(Toronto) A family story. It was surrounded by his family that American actor Denzel Washington presented this week in Toronto The piano lessonthe latest Hollywood adaptation of a play by August Wilson in which his entire clan participated.
This directorial debut from Denzel Washington’s son Malcolm and starring his older brother John David Washington follows the story of a family struggling to make peace with its past and come to terms with the legacy of slavery.
Denzel Washington himself produced the film while his wife Pauletta and daughter Olivia play minor roles. His other daughter, Katia is also a producer.
“I’m happy and a proud father,” Denzel Washington said after the screening.
The room The piano lesson(The Piano Lesson in English), written in 1987, takes place in 1930 and is part of the Pittsburgh Cyclea series of 10 works written by American writer August Wilson and exploring the realities of African-Americans in the 20th century.
For Malcolm Washington, 33, its film adaptation was a “great opportunity to come together, even though the project became something bigger than [sa] family “.
“It’s a story of ancestors and lineage, and working with August Wilson’s repertoire means being part of an extended lineage,” he said.
At the heart of the story is a piano, hand-engraved with images of ancestors and steeped in the family’s difficult history. John David Washington, 40, plays Boy Willie, who wants to sell the instrument to buy land, while his sister Berniece, played by Danielle Deadwyler, insists on keeping it.
Both actors deliver an electrifying performance as they fight over the fate of the piano, against a backdrop of racial, spiritual and coming to terms with the past.
Danielle Deadwyler could also be on the list of Oscar nominees for this role, according to the specialist site. GoldDerby.
The feature film is an adaptation of a recent Broadway revival and retains most of that cast, including Samuel L. Jackson as the patriarch.
As for Denzel Washington, he knows the work of August Wilson well since this is the third play that he has helped adapt for the big screen.