Piano, The | 4K UHD+Blu-ray

To paraphrase the late Sam Neill, calling The Piano a fundamental text in feminist cinema is, while correct, a gross simplification. Jane Campion’s period epic is an immensely beautiful, exactingly constructed romantic drama that feels so unlike much of its contemporaries as to be a wholly unique viewing experience.

Without uttering a word (beyond her internal narration) the film earned Holly Hunter an Academy Award for Best Actress, and a then 11-year-old Anna Paquin an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Campion herself won for Best Screenplay.

Supported by powerful performances from Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill, the Piano is a film that reaches well beyond the bounds of genre convention to build a narrative that can convey meaning and relevance to a much broader audience than the typical period drama.

Special Features (via criterion.com)

• New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Jane Campion and director of photography Stuart Dryburgh, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Campion and producer Jan Chapman
• New conversation between Campion and film critic Amy Taubin
• New interviews with Dryburgh, production designer Andrew McAlpine, and Maori adviser Waihoroi Shortland
• Interview with actor Holly Hunter on working with Campion
• “The Piano” at 25, a program featuring a conversation between Campion and Chapman
• Interview with composer Michael Nyman
• Excerpts from an interview with costume designer Janet Patterson
• Inside “The Piano,” a featurette including interviews with Hunter and actors Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill
• The Water Diary, a 2006 short film by Campion
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Carmen Gray