Denzel Washington and his family enjoyed the Toronto premiere of “The Piano Lesson,” the newest Hollywood production of an August Wilson play that included the whole family. The piece is a candidate for an Oscar.
Malcolm Washington’s son directs his first feature film, which depicts the tale of a family trying to come to terms with its past and face the legacy of slavery. John David Washington, the eldest son, stars in the film.
In addition to wife Pauletta and daughter Olivia playing minor roles, Washington is also an executive producer of the movie together with daughter Katia.
“I’m happy, a proud father,” Washington said in a Q&A session after the screening.
For 33-year-old Malcolm, who received a warm ovation at the film’s conclusion, “this was such a beautiful time for us all to come together, but it became something much bigger than our own family.”
“This is a story of ancestry, of lineage, and dealing with the August Wilson canon at all, you’re tying yourself into a much larger lineage there.”
“The Piano Lesson,” written in 1987 and set in the 1930s, is part of Wilson’s so-called “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a series of 10 plays that aimed to explore the African American experience in the 20th century.
It made its international premiere in Canada’s largest city with a splash after making its debut at the Telluride festival in Colorado. Netflix will start streaming the movie on November 22.
An antique piano that is hand-carved with pictures of their ancestors and filled with memories of their challenging past lies at the heart of the narrative.
Boy Willie, portrayed by forty-year-old John David Washington, wants to sell the instrument in order to purchase land and advance in life, but his sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) is adamant that they keep it.
The two performers deliver powerful performances as they wrestle with questions of racism, faith, and acceptance of the past while battling for the piano’s destiny.
Deadwyler, who many believe was snubbed for an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Till” (2022), is on nearly every expert’s shortlist for a best supporting actress nod this time around, according to awards prediction site Gold Derby.
The play by Wilson was recently revived on Broadway, and Samuel L. Jackson played the de facto patriarch in that production. The majority of the original cast remains in the film.
Wilson’s plays are no stranger to Denzel Washington, who has collaborated on three of them being adapted for the big screen.
The Academy Award winner produced “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which earned two golden statuettes, after directing and starring in “Fences” (2016), for which Viola Davis was recognized with an Academy Award.
Through Sunday, the Toronto International Film Festival is taking place.
