The Piano Lesson

When a gifted playwright’s work is adapted for the big screen, the transition from one medium to another can be quite challenging to pull off successfully. And, if the adaptation gets it wrong, it fails to do justice to the source material, an outcome that often unfairly reinforces the blanket denigration often accorded to film as an “inferior” artform compared to others (like literature or the stage). Such is the case, unfortunately, with this latest adaptation of work drawn from the writings of August Wilson, a stage-to-screen cross-over comes up short compared to previous conversions of his material (like “Fences” (2016), which succeeded brilliantly). This tale of two siblings (John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler) who match wits over the fate of a family heirloom – a piano with a hand-carved façade featuring images of their slave era ancestors – depicts their heated discussions over its ultimate dispensation, one option aimed at selling it and the other bent on retaining it as a treasured piece of family history. As this scenario plays out, however, complications emerge when the ghosts of their deceased relatives and other spirits make their surreal presence known in steering the quarrelsome brother and sister to settle the matter. It’s an intriguing premise, one that speaks volumes about dealing with the ghosts of one’s past, what they endured in their lives and how the impact of their experiences has been passed down to their descendants. But many of the film’s scenes fall prey to one of the key pitfalls that often undermine theatrical adaptations – a series of overlong, stagey, tediously talky conversations that may work on Broadway but that try the patience of viewers on screen. What’s more, many sequences launch into seemingly unrelated exchanges whose connections to the primary narrative often seem tangential at best, segments that are further undermined by loquacious and not particularly interesting dialogues. And, as for the fantasy sequences, their excessively disparate nature is wholly incongruous with the remainder of the film, looking more like they belong in a movie like “Carrie” (1976) than an August Wilson production. While writer-director Malcolm Washington’s debut feature definitely has its strong suits, such as its fine ensemble of performances, inventive cinematography and meticulous period piece production design, it lacks the integral components needed to make this a compelling and engaging watch. To be sure, August Wilson deserves better than what’s materialized here, a film that’s largely forgettable and a pale shadow of his other cinematic adaptations.

'The Piano Lesson', despite peaks and troughs, is largely a good watch. I could feel my interest increase and decrease fairly consistently throughout though, so no doubting more could've been done to keep me more interested - but that I still was, in fairness. John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson are two that perform well, but the person that I would rank as the standout is Danielle Deadwyler - great performance! I didn't actually know her 24 hours ago, though I do now after this and 'Carry-On'. Michael Potts merits props, too. It does feature a noteworthy enough story, the music is decent and there are some solid moments in there - the rendition of "Berta, Berta" with Jackson & Co. particularly stands out in my memory. I now see that this is based on a play, which is indeed very apparent in a few scenes.