The Piano Lesson (2024)
Director: Malcolm Washington Run Time: 127 min. Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 2024
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, Michael Potts, Ray Fisher, Samuel L. Jackson
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
Malcolm Washington is bringing The Piano Lesson from the stage to the screen. The new film marks Washington’s directorial debut and carries over much of the cast from the play’s recent Broadway revival — including Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington.
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Piano Lesson follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor.
The Piano Lesson is the latest August Wilson adaptation produced by Denzel Washington, who directed and starred in Fences (2016) and produced Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020).
About the filmmaker:
Denzel Washington’s heir, Malcolm Washington, reveres playwright August Wilson and his importance to all African Americans, calling him “our Shakespeare.” Screening this month at the Film Center is Malcolm Washington’s powerful new film adaptation of The Piano Lesson, Wilson’s thoughtful and startling 1987 play, winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Produced by his father and sister Katia Washington, the film stars Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington (Malcolm’s elder brother) as a family redefining the present through the travails of the past. Already, critics are predicting Academy Awards for all involved.
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