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The clash over an heirloom piano threatens to tear a family apart in The Piano Lesson. The family drama is based on August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Now streaming on Netflix, the film explores deep family divides and unearths haunting truths about the complexities of their family’s history from the heirloom piano.
Directed by Malcolm Washington in his feature debut, The Piano Lesson brings Wilson’s storytelling to the screen with a talented cast led by Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Deadwyler. The film is part of Wilson’s “American Century Cycle,” a collection of 10 plays chronicling Black American life in the 20th century.
In The Piano Lesson, the story centers on a heated family conflict over the piano, a priceless family heirloom. Set in Pittsburgh in 1936, the drama unfolds as brother and sister, played by Washington and Deadwyler, battle over whether the piano should be sold or preserved as a symbol of their ancestors' legacy. As the drama intensifies, long-buried truths about the past are revealed.
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In the end, the piano was not sold. Boy Willie comes to understand that the heirloom holds deep sentimental value and symbolizes the legacy of his and his sister Berniece's ancestors.
Why wasn’t the piano sold in The Piano Lesson?
Boy Willie and Berniece have opposing views on the fate of the piano. This leads to a deep family conflict. For Boy Willie, the piano represents an opportunity for a better future. It serves as his chance to make money and move forward in life. He sees it as a way to reclaim what he feels is slipping away.
On the other hand, Berniece is determined to keep the piano, as it holds profound emotional and historical importance for their family. For her, the piano is not just an object but a symbol of family heritage and the past. This clash of visions highlights their differing understandings of legacy, the future, and what the piano truly represents to each of them.
The heirloom wasn’t sold. In The Piano Lesson’s final scene, Berniece sits at the piano and evokes the presence of her ancestors with every note she plays.
What happens in the final scene of the film?
In the final scene, Berniece asks the local pastor and suitor Avery Brown to bless their house after Wining Boy, in a drunken moment, seemingly summons a spiritual presence by playing the piano. Avery performs a ritual to expel the ghost of James Sutter. His efforts, though, fail as paranormal events escalate. Boy Willie was attacked by Sutter’s spirit.
In a desperate act, Berniece begins playing the piano and calls out the names of their ancestors. As she plays, the spirits of their forebears appear. Afterward, Boy Willie acknowledges the importance of the piano and warns Berniece to continue playing it to keep their legacy alive. The siblings embrace, and Berniece tearfully thanks him.
How does the piano transform the Charles family’s relationship?
The piano’s legacy is a symbol of both struggle and survival. The heirloom embodies the Charles family’s painful history and journey from enslavement to freedom. Once owned by Sutter, the man who enslaved their ancestors, the piano was traded for the lives of a mother and child.
To appease his wife, who mourned the loss of the family, Sutter forced the Charles family patriarch to carve the likenesses of his loved ones into the piano’s surface. This turned the instrument into a haunting reminder of sacrifice and oppression.
By the film’s end, the piano becomes a source of reconciliation. When Berniece plays it to summon her ancestors and confront Sutter’s ghost, the act unites the family. It reminds them of their shared heritage and the strength it provides. The piano’s significance shifts from being a symbol of conflict to one of healing and cements its role as a bridge between the family’s past and the present.
Don't miss The Piano Lesson now available for streaming on Netflix.
