The Piano Movie

The piano

Pageant Scene

Corrigan states “Note which elements are repeated to emphasize a point or a perception” (22). Many elements such as angles, peeping holes, and fingers are portrayed in the film. They are particularly emphasized in the pageant. The pageant scene embodies a story within a story. It contains a great deal of imagery and foreshadowing .The Bluebeard performance emphasis the key concepts of female fatality and female strength in this film.

At the start of the performance the actors catch a glimpse of the audience by peeking through various holes in the curtains. There is a focus on the seemingly omniscient eyes behind the curtain looking out into the crowd. The peeping holes in the curtain have a semblance to the hole Stewart uses to observe Ada and Baine being intimate. Just as the audience isn’t aware they are being watched, neither are Ada and Baines. The disadvantage of looking through such a narrow opening is that it limits a person’s view on a scene and a situation. Stewart is unable to fully process the scene he has just witnessed. Watching Ada and Baines excites Stewart while filling him with great jealousy.

The scene then shifts to a group of children huddled under the stage, dipping their hands into a bucket of blood. This scene illuminates various issues in the film. When Ada’s finger is chopped off her hand becomes exceedingly bloody. Flora inadvertently has her mother’s blood on her hands. For it was she, who handed the piano key to Stewart leading him to cut off one of Ada’s fingers in a rage. As Stewart cuts off Ada’s fingers blood splatters onto Flora’s angel costume.

The curtains finally open and the performance begins. Children dressed as angels walk out and begin to sing. The scene shifts to Baines looking at Ada with longing. Again the angles are brought on the screen. Then Stewart takes Ada’s hand and she purposely looks over at Baines to see his reaction As Baines storms out of the auditorium the singing of the angles can still be heard in the background. Timothy Corrigan states “every movie uses patterns of repletion that