Grand Piano – Symphonie der Angst (2013)

Grand Piano – Symphonie der Angst: Directed by Eugenio Mira. With Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Kerry Bishé, Tamsin Egerton. A pianist with stage fright endures a performance under the eyes of a mysterious sniper, who will shoot and kill him if a wrong note is played.

“The plot in a sentence: a piano player has to play an u0026#39;impossibleu0026#39; piece perfectly or a bunch of people are gonna get whacked.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow put that in your pocket and forget about it. Iu0026#39;m serious; if I hear one more person whining about the silly plot, Iu0026#39;m going to strangle someone with a low A string.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo make a point, let me throw a different plot-in-a-sentence at you: two strangers agree that theyu0026#39;ll each commit murder for the other guy. Iu0026#39;m sure the silly-o-meter is lighting up, but cinephiles will recognize that plot from the classic Hitchcock masterpiece u0026quot;Strangers on a Trainu0026quot;. Hitchcock himself joked how insignificant a plot can be, introducing the concept u0026quot;mcguffinu0026quot;, something that doesnu0026#39;t necessarily exist but is the motivation behind all the charactersu0026#39; actions. Like a box that everyoneu0026#39;s killing each other over.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhy am I harping on Hitchcock? Because u0026quot;Grand Pianou0026quot; is perhaps the most loving tribute to Hitchcock that Iu0026#39;ve seen in my life. This means itu0026#39;s a throwback to the days when thrillers didnu0026#39;t need 29 plot twists, 54 explosions and 3.75 sex scenes to keep audiences awake. The audienceu0026#39;s enjoyment came via the filmmakeru0026#39;s technique at telling a story. If youu0026#39;ve ever been at a campfire when your spooky uncle Greg tells the story of u0026quot;the clawu0026quot; for the millionth time, to the delight of everyone present, you know what I mean.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo now letu0026#39;s talk about the storytelling presentation. Iu0026#39;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 u0026quot;Touch of Evilu0026quot; opening where the camera runs for nearly 4 minutes through city streets and dialogue closeups before a cut. Or how about Hitchcocku0026#39;s own u0026quot;Ropeu0026quot;, a 2 hour suspense thriller with only 10 camera cuts. Here in u0026quot;Grand Pianou0026quot; such scenes are prevalent, and the best one has to be the u0026quot;Wayneu0026quot; 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 youu0026#39;re wondering how the eff they managed to do that, check out the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother 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 heu0026#39;s playing with his hands. If youu0026#39;re one of those people who hates it when actors canu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhich 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 (u0026quot;Tomu0026quot;) tries to make it through 3 movements of a classical performance without too many bodies piling up. The movieu0026#39;s u0026quot;soundtracku0026quot; is actually the music thatu0026#39;s being played by the orchestra as the story unfolds. That itself is an original and very impressive feat, if you consider every scene has to be synchronized with the mood of the performance piece.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat makes u0026quot;Grand Pianou0026quot; extra fun is that the movie is not afraid to make fun of itself a bit. Thereu0026#39;s some nice humor and a sort of lighthearted cheekiness to it, even though there might be a few brutal killings going on. You could almost call this a u0026quot;dark comedyu0026quot; except that all the classic thrillers were dark comedies, so such a label would be redundant. It should be noted that Hitchcock himself had a wonderfully morbid sense of humor, and here the director upholds that spirit as well as the classic storytelling style. Anyone taking this plot too seriously should be hung from the rafters with rusty bolts and dangled over an orchestra pit playing fortissimo. Oh wait, that mightu0026#39;ve happened in the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting. I wonu0026#39;t dwell on Elijah Woodu0026#39;s amazing performance except to note that prior to this film I hadnu0026#39;t seen much of his work, and this movie made me an instant fan. John Cusack is… well, John Cusack. Heu0026#39;s one of those actors like Christopher Walken who can sneeze and make it an Oscar winning performance. Although he doesnu0026#39;t get a ton of screen time here, his scenes were gripping. Another actor who deserves major kudos for bringing to life the terrifying/hilarious/lovable henchman character is Alex Winter (wait for it… wait for it… BILL from u0026quot;Bill u0026amp; Tedu0026#39;s Excellent Adventureu0026quot;!) Omg he gets my vote for best bad guy sidekick since Jaws in James Bond Moonraker. And finally I have to tip my hat to u0026quot;Wayneu0026quot; (Allen Leech) and his barbie-doll manipulative girlfriend u0026quot;Ashleyu0026quot; (Tamsin Egerton) who are a real treat to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie has so many fun things going on, you forget how technically masterful it is. Like the old thrillers of the 40s u0026amp; 50s, thatu0026#39;s the way itu0026#39;s supposed to be. Itu0026#39;s a funny irony that a Spanish production does the best justice to the golden age of Hollywood.”