In recent years, Denzel Washington's son John David Washington has become a familiar face in the movies thanks to films like BlackKKlansman and Tenet. Now another member of the family is set to make his name in the industry, with Malcolm Washington making his feature debut as a director with The Piano Lesson.
Adapted from the 1987 August Wilson play of the same name, the film follows a brother and sister in 1930s Pittsburgh grappling over a family heirloom, a piano with carvings made by their grandfather to please his slave owner's daughter. Their conflict unearths hauntings of the past and the weight of familial legacy, with the beautiful piano sitting at the heart of it all.
This is the third adaptation of Wilson's work, following the Denzel directed and starring Fences as well as 2020s Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Where those two felt very much like stage plays put on the screen, this has a very distinct cinematic style that makes it very much stand out. This is largely thanks to its first time director, as Malcolm Washington immediately becomes a name to watch behind the camera. Visually this is at times fascinating, especially in an explosive third act that just simply looks incredible while haunting at the same time. There's one scene where the men in the film and thumping a beat and singing and it has a truly infectious energy that you don't often see a first time filmmaker pull off. Sometimes these early/mid 1900s movies can lose steam quickly for me, but the energy Washington infuses makes it breeze by despite clocking in at over two hours.
The cast features a good amount of big names, and pretty much everyone delivers. John David Washington plays the lead, and his performance is where this feels most like a play as he is truly performing his heart out. Sometimes it takes away from the authentic feel of moments, but for the most part it works really well. One way it works well is in contrast to Danielle Deadwyler, playing a more closed off role as the sibling wanting to keep the piano, but also clearly harbouring a lineage of pained history that begins subtle before bursting towards the end. Samuel L. Jackson definitely could have been there more, but he's really good when he's on screen, as is Corey Hawkins who I always love to see in movies. The biggest stand out for me though was actually Ray Fisher, whose. performance reminded me a lot of Jonathan Majors' breakout performance in The Last Black Man in San Francisco. He has a sense of innocence about him that I found he performed beautifully, and it wasn't until the cast was called back onstage at the end of the film that I remembered it was even him.
This is a bold and exciting debut, but it is far from without faults. While it is the most cinematic of the August Wilson adaptations, there is still a very theatrical sense to it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but so much is confined in one space and it feels a bit limiting to the overall impact of the story. The biggest struggle though is the inability to find a consistent identity narratively. I don't know if this is the case with the original play or if this is solely the adaptation, but this truly feels like two different films. Most of the runtime is the actors performing admittedly great dialogue, with a few nods to the haunting history of the relic at the heart of the film though. As we enter the third act though, those very minimal nods get cranked up to 11 and this basically becomes a horror movie. If this stuck to either tone I would have probably loved it, as the energy of that 30s family drama is really gripping, and Washington's abilities as a horror director are astounding, but the tone shift feels far to abrupt to really work. Watching the last act I was blown away creatively with how everything was shot and cut together, but there was an underlying feeling of that explosive ending not being earned. I would love to see Washington tackle something set entirely in the horror genre, but whatever he does next I'm sure he'll grow on what is already a great debut. So all in all there's a ton to appreciate here, largely with the performances and Washington's incredibly exciting energy as a filmmaker. He seems insanely passionate and expressed immense gratitude to everyone for coming to the screening which I loved, so I really can't wait to see what he does next. Strong 3.5/5.
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