The Piano by Jane Campion

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Critical analysis on The Piano 1993

In my discussion I will talk about Jane Campion’s film, The Piano 1993, in this case I would argue for and against Laura Mulvey’s essay, and to define where her theorist brings awareness and where it collapses. I will also introduce Vivian Sobchack ‘What my fingers knew’ to argue against Mulvey’s argument. In Laura Mulveys essay, she argues that, women are the sexual objects that the male has control over the gaze, in this case I agree with her, famous Hitchcock films, which shows this are films such as Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho. In ‘what my finger knew’’ I want to explain the relationship that we have with Ada and we think about the feeling and touch and the connection not thinking at Ada’s position is to be looked on.

Laura Mulvey argues that the uses of pleasure that is gaining from woman should be destroyed, and it’s used as a weapon in mainstream Hollywood cinema and what we gain looking for pleasure. ‘’Scopophilia was essentially active; indeed it was an activity which he associated with children who have a voyeuristic curiosity to see the forbidden areas of the body. It is a curiosity which extends to the question of the presence / absence of the penis and ultimately in Freudian method to the question of the primal scene. This pleasure in looking becomes a part of the human subject. At its extreme it can be a perversion in which sexual satisfaction can only come.’’

In The Piano, love scene from (01:13:31 – 01:15:13). We see Ada’s husband Stewart arriving on Baines front garden with his dog, he came there looking for Ada, as he hears groans from Baines house, he slowly moves forward to makes sure he was hearing right, he find himself looking on to Ada and Baines activity, re...

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...film, and begin to think is she going to attempt to talk again, because the piano was the only way of communication.

This essay has argued that Laura Mulvey’s essay has shown the power of make gaze, and how women are sexual objects it was clearly shown in this case. However Mulvey fails to fully acknowledge the significance of female gaze, how women can do it too and this has been shown in The Piano in a couple of scenes. This was to determine in both directions in Mulvey’s essay but being la little bit bias with Vivian Sobchack that not everything is voyeuristic but it’s the way we can connect with the characters through movement and touch. Sobchack , methods used for The Piano could be applied to other films, such as Bound 1996. She also applies her own thoughts, and uses it against her own body, to what she expresses in the love scene with Ada and Baines.

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