Review: Denzel Washington’s Children Discover a Disturbing Family History in August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson’

An heirloom piano takes on great significance for one family in 1936 in Pittsburgh at the house of August Wilson “Piano Lesson”. Generational bonds also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in the footsteps of his father, Denzel Washington, by helping bring the whole lot of The Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of 10 plays, to the screen.

Malcolm Washington didn’t start from scratch in his sensible feature film debut. He acquired many of the solid of the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in art, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such wealthy material and a solid for whom it’s second nature, it’s difficult to assume that something will go flawed. Jackson’s history with the humanities dates back to 1987, when he played the role of Boy Willie.

Making a show feel cinematic isn’t the simplest thing to do, but Malcolm Washington was as much as the duty. His film opens the world of the Charles family beyond the front room. In fact, this adaptation Washington co-wrote “Muddy” screenwriter Virgil Williams goes beyond Wilson’s text and shows us the past and origins of the intricately engraved piano that’s the centerpiece of the entire affair. It even opens with a large, action-packed set from 1911, during which a piano is stolen from the house of a white family. Another expands on Doaker’s monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, to Fisher’s Lymon and the audience, the thing’s tortured history. While it might have been nice to maintain the camera on Jackson because he was such a great, establishing presence throughout, the excellent news is that he really makes the narrative shine as well.

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Wilson purists will definitely have their opinions on these artistic selections; However, they allowed the film to breathe a bit, providing a moment of respite from the front room with the looming piano. Most of the film takes place there, in 1936. Boy Willie and Lymon descend uninvited early one morning at the house of Berniece and her Uncle Doaker in Pittsburgh. It’s a family reunion with a plan: They’ve arrived north of the Mississippi in a truck filled with watermelons, and Willie, Berniece’s younger brother, desires to sell the watermelons after which the piano. The dusty, old instrument is a probability for him to depart the past behind and begin the longer term. With this money he desires to buy the land where his enslaved ancestors worked. Berniece has one other idea concerning the piano, which is to maintain it. It’s a connection to the past, not an anchor. Plus, it may be haunted.

Yes, “The Piano Lesson,” in theaters Friday and streaming on Netflix November 22, isn’t just a meditation on family history. It’s also a literal ghost story, with creaks, apparitions and shadows lurking when the piano is disturbed. Deadwyler is electrifying as Berniece, who carries the burden of haunting as she walks on eggshells in life, attempting to take care of her young daughter and heading off the applications of men who assume she may be fulfilled with only one by her side. Now he must deal together with his barely crazy brother, who, as Doaker properly reminds us, could also be right. Perhaps the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will make up for it their disregard for her performance in ‘Till’ with this bend.

Whether or not you are acquainted with Wilson’s Pittsburgh series, The Piano Lesson is a worthwhile, engaging and moving watch filled with charismatic performers. Talent is not all the time hereditary, however the Washington family is committed to proving otherwise. And with “Fences”,“Ma Rainey’s Black Ass” and now “The Piano Lesson” – they’re making an impression with a daring and impressive project that has probably been a very long time coming. Only seven more to go.

“The Piano Lesson,” which hits theaters on Netflix starting Friday and may be streamed on Nov. 22, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “strong language, violent content, suggestive references and smoking.” Duration: 125 minutes. Three stars out of 4.