By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Eugenio Mira
Starring: Alex Winter | Allen Leach | Don McManus | Elijah Wood | John Cusack | Kerry Bishé | Tamsin Egerton
Country: spain
Year: 2014
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2039345/combined
Jason says: “GRAND PIANO is evidence that, with enough creativity and energy, a clever filmmaker can make an exciting thriller out of what may seem like unlikely activities and situations. In this case, it’s a man playing classical piano before a hushed auditorium, and the very improbability of the situation makes the whole thing exhilaratingly unpredictable.
“The pianist in question is Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood), arguably the most brilliant of his generation, though he has not played in public for five years after a disastrous recital of one of his mentor’s most difficult pieces. Tonight, though, he’s giving a special charity/memorial performance, spearheaded by his movie-star wife Emma (Kerry Bishé), with longtime friend Reisinger (Don McManus) conducting and their friends Ashley (Tamsin Egerton) and Wayne (Allen Leach) in the audience, using a special eight-octave piano. And as if that wasn’t enough pressure, his sheet music has a message scrawled on it saying that his and Emma’s lives are forfeit if he plays one note wrong, with an earpiece so that the mastermind (John Cusack) can make sure Tom doesn’t try anything clever.
“Seems ridiculous, right? And it is, but writer Damien Chazelle and director Eugenio Mira make sure it’s clear from minute one that ‘Clem’ is plenty serious about what he’s threatening, even if his motivations and endgame are kept close to the vest for quite a while. And while there is a certain level of incredulity displayed by everyone who becomes involved in the plot, none are ever given much opportunity to actually start poking holes in it on the audience’s behalf (well, maybe a henchman played by Alex Winter does, but it’s more complaining about how much legwork is on him than questioning the plan’s viability). Once things have been set into motion in this way, the audience gets to switch over to problem solving mode along with Tom, and that’s fun because not only are the puzzles they have to solve different than the ones that frequently appear in your typical thriller, but the solutions are almost guaranteed to require bold actions on the heroes’ parts.
“Those are (likely) mostly Chazelle’s contributions; Mira and his team are responsible for making them crackle on-screen. This they do very well, from a pair of opening sequences (including the titles) that make the seemingly innocuous instrument of the title more sinister than it has any right to be to a camera that zips around it and Tom while he plays adding extra panic to an already tense situation, while the shots of what Tom is doing emphasize the fact that this is, in fact, really really hard. Every shoot of the stage highlights the extent to which Took must do everything in plain sight, while the shots Mira and cinematographer Unax Mendía choose for the rest of the concert hall seem specifically calculated to make the audience as acutely aware of how visible things are there as the characters. Mira and editor Jose Luis Romeu cut the movie fairly aggressively, seldom lingering on a scene many seconds longer than they need to, and the quick peace generally makes up for the bits that could do with being fleshed out a bit.
“And there are bits that could use some fleshing out; while the premise is creative and fun, it may take one turn too many, so that one wondered why Clem goes on for such an elaborate plan when he’s not averse to brute-force methods. There’s also a backstory or two that are hinted at but never allowed to support enough weight to make the movie a more complete caper or maybe make the piano and performance a better reflection of Tom as a person; in this way, it may just be too focused and unwilling to wedge exposition in. It also sometimes feels like the producers couldn’t afford Cusack’s full participation, and having him be a more active part of the movie might have helped smooth the other parts over.
“Besides, why miss out on the fun that the rest of the cast seems to be having? Wood, for instance, is doing very nice work as Tom, giving quality panicked concentration when the movie need it but also full of anxiety from the start and never quite fitting into any role that the story thrusts the character into: Tom never looks quite as dapper in his tux as he should, for instance, even though there’s nothing sloppy about him, and even when he gets a chance to turn some tables, Wood never lets us forget that Tom is in way over his head. Tamsin Egerton and Allen Leach get to play comic relief characters as important parts of the action, though it’s a shame that Kerry Bishé doesn’t have a while lot to do until later on. Don McManus and Alex Winter give their supporting roles more life than they might otherwise have, and while it would be nice to actually see a little more of John Cusack, there is little denying that he has a great voice and delivery for ranting over a radio connection.
“It’s kind of a shame that GRAND PIANO getting a fairly limited release; with a couple of stars whose above-the-title billing doesn’t look unearned and some good production values (it looks and sounds very nice indeed), it seems like only its strangeness is in the way. And, sure, being so peculiar may make it a tough sell, it’s also the reason to check the movie out – it’s as fun as any thriller going even if it’s not like many of them. 4 cats
“Seen 28 Match 2014 in the Brattle Theatre (first-run, DCP)”
Kyle says: “GRAND PIANO is the only mystery thriller I know featuring a piano concert as its centerpiece, with obbligato conversation between good guy and bad guy. Renowned concert pianist Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) returns to the stage after an emotionally crippling five-year bout of stage fright. The concert is a tribute to his eccentric musical mentor, who died a year ago with a missing family fortune and a spectacularly valuable concert grand piano fitted with extra keys at the bottom of its range. The film’s twenty minutes prior to the visibly nervous pianist taking his seat at the piano are filled with seemingly innocuous characters and plot points that should be attentively registered, as audiences have become accustomed through the great works of Alfred Hitchcock and his successors.
“Audience interest in how believable actor Elijah Wood will be as a famous concert pianist is waylaid almost immediately by Tom Selznick noticing a red arrow in his score that wasn’t there previously, and then reading in large red letters at the bottom of the next page, ‘PLAY ONE WRONG NOTE AND YOU DIE.’ This is followed by other red marker scrawls in his score, most ominously ‘CALL FOR HELP AND I’LL SHOOT YOU BETWEEN THE EYES.’ We are clearly in unknown dramatic territory. During an extended orchestral section, Selznick shockingly leaves the stage, goes to his dressing room, and is instructed by his BlackBerry to retrieve from his backpack an earpiece, on which the voice of John Cusack introduces himself as Selznick’s deceased mentor Patrick Godureaux. The voice threatens to kill Selznick’s glamorous actress wife Emma (Kerry Bishé) in Box #5 unless he plays the concert program exactly as instructed. In the words of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, ‘The game is afoot.’
“The tension between the onscreen audience anxiety about whether Selznick is capable of playing such a difficult concert after a long absence, and our anxiety about what will happen onstage and why, is beautifully exploited by director Eugenio Mira. Attentiveness is shattered by the ringing of a cellphone in the audience, and the call is humorously but ominously answered, a moment of ludicrous recognition that is the bane of concert attendees everywhere. The music’s technical demands escalate rapidly, reminding us of the adulation that greeted famous pianists such as Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Selznick’s playing becomes increasingly frenzied, as do the vocal demands of the murderous lunatic.
“Musicians may guffaw at concert inaccuracies, such as Selznick never using piano pedals, and leaving the keyboard during instrumental sections, and the conductor making a speech after the first movement of the piano concerto, as well as numerous other examples. But considerable credit is due writer Damien Chazelle, director Eugenio Mira, and editor José Luis Romeu for developing and pacing the story so as to postpone our asking some fairly obvious musical and dramaturgical questions. The highest praise of all must go to composer Victor Reyes for his multiple-award-winning original score, which sounds for all the world like the work of a minor nineteenth-century virtuoso whose hack pianism has found a permanent foothold in the concert hall. We even go along with a last-minute substitution of minor Godureaux for major Beethoven, because the drama demands it.
“Elijah Wood gives a very convincing performance as concert pianist Tom Selznick. Indeed, his playing is much more convincing than many other actors who have portrayed famous composers and musicians. He must converse with an unseen antagonist at the same time he acts the music, which must have been extremely difficult. It therefore seems appropriate to grant the last words to Elijah Wood (from the IMDB) on how stressful this was: “It was incredibly technical….. lots of moments where it was jumping from where I’d play, listen to a click, listen to music, have to be in the right place and the right time and hear dialogue and repeat dialogue. 4 cats
“Sunday, July 20, 2014 on Netflix, New York.”