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Denzel Washington was executive producer of the Netflix movie,
and his son Malcolm directed the feature, his first. His other
son, John David, plays one of the lead roles.
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson,
'The Piano Lesson' is a story about a disagreement between a
brother and sister about what to do with an heirloom piano
carved by a great-grandfather that is haunted by a ghost from
the family's enslaved past.
"We wanted to make a movie that gave audiences who did not know
there was a story like this access to it and open a window to
this story," said Malcolm Washington, who also directed a
Broadway staging of the play that starred his brother.
The brother, played by John David Washington, wants to sell the
piano to buy the land where his ancestors worked as slaves. For
the sister, played by Danielle Deadwyler, it is an irreplaceable
connection with the past. Samuel L. Jackson plays their uncle
who tries to mediate.
The film, set in Pittsburgh in 1936, is the third adaptation by
Denzel Washington from the 10-part 'Pittsburgh Series' of plays
by Wilson, following "Fences" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
"The Wilson estate came to me 10 years ago and allowed me to
take charge, or to shepherd, the making of these August Wilson
plays," he said.
He told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival
that his team intends to make all of them into films, and
discussions about the work on the next movie had already begun,
although he declined to reveal the title.
Deadwyler, whose acting credits include 2021's "The Harder They
Fall" told Reuters that it was a gift to be able to work with
Malcolm Washington.
"From our first conversation, I realized we are similar in
ideas, themes and modalities of arts are integral to how we are
reared," she said. "We came in over-prepared and we did the
play."
(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Frank
McGurty and Diane Craft)
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