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Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut on Netflix, The Piano Lesson, is ‘much bigger than just an American story’ as another August Wilson story arrives on the big screen.
The 33-year-old’s journey to becoming a first-time filmmaker happened almost without him noticing after he came across the playwright Wilson’s work which ‘sparked something inside him’.
The late prolific writer is renowned for his 20th-century social commentary which burnished him as the ‘theatre’s poet of Black America’ by the New York Times upon his death in 2005.
Most especially his collection of 10 plays, called The Pittsburgh Cycle, remain cultural classics in documenting the experiences of the African-American community during this time period – including The Piano Lesson.
He told Metro: ‘I just needed to reconcile with parts of myself that The Piano Lesson play was engaging in.
‘It really started more organically like that, where I was just in that state of “I need to deal with these things” and that ultimately turned into the work of making the film itself.
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‘From when he wrote [The Piano Lesson] 35 years ago, [he was] speaking to parts of myself in the present that needed to hear what he was saying.
‘So it was more the power of his words that got me going, “Absolutely”.’
And Malcolm is in good company for no one understands this better than the Washington family whose love for the acclaimed playwright was pioneered on screen by the Hollywood patriarch, Denzel Washington.
Deeply committed to adapting Wilson’s works, Denzel starred in the Oscar-winning re-imagining Fences opposite Viola Davis and produced 2020’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Now, he is executive producer.
‘He’s such an advocate for August Wilson that I think it’s a really important part of his legacy to get these stories off the ground,’ Malcolm reflected.
‘That commitment and reverence that he’s shown for August was the engine behind all of this.
‘[He’s] protecting us as filmmakers and letting us tell the story that we thought was important, and finding the way to get it to audiences so as many people could see this and engage with the material as possible. He’s been magnificent in that regard.’
There’s no mistaking the awe and respect with which Malcolm describes Wilson, calling him a ‘potent storyteller’ and ‘a prophet in ways’.
Boy Willie and Berniece form the beating heart of The Piano Lesson (Picture: Netflix/AP)
The Charles’ family reckon with their past in this haunted tale (Picture: Netflix/David Lee)
Denzel Washington executive produced The Piano Lesson (Picture: Getty)
The Piano Lesson – starring John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler and Samuel L. Jackson – follows the Charles’ in 1936 Pittsburgh whose ancestry is immortalised through carvings on the family piano.
When Boy Willie (John David) returns to Doaker Charles’ (Samuel) and sister Beniece’s home on …read more
Source:: Metro