Toque de Mestre

Entertaining suspense movie packs intrigue and ordinary touches in Hitchcock style . Top-notch thriller embroils a famous pianist in killing and twisted intrigue . Having messed up at playing an extremely difficult piano piece a few years before, talented pianist Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) lives with an extreme case of stage fright . Taking a step in the right direction and talked into it by his up and coming actress wife (Kerry Bishé) , Tom decides to give performing live another try . Already a mess, the situation is made much worse, when in the middle of playing a much easier musical number, Tom discovers a strange note written on his music sheet , the premise is the following : Play or Die .

Ultra-tense Spanish thriller starring Elijah Wood as a concert pianist who moments before his comeback performance suffers from stage fright and to discover that if he fails to play the music precisely as it was written , a nearly impossible feat in this case , then a sniper hidden in the theater will open fire. The picture is realized in Hitch wake , as it has a great number of elements and his own iconography : vertiginous height , innocent man wrongfully chased , blonde bombshells , voyeurism, long non-dialogue sequences , a matter of mistaken identity , MacGuffin ,etc. Do you know what a MacGuffin is, Maestro? It's a person or thing around which the entire film revolves and yet turns out to have little importance to the story . It's a magnificent device whereby a good plot can be given a driving force without the indecency of explanation . Grand Piano (2013), from director Eugenio Mira is an exciting film displaying suspense , intrigue , tension , and interesting drama well written by Damien Chazelle . Packs an ordinary theme of the suspense magician : innocent people become caught up in a cobweb intrigue and uncanny , intelligent villains . From the thrilling story and screenplay including literately and thoughtful dialog , the picture gets unlimited suspense in crescendo , tense , full of lingering frames and with the typical touches Hitchcock . And plenty of MacGuffins , as this picture is heavy with devices . A hidden threat, a hostage, an assistant, an unplayable piece of music, a stage, a key, and the unknown fortune of a deceased mentor .

Enjoyable mystery movie involves a bewildered pianist who hold numerous tricks in order to escape from a cruel killer and being chased cross hall concert and backstage . This agreeable picture by Eugenio Mira has a memorable scene after another and following the steps from master of suspense . This film has these particularities ; furthermore contains a fun intrigue , amusing situations and keeps the action at feverish pitch . Grand Piano is Hitchockian in the truer sense : It's a meticulously crafted piece of filmmaking that's wholly committed to a highly specific , somewhat outlandish premise . In addition , a colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Unax Mendia . Special mention to impressive and rousing musical score by Victor Reyes . The motion picture was well directed by Eugenio Mira (Agnosia , Birthday) and perfectly produced by Rodrigo Cortes (Buried , Red lights) . Mira played these elements like a concert pianist, perfectly timed with a soaring melody. Rating : Above average , well worth watching .

Suspenseful? -- not so much. But you will want to watch to the end because there is just enough happening to keep your attention.

This is an odd little movie with Wood playing a rather nervous pianist about to perform one of the most complex and challenging music compositions ever written. Then he discovers his life is on the line.

My problem was the constant running off and on stage during the performance because he appears to suffer more from a bowel or bladder issue. He is constantly up and down and running around throughout the concert but always back --- just in time for his piano playing! It got funny after awhile.

The set is pleasing and there aren't many surprises in the plot ... but watch to the very end because something happens!

When pitched the idea might have seemed novel if hardly riveting, (a concert pianist about to perform finds a note on his sheet music telling him that if he plays a wrong note he and/or his wife will be killed), but this thriller, penned by current Hot Young Thing Damien Chazelle and directed by Eugenio Mira, is surprisingly suspenseful. Indeed this is the kind of conceit that Hitchcock might have toyed with, (something similar was seen some years back when Colin Farrell found himself trapped in a phone-box with a sniper's rifle trained on him). Of course, that movie, "Phone Booth" had the streets of the city to play with; the problem facing Mira is how to keep us glued to a limited set, (in this case a concert hall), and a fixed time span, not to mention 'inflicting', on perhaps a less than enthusiastic audience, a lot of semi-classical music. That he, and lead actor Elijah Woods, as well as the off-screen voice of potential killer John Cusack, pull it off is a credit to them all. Also, for something so seemingly insular, Mira makes excellent use of the widescreen. Perhaps more destined for cult status than mass consumption but certainly worth seeing.

"I play piano, this is just another gig. Nothing else." Tom Selznick (Wood) is one of the most famous concert pianists in the world but 5 years ago he had a breakdown on stage and disappeared. Finally ready to come back to the art form he loves he stages a comeback appearance. He is as nervous as he as ever been when he starts to play, then he sees a note written on his music that makes him forget about his stage fright. The only problem is that his next note may be his last. As you know by now I watch as many movies as I can without watching the trailer first. Going in I was thinking...a movie about a piano concert with Frodo, sounds exciting (sarcasm). From the beginning I was intrigued and then it hit me. This movie is nothing like what I expected at all. A movie I expected to be about love of classical music ended up being more like Speed or Phonebooth. It was tense and exciting the entire time and I really liked it more then expected. Overall, keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Very fast paced and exciting. I recommend this. I give this a high B+.

This film tells the story of a famous pianist who makes a comeback performance after five years of hiatus. He gets threatened with death by a mysterious man during his performance. He bakes his way round his very real threat, and his stage fright. The plot up to here sounds very intriguing and engaging, and yes, the first half of the film is quite good. However, the second half loses steam, and the ending is just really disappointing. So we figure out why the guy wants the piece played, so what happens next? The film proper is just seventy minutes long, they could have at least developed the plot more, especially the ending. It's a pity, but "Grand Piano" was a nice mystery thriller that is spoiled by the poor ending.