Library pickups: Grand Piano

Damien Chazelle is one of the best writers and directors working today; especially when what he's trying to convey tension and suspense (As is the case with Whiplash, which he both wrote and directed, and 10 Cloverfield Lane, which he only wrote) and his script for Grand Piano is a prime example of that. It tells the story of a concert pianist named Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) who returns to the stage five years after screwing up his late mentor's most complex work and is threatened by a sniper not to get a single note wrong or he or his wife (who arranged the concert for dies.

As both this film and Chazelle's other movie Whiplash indicate, he has a real fascination in perfectionism in music, and the consequences of failure to achieve that perfection. Only here, it's conveyed with a surreal intensity, conveyed beautifully by Eugenio Mara's dizzying direction that truly makes the most of the limitations of the setting where most of the action takes place (the stage), with Selznick's face mirrored on the piano case, to a closeup of him being surrounded by blaring red lights during an especially tense scene.

The premise may be ingenious, but the movie understands that there has to be a foundation for it and so it presents a theme of getting over the failures of your past and appreciating what you have in life.

Grand Piano may be a bit far-fetched for some but that shouldn't stop you from checking out this taut, impeccably crafted, nail-biting thriller. Highly recommended.

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