The Piano Lesson

The Thorough Synopsis of The Piano Lesson

A true work of art The Piano Lesson is, written by August Wilson in 1990. The descriptions he wrote throughout his book leave a lot to the imagination. While the movie, made in 1998 made the most of Wilson's works and mapped it out into a format that television audiences across the world could see. My intake of the characters, audio/visual elements, and the plot, which always thickens is quite controversial. A lot of critics try to dissect Wilson's work, but even after seeing the movie, there are many opinions on how it should've been portrayed, and many more unanswered questions.

The scene opens with the characters' Lymon and Boy Willie having a conversation while driving down an old country road. From the beginning, their diction stood out first. Deep southern accents could be heard in their voices, not only in their voices but in all the characters voices throughout the play. Although their accents were very southern, the dialogue might have also suggested a lack of education in the characters. Being that most blacks didn't have very much education back then, their language wasn't very proper at all. The actors portrayed this diction very well. All the characters in The Piano Lesson played a significant role, but the two that stood out the most were Boy Willie and his sister Berniece. It's easy to get mixed feelings about both characters, as they both had positive and negative aspects about them. Overall, Boy Willie was set out to be the villain of the play and Berniece, the good vigilante. This cautious and caring side of Berniece made her a more respectable character, it made her easier to admire because most average people are concerned with their families well being just like Berniece was. A lot of females relate to Berniece in the fact that she was a single widowed mother. These characteristics inspire admiration and sympathy for Bernieces' character, almost as soon as her life is revealed to the audience.

The audio/visual elements of the movie depict different emotions for each scene. Music selections chosen throughout the movie were appropriate, but they weren't quite what I expected. From reading the book, I would anticipate the characters to be singing old spiritual hymnals, or possibly songs with African drum rhythms in the background. Subsequently, after watching the movie it all made since that the music matched the time genre that the plot was set it. The visual elements of the play also matched the time genre. This was during the Depression, so the colors were dark and grayish. The conflicts in the play also help set the mood for darker colors, clouded skies, and shadowy scenes. The characters aren't very wealthy either and their clothes show it. They lived in a