughout the film, crescendoing into a cacophony of yelling and tears before the final scene. Finally, with the help of other family members and a pastor, they summon the ghost out of the piano through Bernice’s playing and much prayer. The two siblings are like planets in orbit who can never leave each other, but they can also never collide with each other as they’re connected by a deep love.
Through its captivating music and eerily hypnotic visuals, “The Piano Lesson” speaks to many themes under the umbrella of family legacy. It explores the family history that music can hold, as well as the generational trauma that was incurred by slavery in the American South. The film blends West African cultural tradition with deep South religious practices to paint a picture of the African American experience at that point in history.
Bernice’s staunch opposition to all of the men in her family paints a picture of women’s value in society during that time period. When arguing with her family’s pastor about the value of marriage for women versus men, her question “How much woman am I?” expresses the underlying feminist message of her character. Bernice stands up for her family’s tradition, no matter how painful the Charles family’s past is. While she struggles to confront the childhood trauma associated with playing their piano, she stays loyal to what she believes to be important for the family, which is remembering and honoring their past.
Despite these heavy topics, the film is not without its laughable moments. Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of Doaker Charles often lightens the mood in the story’s scariest or most tense moments. The balance of humor, music and conflict gives the story a cadence that keeps the viewer engaged and curious. Likewise, the cadence of the movie has a musicality to it, as the dialogue ebbs and flows with the story. Dialogue intermixed with singing helps tell the story of the piano and its significance.
As a story centered around family, it’s poignant that “The Piano Lesson” was Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut alongside his brother John David Washington, who plays Boy Willie. Washington was inspired by August Wilson’s original 1987 play “The Piano Lesson” and the cast and crew’s reverence for that original work is clear in the film. At the panel discussion after the showing, all of the actors spoke about having their own individual experiences with August Wilson’s theatre works and having been touched by his portrayal of the African American experience.
When figuring out how to tell this painful story, Washington said, “Sometimes when there’s something that’s so traumatic, the only way to express it is instrument. The music genre has a way to get to a deeper idea, a larger idea. That was central to our take on this.”
The shift from Broadway to film was a difficult one for Washington to navigate within this story, but through the process he learned to combine many emotional ideas into one collaborative piece. Washington spoke of wanting to reconcile the past with the future and balance these ideas to get to the truth of the story—the Black experience. Through the film format he was able to capture nuance and sit more deeply with the subject matter in a way that stage productions can struggle to be patient with.
Ultimately, “The Piano Lesson” tells a story about family. It paints a historical picture of a family confronting both each other and their past in order to reconcile with trauma and ambition. Through a crescendo of conflict, they connect with each other in order to heal wounds and face the evil in their past and present. The cast deservedly received the Ensemble Award from the SCAD Savannah Film Festival for their portrayal of the Charles family.
Edith is a Documentary Photography major with a minor in Art History, as well as a part of Cross Country and Track & Field teams. Outside of writing and taking photos for District, you’ll probably find her running long distances on the streets of Savannah, updating her blog, or talking about that new podcast she just listened to… again.
