Why didn't she like, him? Well, she left her most prized possession to rot on the beach when they first met, and dismissed her opinion as soon as they met. He gave no affection or consideration and yet expected her to give him hers.
shareBecause Ada's daughter, Flora, was borne out of wedlock from a one night stand with her piano tutor (who deserted her the day after), and since it made her family the subject of scandal in Aberdeen, her father put an ad in the papers offering her as a mail-order bride, which was answered by Alistair Stewart in New Zealand. The voyage took six months to get there, and since Ada came from a wealthy household, the farmstead was a new experience for her, as she never had to lift a finger in her life till then.
shareJal8919536 , Is there something in the dialogue to indicate that this is true, or are you just reading into the story? I gleaned from Flora's (albeit fantastal) monologue that Ada was widowed. Maybe she embellished on the details but this is what I assumed to be true.
shareEverything Flora says is a flat out lie. I auditioned for the role and got down to the top 5, when I was 8, so we got told all about the character's 'motivations'. Flora knows perfectly well what is true and what isn't. She uses her mother's muteness to tell any lies she wants, knowing that no one can contradict her. For example, she says that her mother's muteness was caused by 'the accident', whereas the audience has been told that she simply stopped talking at 6. In the scene when Flora and Ada are talking in their makeshift petticoat tent, Ada tells the true story of her father - he was her piano teacher and then he left her to raise Flora alone. Flora has never met her father, which is where her fascination with him stems from - she can make him whoever she wants in her mind and her stories to other people.
"Who can say if I've been changed for the better. But because I knew you I have been changed for good."
"... she never had to lift a finger in her life ..."
A choice of words, considering that after knowing Alistair she only has 9 fingers left
"... she never had to lift a finger in her life ..."
A funny choice of words, considering that after knowing Alistair she only has 9 fingers left
You seemed to have missed one of the first, very critical lines in the film-- it was an arranged marriage by her father to a total stranger living in another country.
Imagine your feelings if your father had married you off to someone who literally lived 6 months away. How would you feel about the person whom you married sight unseen?
There were lots of reasons not to like Sam Neill's character. The Maori didn't seem to like him much either.
shareDrapetomania was once considered to be a legitimate mental disorder in which slaves had the irrational desire to run away from their masters. Ada may have had the same compunction. At a time when women were expected to be traded like goods, and men looked upon them in the same way, Ada found in George someone who grew out of this idea (he gave up the deal with the piano) and legitimately loved her. Sam Neil's character is pitiful, and we ought to feel sympathetic for him, but he simply does not understand human nature.
shareI want to know why they didn't ACTUALLY get married. There's a line in the beginning where one of the attendants says, "Well, if you can't have a ceremony, you can at least have a picture." Why didn't they have a ceremony if it was an "arranged marriage." Confusing.
shareI believe that the paperwork for their marriage was finalised before she was packed up and sent to him in New Zealand. They were technically married before she even left Scotland. They were saying that, although they were married while being thousands of miles apart therefore not having a ceremony, they may as well have a picture to consummate it by.
shareThanks, man. I wonder about that every time I watch the film.
shareNo. It is not possible to marry remotely. There must be a marriage ceremony with both present. That is the law now, and it was the law in the 1850's.
shareThe weather and his job.
shareShe didn't have a choice. Her father married her off. Yes a good way to start any marriage is to leave your wife's most prized possession sitting on a beach to rot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-09OhQPiIg#t=85
yerr.. The piano is left to rot, her and the daughter have to camp on the beach overnight, when he meets her he calls her stunted, looks her over with disdain and disappointment and insults her physical appearance again, complains about how much luggage she has, later voices concerns of her having some type of brain damage because of his own ignorance, sells beloved piano and her services, freaks out when she tries to get frisky with him, keeps her prisoner and then cuts off her finger when she gets frisky with someone else. What a charmer.
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