Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Film myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.They must be breaking out the champagne in the Washington family this month. Denzel Washington comprehensively stole the imperial laurels with his performance in Gladiator II, and he has also produced The Piano Lesson, directed by one of his sons, Malcolm Washington, and starring another, John David Washington. It is adapted from the 1987 play by August Wilson; several cast members here, including Washington and Samuel L Jackson, appeared in the 2022 Broadway production.The setting is Pittsburgh in 1936, and the home of Doaker Charles (Jackson), who is visited by his nephew Boy Willie (Washington), up from Mississippi with big plans. He intends to buy the land where his ancestors were slaves, and hopes to raise the money by selling the piano that is a family heirloom. But the instrument, carved with images of historic suffering, has a quasi-sacred significance for Willie’s sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler).The dualities may seem schematic — north/south, rural/urban, past/future — but the drama brings them alive through crackling dialogue, vivid characterisation, even a flourish of the supernatural, finally going full Gothic. The performances are superb: Washington’s Willie in turns genial, brash and desperate, with winning support from Ray Fisher as his gauche sidekick Lymon, and Michael Potts as Wining Boy, a sort of disillusioned jazz Falstaff. It’s also a pleasure to see Jackson — the original stage Willie — shedding his familiar persona in this relaxed, wry performance. But it is Deadwyler — the star of 2022’s Till — who really stands out with her elusive but ultimately fiery Berniece.Despite some awkward opening-out — including atmospheric flashbacks and a zippy but incongruous dancehall interlude — this essentially remains a stage play, and you can’t help wishing that director Malcolm Washington had fully embraced the logic of the original. As with so many plays adapted for screen, it’s the enclosure that really holds you.★★★☆☆In cinemas now and on Netflix from November 22
