SUMMARY OF SCENES: THE PIANO (1993)

directed by Jane Campion

Resources for Teaching Film

Written by Jane Campion

Music. Michael Nyman

Ada. Holly Hunter

Baines. Harvey Keitel

Stewart. Sam Neill

Flora. Anna Paquin

ONE.

Proper Victorian Lady.

1. Titles up. Score begins. Visuals begin. Here is a shot-by-shot summary of the opening scenes:

1. Fingers of a hand in front of the camera. They move left and right. Light behind the fingers, but nothing is visible.

2. Reverse angle shows a woman's eyes through her fingers. This is Ada. Voiceover: "The voice you hear is not my speaking voice, but my mind's voice." She wears a wedding band on her hand.

3. Reverse angle again to show fingers in front of the camera

4. Then reverse angle to show her eyes behind her fingers. "I have not spoken since I was six years old."

5. Long shot of a scene on a large lawn (in England). An old man pulls the bridle of a pony. A young girl, Ada's daughter Flora, sits on the pony. "No one knows why. Not even me."

6. The woman sitting under a tree. She stands up, and the camera moves with a crane shot up and to the right as she walks away. She is wearing a Victorian dress, corseted, with a large hoop flaring away from her waist. "My father says it is a dark talent, and the day I take it in my head to stop breathing will be my last."

7. Moving shot from behind girl skating down hallway.

8. Reverse angle from below, showing the girl's skates coming toward the camera. They are noisy on the wooden floor.

9. Moving shot, camera moves around bed to show girl asleep. Then camera moves left to show Mother, leaning over her child, cutting off the skates she has been wearing. "Today he married me to a man I have not yet met. Soon my daughter and I will join him in his own country. My husband says my muteness does not bother him. He writes--and hark this--

10. Shot from below the bed. Shows her hand gently sliding the skate along the carpet. --"God loves dumb creatures, so why not he?"

11. Moving shot of woman walking left to right. She has a thoughtful expression on her face. Her voiceover continues: "It were good he had God's patience. For silence affects everyone in the end." She looks around at all the things packed for her trip. "The strange thing is, I don't think myself silent--" She kneels in front of a piano, packed in a large crate. "--that is because of my piano. I shall miss it on the journey." She sits at the stool and begins to play expressively. Camera moves right. Someone's shadow crosses the screen from left to right. Suddenly an old woman appears at the doorway and looks at the woman playing.

12. Reverse angle of Ada, reacting to being observed. She stops playing.

Arrival in a New World.

2.

13. 4:00 The keel of a large boat shot from below the water.

14. Then hands upraised and shouts. Suddenly we see the woman's arms and body appear in the frame. Her hands reach out to the men's hands for support.

15. The woman's body is lifted in the air by the men's hands. Her daughter appears in the frame to her right.

The woman struggles to balance herself.

16. Extreme long shot of the boat, the waves in the background, and the two women being carried above the waves by the men.

17. Dissolve to an even more extreme long shot of the scene at the beach. Shows the high mountains that come down right to the beach.

18. The woman in medium long shot as she is lowered to the sand of the beach. Camera right. Her daughter is doubled over, vomiting. The camera follows the men as they walk past her and stand in a semicircle, their backs to the camera. Some of them pass water.

19. Point of view shot. The woman looks down at her shoes in the sand. We can see her petticoats and the waves lapping up against her shoes.

20. Reaction shot of woman. She raises her head--

21. Long shot of woman alone on he beach. She turns around. Suddenly the piano appears in the foreground, carried by several men. They carry it over to her and sit it down on the beach.

A Night Alone on the Beach.

3. The men walk away from the piano and talk among themselves. The crew leader goes to the woman and explains that her husband probably can't get through to this landing because of the bad water. Ada uses sign language, and her daughter appears to translate. He asks if they want to be taken to Nelson, a city nearby. Ada's signs are violent and expressive. Flora translates: "She says no. She says she'd rather be boiled alive by natives. And get back on your stinking tub." Then she hides behind her mother's skirts when the old man advances on her. Cut to a wide shot, extreme long, of the scene on the beach. The men leave. Cut to a wide shot of the waves rolling into the beach. End credits.

4. Ada holds an umbrella over Flora and her. They are still on the beach. Then Ada pulls a board away from the piano, reaches inside, and plays a tune. We can see her hand in close-up from inside the crate. Suddenly a wave explodes onto the beach and knocks them down.

Later that night, they rest under a tent made from Ada's hoop petticoat. They see by the light of an oil lamp. Ada speaks to Flora using sign. Translation of her words is shown on subtitles. She seems to be telling Flora a story about the wind. Flora speaks in sign. Then she says, "I'm not going to call him Poppa. I'm not going to call him anything. I'm not even going to look at him." Ada's hand caresses her cheek.

TWO.

Picking Up A Gentleman’s “Goods.”

5. Exterior of forest at dusk. Scene filmed in a blue light. Maoris walk down a forest path. A man, Stewart, waits until everyone in the group walks past him. Then he stops and takes out a small engraving of Ada. Baines, a white man who seems to be in charge of the Maori workers, stops and asks if Stewart wants to stop here. Stewart has taken out a small mirror and comb. He combs his greasy hair as Baines asks again if he wants to stop. Stewart uses the glass in the photo as a mirror and looks intently at his face. His eyes are flared wide, and he has a fearful expression on his face. He says nothing. So they stop. Suddenly Stewart looks around him, puts on his stained top hat, and announces, "We must get on. Hmm?"

6. Wide shot on the beach. The group walks almost single file among the boxes and packing cases. Stewart gingerly approaches the hoop skirt tent. Inside, we see the two women reacting fearfully. Suddenly a Maori can be seen, from their point of view, looking into their tent. Outside, Stewart announces their presence. So Ada climbs out of the tent and puts on her bonnet. Reaction shot of Stewart, her "husband." He seems numbed by her presence. He takes a hard long look. Baines looks on behind him. One of the Maori women comments on how pale she is--like an angel. Stewart shouts, "Can you hear me?" Obviously she can. Suddenly one of the Maori women begins to lift her dress. She slaps them away. They walk among the boxes. Stewart says, "So small. I never thought you'd be small." They come upon the piano. Flora speaks up and explains what is inside the box.

7. Stewart and Baines confer. "What do you think?" Baines says, "She looks tired." "She's stunted, for one thing," Stewart cracks. Ada and Flora stand behind the piano while activity surrounds them. Ada writes a message on a slip of paper in a locket around her neck. She hands it over to Flora, and she delivers it to Stewart. "It can't come now," he says. "Too heavy." Ada writes another note. Stewart is dumbstruck. Apparently she wants the piano to come more than the clothing and other goods. Ada signs and Flora translates: "We can't leave the piano." Stewart stands firm. But Ada won't stop talking, and Flora keeps translating. One of the Maori cracks, "Old dry balls is getting touchy." Stewart grimaces, composes himself, and tells her to prepare for a difficult journey.

Scene ends with extreme long shot, from Ada's point of view, of the piano alone on the beach. Piano music up. Reverse angle, reaction shot of Ada, as camera circles her right to left.

THREE.

A Proper Victorian Marriage.

8. Extreme long shot of landscape along the shore. Then shots from the air of the New Zealand rain forest. Cut to shots of legs stepping into deep mud. Flora and Ada struggle. Stewart confers with Baines when the Maori stop. They are concerned about traversing a burial ground. Baines suggests they follow another track along the edge of the burial ground.

9. Wide shot of rain pouring down on a clearing surrounded by are trees. A small house can be seen in the middle of the frame. Inside three women are cavorting about. One of them is a widow, Stewart's sister Aunt Morag, who always dresses in black mourning clothes. A younger woman is parading about in a wedding dress (meant for Ada). Aunt Morag's sister Nessie joins in the fun. Ada watches them from a room. Then cut to a shot of Ada, standing in front of a mirror, and wearing her wedding dress. Flora stands nearby. She looks slightly disgusted with the proceedings. "If you cannot have a ceremony together, you have at least a photograph," Aunt Morag says. Suddenly Flora interrupts and begins to tell stories about who Ada's husband was. Ada cuts her off--she knows she is lying. Flora pouts, crosses her arms, and demands, "I want to be in the photograph!"

10. Moving shot in the rain outside the house. Ada marches to a temporary backdrop for the photograph. One of the women holds an umbrella over her. Stewart peeks through the eyepiece at her and then sits next to her. Meanwhile, back inside the house, Flora is telling Stewart's older sister, Aunt Morag, another tall tale about her father: "One day when my Mother and Father were singing in the forest, a great storm broke out, but so passionate was their singing that they didn't notice. And when their voices rose for the final bars of the song, a great bolt of lightning came out of the sky and struck my father--" cut to a childlike drawing of a man in a blue suit, then flames consume him--back to the girl, who says, "--and he lit up like a torch. And the same moment my father was struck dead, my mother was struck dumb." The old woman is nearly dumbstruck herself. Suddenly Ada comes back inside and rips off part of her dress to separate herself from it. Aunt Morag and Nessie are shocked at this uncivilized behavior. She stands at the window, and we see her from outside as the rain pours down. Cut to a wide shot of the piano still on the beach, a storm in the background, as the music rises to crescendo.

11. Ada talking in sign to Flora. Stewart is outside their room. He comes in, nervous, and Ada and Flora await his pronouncement. He tells them he will be away for some days to purchase some Maori land. He speaks kindly to them and says, "Perhaps in some ways we could start again." He leaves.

FOUR.

Return to the Beach on Ada’s Terms.

12. Ada and Flora walking through the muddy forest. They arrive at Baines' cottage after slogging through the mud. He comes to the door and Ada hands him a slip with something she has written on it. "I'm not able to read." As he reacts to her, we can see clearly the Maori symbols he has etched on his face. Flora speaks for Ada, and asks him to take them to the beach again. He refuses to help them. But Ada and Flora don't leave. Later, when Baines comes out of the cottage, they are waiting. "I can't take you there. I can't do it." He saddles his horse. They wait in silence.

13. Wide shot of the beach. Ada and Flora run up to the piano, and immediately she begins to play. Baines walks behind them. Flora performs an impromptu ballet on the beach as her mother plays. Baines lurks in the background. Ada's expression is one of ecstasy and satisfaction as she plays. Baines looks on. He seems deep in thought. Cut to a shot of the mother and daughter playing a duet at dusk. Baines gathers up boards and prepares to depart. As they leave, we see from a shot from above a giant seahorse molded from the sand and seashells. We saw that image in the scene when Ada and Flora arrived. Apparently mother and/or daughter had created the image while waiting for Stewart. But the shape of the art work is clearly reminiscent of Maori designs. Baines studies it for a moment and then follows them at a distance.

A Proper Victorian Tea.

14. Stewart rides up to the house after his trip. Inside the house, Flora is singing, accompanying her mother, who is playing piano keys carved into the table. Stewart comes in. The two women retreat to the corner. He touches the "piano keys" and says nothing.

15. Stewart and his sister Aunt Morag talk about his crisis at tea. He asks for advice. "What do you think if a person were to play a kitchen table like a piano?" His sister is shocked. "It's strange. It's not a piano. It doesn't make any sounds." Cut to reaction shot of two young Maori women. They are singing, "God save the King." Back to Stewart. "I'm wondering if she's not brain affected." Talk like this makes the sister nervous. "No sound at all," she queries. "It's a table," he says.

Cut to a wide shot of the scene and we can see Baines, drinking his tea, at the right side of the frame. He is listening intently. "Of course, there's something to be said for silence," Stewart says of Ada. He studies his cup of tea. "With time I'm sure she'll become affectionate." He drinks his tea.

FIVE.

Stewart Swaps Piano Lessons for More Land.

16. Close-up of an axe cutting kindling from a stump. Exterior of Stewart's yard. Flora stacks the kindling Stewart has been cutting. A few feet away Baines makes an offer. He wants the piano on the beach, and he'll swap some land for it. The idea of more land piques Stewart's curiosity. Parallel cuts of Baines and Stewart are used to capture this interchange. Stewart suspects the land--is it marshy? Baines assures him it is not. Stewart slams down the axe--in close-up--to finalize the deal. Then Baines says he'll need lessons. Stewart suggests Ada give him lessons. Baines acts disinterested, as if to say, "Sure, I guess that's okay."

17. Later Stewart breaks the news that Ada is to give lessons. Ada throws a fit. Flora speaks up, "She says it's her piano and she won't have him touch it." She stomps around the room, pulls down clothes off the line, and throws things. Finally she scrawls a note on her pad--"The piano is mine! It's mine!" Now Stewart loses his temper. He threatens her. "It can't go on like this. We're a family now, and we all make sacrifices. And so will you. You will teach him. I will see to it!" He storms out.

18. Exterior shot in the blue light of the forest. Maori are carrying Ada's piano to Baines' cottage. Cut to an extreme close-up of a man's hand caressing the wood of the piano. An old man, a tuner, notices a scent of perfume and sniffs the keys. Baines sits in the background as the old man begins to tune the piano.

19. High angle shot of Ada and Flora sitting in the grass. Camera down to close-up of Ada. She looks downcast, depressed, fearful. Cut to close-up of Flora in shadow at the doorway of Baines' cottage. Flora sits down at the piano and begins to play. "It's in tune!" Ada, who has been standing outside, suddenly marches in, as if drawn by the sound of the piano. She sits down and strikes a few chords. Then she looks up at Baines. He announces that he would rather listen to Ada and learn that way. "I just want to listen." Ada thinks this over. She sits down again, plays a scale or two, and then begins to play a melody based on the scales. Close-ups of the piano strings being struck by interior hammers.

Negotiations Between Ada and Baines.

20. Interior scene, Ada and Flora in the daughter's bedroom at Stewart's house. They are lit in warm orange light. Ada seems happy, content as if for the first time in the film. Ada talks about Flora's father. "Why didn't you get married?" Flora asks. Ada signs, "He became frightened and stopped listening." Suddenly a knock at the door. Stewart comes in and asks if he can kiss Flora good night. There is no answer. He walks out.

21. Exterior of Baines' cottage. Flora is on the porch in the rain, and she is poking a stick down a hole in the porch to torment Baines' dog. Inside, Ada is playing the piano. Baines walks around the room behind her. Shot of Ada's back from his point of view. He reaches out and touches her neck with his hand. Cut to reverse angle as he kisses her on the neck. She jumps up. They stand apart from one another. "You know how to bargain? You can have your piano." She faces him. "There are things I'd like to do while you play. If you let me, you can earn it back. One visit for every key." She walks behind the piano. She is thinking. She comes around, raises her finger, and points to her skirt, then to all the black keys. Now he gets it. "For every black one. That's a lot less--half." But he gives in. She sits down again. Outside again, Flora is still on the porch, doting on the poor dog. She has him wrapped up in clothes and is speaking baby talk to him.

22. Interior of the Stewart house at night. Stewart sits in the background while his older sister sits next to him. Another man, a local clergyman, wearing angel wings, is rehearsing a special effect for a community pageant. He needs Stewart's niece Nessie to play the woman attacked by savages (shown with a shadow curtain). They all laugh at the brilliant special effects.

SIX.

Baines vs. the Piano.

23. Back at Baines' cottage. Flora chases Baines' poor dog under the porch. Then she runs to the door and knocks. Ada comes out and tells her she must play outside. Flora pouts on the porch.

Inside, Ada plays brilliantly. We see her hands moving across the keys. Baines sits in the background. Then he advances, as we see Ada's face in close-up wavering between ecstasy at the music and fearfulness at his approach. He moves in front of her.

24. Baines lying on his bed. From his point of view we see the piano. Ada has gone. Then Baines takes off his nightshirt, and we see him naked as he cleans the piano with a the shirt. He moves behind the piano and rubs it gently, meditatively. His body is lit in the subtle light of dawn.

25. Stewart's sisters arrive at his house. Aunt Morag, the older sister, always dressed in black, begins to explain arrangements for the big party. Stewart sees Ada and Flora leaving for Baines' cottage. We see him in medium shot ask, "How are the lessons going?" Ada smiles and nods. Reaction shot of Stewart. His sister says, "She seems quieted down. Is she more affectionate?" Stewart doesn't answer. "Slowly, slowly," she counsels.

What Does Baines Want? What Does Baines Need?

26. Interior of Baines' cottage. Baines, sitting in the background, as Ada plays. "Lift your skirts," he says. "Higher." He gets up and scoots under the piano, and finally she raises her skirt so that he can see under her hoop. He lies on the floor and reaches up to touch her skin through a tiny hole in her wool stocking. Close-up of his finger probing the tear in her stocking. Reaction shot of Ada shows her fighting for self-control.

27. Exterior scene. Maori children and older women around a canoe in the river. One of the women tells Baines, "You need a wife. It's no good having it sulk between your legs for the rest of your life." Baines smiles. He is washing his clothes. A young Maori man, lounging in a tree behind Baines, offers his services. "I'll save you." Baines laughs, "I have a wife. She's in England, and she has a life of her own." Obviously the young man is gay. "Balls were wasted on you!" one of the Maori women scowls. Then she flirts with Baines, too.

28. Interior of Baines' cottage. "Undo your dress," he says. "I want to see your arms." Ada complies with his request. Baines begins to undress. He turns to her. "Play." He approaches her and touches her lightly on the arm. She draws her arms back. "Two keys," "Baines offers. She resumes playing. Both are bathed in warm orange light. Then he rubs his hand along her shoulders. Suddenly she changes the tune from a subtle romantic piece to a formal waltz tempo. Baines steps back from her.

29. More preparations for the big pageant. Flora is showing Stewart's sister and Nessie some of the signs they use. The old woman thinks that being mute is the worst of all worlds. Her daughter says being deaf is worse. Flora corrects them: "Mother says most people speak rubbish. It's not worth the listening." The two women are fitting Flora with tiny angel wings.

SEVEN.

Victorians vs. Indigenous Peoples.

30. Exterior scene in the forest. Baines is listening to a Maori elder, who tells him, "The rivers and the burial caves of our ancestors lie within these lands." Stewart breaks in. Apparently he is bargaining with them to purchase more land. He asks Baines what they are saying. "Are you saying we should sell the bones of our ancestors?" the old man asks. Stewart bargains, offering them more blankets. "Never. There is no price you can pay." One of the Maori spits at the feet of Stewart for emphasis. "Get out the guns," Stewart says. He pulls a blanket off a cache of guns and holds one up and offers them to the Maoris.

31. Exterior scene. Stewart and Baines walking through the forest trail. Stewart says, "What do they want the land for? They don't do anything with it. They don't cultivate it. They don't burn it back. How do they even know that it's there's?" Baines stops and turns back. Stewart stops. Then he says, "We might as well mark it off as we agreed?" "Yes, why not?" They walk up the trail. Each man carries some rifles wrapped in blankets on their backs. Stewart changes the subject to Baines' piano playing. "What do you play?" "Nothing just yet." Stewart looks surprised.

Ada and Baines. Shall We Dance?

32. Bird's eye shot of Ada playing a romantic number on the piano in Baines' cottage. Baines sits in the corner. He fondles Ada's outer garment. He seems to want to soak up her aroma. She looks back at him, and then reaches out her hand to take the garment back. She stands up and grabs the outer garment. He rushes toward her, pulls down her blouse, and kisses her on the neck. He pulls her across the room toward his bed. He lets her go. "Four keys." Reaction shot of Ada--she holds out her palm with five fingers up. Baines complains, "Why five keys? I just want to lie." Reaction shot: she looks hard at him. Reaction shot of Baines. "All right, five." He leans back, smiles at her, and pats the bed, as if to say, 'Here's the spot. Simply lie here.' She goes to the bed and lies on her stomach. Baines rubs her shoulders and kisses her on the back and the neck. Her eyes are open. He watches her. Suddenly she gets up, pulls her hand out of his, and goes to the piano. She caresses the keys of the piano with the back of her fingers. He slams the lid down over the keys as she moves her hand away. Reaction of Ada in close-up: she dresses again, and as she turns to leave, she holds back the tears from her eyes.

Chaos at the Victorian Pageant.

33. Interior of Stewart's house. Close-up of Flora as she sings a song. Ada is braiding her hair. Outside the window in long shot is Stewart, readying the carriage.

Exterior of the church. Mud everywhere. Families arriving for the big pageant. Many little girls are dressed in white and wearing angel wings.

Interior of the church. Bathed in warm orange light, the children backstage prepare for the pageant. Baines comes into the audience. He wears a top hat, and some of the men tease him. Stewart and Ada come in. Baines moves to their row and sits next to Ada. The men keep teasing George (Baines). Ada puts her hand on the bench when Baines tries to move closer to her.

34. The pageant begins. Stewart takes Ada's hand. Suddenly Baines stalks off, and as he leaves Ada smiles. The grand finale of the pageant includes women sticking their heads through holes in a sheet hanging on the stage (to give the impression of heads having been cut off by savages), and then behind another sheet we can see in silhouette a man with an axe as he prepares to behead her. But the Maoris in the audience think the beheading is "real" and rush the stage to save the woman.

After chaos has subsided, Aunt Morag formally introduces the Maoris to all of the women whose heads were seen "hanging" from the sheet.

EIGHT.

Baines Gets What He Wants.

35. Close-up of Ada's hand on the keys. She is sitting at the piano in Baines' cottage. He is sulking in the background. "Play what you like," he groans. She begins to play. Suddenly she hears a noise from behind the curtain at the back of the cottage. She goes to the curtain. Her face is bathed in a warm orange light. She looks past the curtain. Reverse angle as she gasps and moves back toward the piano. From her point of view, we can see Baines standing at the curtain. He is naked, and his body is bathed in a warm orange light. Reaction shot of Ada. She holds her hand to her face. Another point of view shot of Baines, this time at medium shot range. "I want to lie together without clothes on. How many would that be?" Reaction shot of Ada. She looks around, then back to Baines. She holds up five fingers, twice. Back to Baines. "Yes, ten keys." Reaction shot of Ada. She looks fearful, hesitant. Back to Baines. He sits quietly on the bed.

36. Exterior of the cottage. Flora, dressed in a formal blue outfit, sits on a tree branch and pretends she is riding a pony.

Interior. Ada disrobes further.

Exterior. Flora climbs higher toward the bank at a level with the cottage.

Interior. Ada, naked, sits upright on the bed. Baines climbs onto the bed and moves her legs aside and pulls her down so that she lies beside him.

Exterior. Flora steps onto the porch. She looks through a crack in the wall and sees part of Baines' lying on top of Ada and rubbing her body.

Victorian Morals on Parade.

37. Flora and several Maori children out in the forest hugging the trees and rubbing their bodies against them playfully. Everyone is having a great time. A few Maori women watch from nearby. Suddenly Stewart advances, pulls Flora away from one of the trees, and admonishes her, "Never behave like that! I'm ashamed." He leads her away.

Later that day, at dusk, Flora is using soap and water to clean off all of the trunks fouled by the children's bodies. "I know why Mr. Baines can't play the piano!" she declares. "She just plays what she pleases. And sometimes she doesn't play at all." Now Stewart is suspicious. He wants to know when the next lesson is scheduled.

Baines Gives Up—But Stewart Can’t See Beyond Property..

38. Flora and Ada on the way to the lesson the next day. Cut to wide shot of Maoris carrying the piano out of Baines' cottage. Ada is shocked. She runs inside and gestures wildly. "I have given the piano back to you. I've had enough." Ada moves wildly about the room as if crazed. He moves closer to her and speaks in a low voice. "The arrangement is making you a whore and me wretched. I want you to care for me." She shakes her head angrily. He sits down. One of the Maori women sits at the fire in the cottage. "It's yours. Leave. Go!" She leaves.

39. Ada and Flora lead the Maoris carrying the piano through the forest. We hear Stewart yell, "Stop there." He comes into the frame in silhouette. "This isn't yours!" he yells. But Flora says, "He's given it to us." Now Stewart is outraged. He orders the Maoris to put the piano down. He goes back to Ada. "Very cunning. I've seen through you. I'm not going to get the land this way."

He stalks off past them and advances on Baines' cottage. The woman from inside the cottage announces that George doesn't want to see anyone. He's sick. But Stewart pushes the fabric aside at the window and looks in on Baines, who is lying in bed. Stewart is upset that Baines has the advantage over him. "I'll make sure you're properly taught." "I don't want to learn," Baines says. Now Stewart is really upset. His reaction in a close-up. "What does this do to our bargain. I can't afford the piano if you mean me to pay." Notice how the lighting here is that warm orange cast. Baines repeats, "No pay. I'm giving it back." But Stewart responds, "I'm not sure I want it myself." Baines sits down and looks back at him. "It was more to your wife that I gave it." Stewart is stuck. "I expect she will appreciate it." But he clearly is upset at this turn of events.

NINE.

Inside Ada

40. Several Maori men shown in close-up as they express their anger at Stewart for trying to pay them with buttons from a jar. "Stick your buttons up your arse, you bastard!" they scream. He pleads with them. They grab the jar and run off, yelling epithets.

Inside the house, Ada is testing the piano. Stewart asks her to play something. Flora sits down and asks what he wants her to play. "Play a jig." She plays a Scottish ballad. Ada listens for a moment, then steps out of the house. Stewart is dumbfounded. His reaction shot, as he goes to the window and looks out. "We get the thing back and she wanders off." From his point of view we can see her in a long shot outside the window. She walks along meditatively, deep in thought. Flora continues to play the ballad. Stewart taps along, out of beat, accompanying her. Cut to shot of Ada from the rear. Camera rises to focus on close-up of the back of her head. Music up. Cut to tracking shot of exterior of the forest. Camera moves in as the green underbrush waves in the breeze.

41. Music down. Interior of the Stewart house. Ada looks depressed. She gets up from the table, goes to the piano, and caresses the keys with the back of her hand. Close-up of one of the keys as it is raised under the pressure of her hand. Someone has written on the wooden side of the key: A + sign of heart with arrow through it + D. She stops playing. Camera back to a close-up of her face. Reverse angle, as she turns her head and faces the camera. High angle of Ada seated at the piano. Her one hand plays by itself a bit of the melody. She stops.

Ada Chooses Baines

42. Exterior, Ada and Flora in the forest. Ada orders Flora to go back. "Don't you dare follow me!" she signs. Cut to a shot of Baines in the distance. Flora throws a fit. Stewart comes upon her. "Where is your mother? Where is she gone?" "To hell!" Flora screams, and then runs away.

43. Interior of Baines' cottage. He sits up from the bed. Cut to Ada entering the cottage. Baines stands. Reaction of Ada. She looks downcast. Baines has been drinking. He stands apart from her. He asks what's wrong. The piano? More parallel cuts between them. He sits down and finishes a drink. "Ada, Ada. I am unhappy. I want you, my mind has seized on you and can think of nothing else. That is why I suffer." Reaction of Ada. "I am sick of longing." She watches him. Back to Baines. "So if you've come with no feeling for me, then go." He gestures toward the door. He goes to the door and orders her to leave. Reaction of Ada. She crosses the room and stops at the door. She slaps him, hard, and then strikes him several more times as he raises his arms to ward off the blows. Then she drops to the floor. She is crying. He bends down, and she raises up and embraces him. They kiss.

44. Exterior of the cottage. Stewart walks back and forth below the porch. He hears something inside. He creeps up to the cottage, looks inside, and we see, from his point of view, the two embracing one another. He goes to another crack and looks inside.. Again we see a point of view shot as he looks through the crack. Cut to a shot of Baines' dog licking his hand. Stewart wipes off his hand on the boards of the cottage.

Interior of cottage. A full shot of Baines and Ada lying next to one another on his bed. Piano music in background. They begin to have sexual intercourse. They kiss.

TEN.

Betrayal and Outrage: Stewart’s Attempt to Exact Revenge.

45. Ada dressing afterwards. Baines is sitting up on the bed. "Now that you're going I am miserable." He asks if she'll come again. She drops one of her buttons through a crack in the floor. Cut to a close-up of Stewart's face. He reacts to the button, which has dropped on him. He has been lying under the floor of the cottage all this time. Back inside the cottage, Baines asks, "Does this mean something to you?" She looks in a small mirror, and we see her face reflected in it. "I already miss you," he says. She turns and kisses him on the chest. "If you are serious, come tomorrow," he says. She kisses him passionately.

46. Interior of Stewart's house. He is reading at the kitchen table. He hears Flora and Ada carousing in the bedroom. He goes into the room. They are giggling and rolling over and over on the bed.

47. Ada running through the forest, apparently toward Baines' cottage. Stewart is waiting for her. Close-up of him from her point of view. Her reaction: a look of shock. She walks quickly away from him, and he follows her. Piano music up. He grabs her and tries to kiss her. She squirms away, and he pulls at her dress and drags her down. Cut to shot of him lying on top of her, his face over hers. They stare at each other. He tries to reach up her legs, but she pushes him away and tries to pull herself along by grabbing at vines. Suddenly Flora runs into the forest and shouts for help. The two adults stop struggling and begin to sit up.

Duties of a Husband.

48. Several Maoris pounding on the piano. Flora and Ada are in the bedroom. Sound of pounding. Flora looks outside and sees the windows boarded up. She is wearing her angel wings. Cut to close-up of Ada lying on the bed and preening herself in a mirror. She holds the mirror close to her face and reaches her lips toward the mirror and kisses it, as if kissing Baines. Exterior shot shows Stewart placing bar across the door. Inside the bedroom Flora chastises Ada for running towards Baines cottage. "I don't like it, and nor does Papa." Ada turns over and turns her back on Flora. She looks depressed.

49. Close-up of Ada's hands playing the piano in the middle of the night. Cut to Stewart, who wakes up in bed. He appears in the room and brings with him the lamp, which casts rich orange light everywhere. Flora makes up a fanciful story--Ada is playing in her sleep. Ada's eyes are closed, but she is far from asleep. Cut to exterior of Stewart's house in the rough clearing.

50. Close shot of Ada and Flora in bed. Ada rubs her hand and arm along Flora's back and shoulders. Suddenly Ada sits up.

Cut to scene inside Stewart's bedroom. He lies in bed. Close shot of Ada's hand as she gently caresses his face, his chest, his arm. Shot of Stewart looking up at her. He speaks her name. She pulls the covers down and pushes his nightdress up over his chest. She begins to run her hands along his chest. Stewart is breathing heavily. Suddenly he reaches up to embrace her. She jumps back. All this filmed in warm orange light.

ELEVEN.

Passions and Repressions.

51. Interior of Stewart's house, daylight. His sister is visiting. Aunt Morag explains that he is defenseless against the Maori because he has put up the boards so that they can lock him inside. (Of course, he put them there to keep Ada inside.) "With the latch on that side you are quite trapped." Then she notes that George Baines is leaving. Ada suddenly stands up and wanders across the room to her piano. She begins to play. Shot from behind her as she bends over the piano. Reaction shots of two young Maori women, the older sister, and then of Stewart. Camera in on him slightly as he watches her play. Close shot of Ada playing.

52. Exterior of forest. Aunt Morag is squatted along the trail while her Maori servants hold a blanket next to her so that she can be discreet about her bodily functions. The old woman talks about Ada's piano playing: "She does not play the piano as we do. She is a strange creature. And her playing is strange. The mood that passes into you."

53. Interior of Baines' bedroom at night. Again Ada is there caressing his body. She pulls his nightdress over his buttocks, but he pulls it back up. She touches his hand to try to relax him. He lies there in agony. She caresses the curve of his buttocks. Suddenly he pulls the nightshirt up and sits on the edge of the bed, his back to her. "I want to touch you. Why can't I touch you?" He looks back toward her: "Don't you like me?"

Message to a Lover.

54. Interior of Ada and Flora's bedroom in the morning. They are awakened by the sound of Stewart pulling off boards from the windows. Exterior of the house shows Flora in her nightdress and angel wings running about the farmyard.

Interior of bedroom. Stewart walks in on Ada and says, "We must get on. I've decided to trust you to stay here. You won't see Baines?" Reaction of Ada. She shakes her head no. He sits next to her. "Perhaps in time you m