re with that voice, and the voice of Flora, beside her. A clear contrast is created on the soundtrack between the beauty of the musical sound Ada made on her piano in Scotland and the threatening roaring and crashing of the waves as she disembarks in New Zealand. The image of the mother and daughter standing by the piano on this coastline is an image that characterizes the people living in this area. They live close to nature in a world that has not yet been fully "civilized," but they do so while trying to maintain a semblance of their European roots. This is what Ada will do as well, plunging into the more primal world not only of New Zealand but of her own physicality and sexuality while using the piano as a bridge to Europe and art and beauty. This indicates a primary source of opposing forces in the film--the setting itself. This is a wilderness area with people who are testing themselves and their resolve by trying to create a life more like the one they left behind, a life where man is better able to control the el
...