Grand Piano (2013)

I was looking forward to seeing this as I like movies about music and thrillers and this one looked to combine both. I could not have been more disappointed. It started out as if it would be entertaining and then quickly took a turn downhill. There was basically no story, no build up of any characters, everything that was shown in the trailer was basically the whole move and the "twist" that was supposed to be delivered was so flat and that it solidified the idea that there was no point to the movie.

The other thing I want to mention relates to an earlier review in the posts with which I couldn't agree with more. When you make a movie about a medicine you would hire and consult with medical professionals, same would go with police, scientists and so forth... Why was it so difficult then to consult someone who even played basic piano for this movie so that it would at least slightly appear that all of the piano playing wasn't completely fake. The first thing I noticed is that when the character "Tom" was playing, NOT once did he hold down the pedal. In the pieces he was playing the pedal would be used almost non-stop and he kept his feet flat on the floor the whole time which would never happen. There is also no way he could keep conversations like that while playing correct notes even if he was a world class pianist so the whole thing looked fake and kind of ridiculous.

This on top of everything else just added to the disappointment.

Fmovies: Entertaining suspense movie packs intrigue and ordinary touches in Hitchcock style . Top-notch thriller embroils a famous pianist in killing and twisted intrigue . Having messed up at playing an extremely difficult piano piece a few years before, talented pianist Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) lives with an extreme case of stage fright . Taking a step in the right direction and talked into it by his up and coming actress wife (Kerry Bishé) , Tom decides to give performing live another try . Already a mess, the situation is made much worse, when in the middle of playing a much easier musical number, Tom discovers a strange note written on his music sheet , the premise is the following : Play or Die .

Ultra-tense Spanish thriller starring Elijah Wood as a concert pianist who moments before his comeback performance suffers from stage fright and to discover that if he fails to play the music precisely as it was written , a nearly impossible feat in this case , then a sniper hidden in the theater will open fire. The picture is realized in Hitch wake , as it has a great number of elements and his own iconography : vertiginous height , innocent man wrongfully chased , blonde bombshells , voyeurism, long non-dialogue sequences , a matter of mistaken identity , MacGuffin ,etc. Do you know what a MacGuffin is, Maestro? It's a person or thing around which the entire film revolves and yet turns out to have little importance to the story . It's a magnificent device whereby a good plot can be given a driving force without the indecency of explanation . Grand Piano (2013), from director Eugenio Mira is an exciting film displaying suspense , intrigue , tension , and interesting drama well written by Damien Chazelle . Packs an ordinary theme of the suspense magician : innocent people become caught up in a cobweb intrigue and uncanny , intelligent villains . From the thrilling story and screenplay including literately and thoughtful dialog , the picture gets unlimited suspense in crescendo , tense , full of lingering frames and with the typical touches Hitchcock . And plenty of MacGuffins , as this picture is heavy with devices . A hidden threat, a hostage, an assistant, an unplayable piece of music, a stage, a key, and the unknown fortune of a deceased mentor .

Enjoyable mystery movie involves a bewildered pianist who hold numerous tricks in order to escape from a cruel killer and being chased cross hall concert and backstage . This agreeable picture by Eugenio Mira has a memorable scene after another and following the steps from master of suspense . This film has these particularities ; furthermore contains a fun intrigue , amusing situations and keeps the action at feverish pitch . Grand Piano is Hitchockian in the truer sense : It's a meticulously crafted piece of filmmaking that's wholly committed to a highly specific , somewhat outlandish premise . In addition , a colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Unax Mendia . Special mention to impressive and rousing musical score by Victor Reyes . The motion picture was well directed by Eugenio Mira (Agnosia , Birthday) and perfectly produced by Rodrigo Cortes (Buried , Red lights) . Mira played these elements like a concert pianist, perfectly timed with a soaring melody. Rating : Above average , well worth watching .

Suspenseful? -- not so much. But you will want to watch to the end because there is just enough happening to keep your attention.

This is an odd little movie with Wood playing a rather nervous pianist about to perform one of the most complex and challenging music compositions ever written. Then he discovers his life is on the line.

My problem was the constant running off and on stage during the performance because he appears to suffer more from a bowel or bladder issue. He is constantly up and down and running around throughout the concert but always back --- just in time for his piano playing! It got funny after awhile.

The set is pleasing and there aren't many surprises in the plot ... but watch to the very end because something happens!

Grand Piano fmovies. The plot in a sentence: a piano player has to play an 'impossible' piece perfectly or a bunch of people are gonna get whacked.

Now put that in your pocket and forget about it. I'm serious; if I hear one more person whining about the silly plot, I'm going to strangle someone with a low A string.

To make a point, let me throw a different plot-in-a-sentence at you: two strangers agree that they'll each commit murder for the other guy. I'm sure the silly-o-meter is lighting up, but cinephiles will recognize that plot from the classic Hitchcock masterpiece "Strangers on a Train". Hitchcock himself joked how insignificant a plot can be, introducing the concept "mcguffin", something that doesn't necessarily exist but is the motivation behind all the characters' actions. Like a box that everyone's killing each other over.

Why am I harping on Hitchcock? Because "Grand Piano" is perhaps the most loving tribute to Hitchcock that I've seen in my life. This means it's a throwback to the days when thrillers didn't need 29 plot twists, 54 explosions and 3.75 sex scenes to keep audiences awake. The audience's enjoyment came via the filmmaker's technique at telling a story. If you've ever been at a campfire when your spooky uncle Greg tells the story of "the claw" for the millionth time, to the delight of everyone present, you know what I mean.

So now let's talk about the storytelling presentation. I'm trying hard not to slip into film dweeb mode, because the technical points of this film are so stunning I could ramble for hours. Camera shots are carefully planned and orchestrated without distracting edits, meaning the camera often follows the action for several minutes before jumping to another angle. This is reminiscent of the famous Orson Welles "Touch of Evil" opening where the camera runs for nearly 4 minutes through city streets and dialogue closeups before a cut. Or how about Hitchcock's own "Rope", a 2 hour suspense thriller with only 10 camera cuts. Here in "Grand Piano" such scenes are prevalent, and the best one has to be the "Wayne" scene which follows the character Wayne frantically running through the theater for help while the action on the stage remains in the background. No cuts. If you're wondering how the eff they managed to do that, check out the movie.

Another piece of technical WOWery which you might not consider at first is that actor Elijah Wood is really playing the piano. In real life Elijah is a casual pianist who had to take a 3 week crash course in how to play the parts in his scenes, which often involve dialogue and physical action while staying right in time with the music he's playing with his hands. If you're one of those people who hates it when actors can't fake their instruments, rest assured this is very convincing. The director himself is a musician so you can bet he insisted on getting things right.

Which leads me to my overall feeling about this film. It is extremely precise. Not a scene is wasted, and every element is carefully orchestrated like, well, like an orchestra. Basically the entire film unfolds in real time, as Elijah ("Tom") tries to make it through 3 movements of a classical performance without too many bodies piling up. The movie's "soundtrack" is actually the music that's being played by the orchestra as the story unfolds. That itself is an original an

A film that has clearly started with a high concept - like Speed but playing a piano rather than driving a bus - and the plot has been fitted round that. Having started from that fairly ludicrous premise, you might hope that the film would either embrace it and not take itself seriously, or find clever twists to add. Unfortunately it does neither. It's short enough to avoid being boring, and competently shot and acted, but really has very little to offer.

It's hard to think of the target audience for this - a run of the mill thriller based around classical music? - and I am mystified by its inclusion at the London Film Festival.