Packed opening house learns its ‘Piano Lesson’ | John Moore

The honored guest walking the red carpet on opening night of the Denver Film Festival on Friday was asked a tough question – and it wasn’t even by me.

Virgil Williams, co-writer of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” was asked why anyone should see the highly anticipated film in theaters when it is released on Nov. 8, given that it will begin streaming on Netflix just two weeks later, on Nov. 22.

“Great question,” Williams said. (Side note: I have been saying for 30 years that whenever someone says “Great question,” what they politely really mean is, “I wasn’t expecting that question, and I need a second to think about how to answer.”)

“I have not watched movies in a crowded movie theater since COVID,” Williams said. “But I have had the opportunity to watch this movie a few times in crowded movie theaters, and it was such a great experience. … I mean, you could watch it at home. But being in a theater and watching it on a big screen with popcorn and hearing people react in real time – there’s nothing like it. It made me feel like a kid again. It made me remember why I started working so hard to make these things.”

That’s when I jumped in and played wingman.

“But don’t you also think that because all these stories were written for a live theater audience, that any August Wilson story really needs to be seen as a shared communal experience?”

“100 percent,” Williams responded. “All movies do. But, above all, these August Wilson stories are humanity, legacy, family. So 100 percent, yes.”

Producer Denzel Washington has pledged to adapt all 10 of Wilson’s monumental plays exploring Black life in 20th century America into films. “The Piano Lesson” is the third, following “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Fences.” This one is a 1940s ghost story about one family’s tragic connection to an old piano.

And this movie is all in the family for the Washingtons. Denzel’s oldest son, John David, plays the leading role, while his youngest son, Malcolm, is both director and co-writer with Williams.

I asked Williams, who was nominated for a 2017 Oscar for co-adapting “Mudhoney,” what Denzel hopes to accomplish by seeing this massive creative project through.

“I think it’s for posterity’s sake,” he said. “This is American history. August Wilson is in the pantheon of American Masters – I won’t even say ‘Black’ American masters; I say ‘American’ Masters. For Denzel to commit them all to film is to leave them for future generations of every color.”

After Friday’s screening in a jam-packed Holiday Theatre, Williams accepted Denver Film’s 2024 Excellence in Writing Award on behalf of himself and Malcolm Washington. Williams called the film both a love letter and a warning for future generations.

“Be mindful of your history and know that wherever your life has taken you, your ancestors played a part in it,” he said. “Your past informs your future. And the only one who can write your future is you. Only you can decide what to do with that history. Only you can write your story.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Today’s schedule has 33 films showing on nine screens. Denver Film will honor actor Ryan Destiny with the festival’s Rising Star Award following a 2 p.m. screening of “The Fire Inside” at the AMC 9+10. It’s a biopic about Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

O, SAY CAN’T YOU SIE?

Noticeably missing from today’s schedule are any public screenings at the Sie Film Center, Denver Film’s home base. That’s because the entire Sie facility is being reserved for a private event that will include the presentation of the fest’s annual Italian Filmmaker Award to director Mario Martone for his film “The King of Laughter,” which will be screened at 3:30 p.m. for invited guests only. (Yes, all three screens will be dark for the entire day.)

SCREENING OF THE DAY

Today is the biggest of two big days for Denver’s Taylor McFadden, writer and director of “Lovers,” a narrative feature filmed entirely at Denver’s hi-dive rock club. It’s about a group of women who regather in their hometown to process the suicide of one of their once-closest friends. As they face their shared loss, they are reminded of the power of coming together through music. The cast is made up of both local and national musicians.

McFadden walked Friday’s red carpet with her younger brother, Judah, whom she has been bossing around, er, directing, since they were kids making plays together in their Highlands Ranch living room. Judah has a supporting role in “Lovers” that he succinctly describes as “a d-bag.”

“Okay. This is funny: She didn’t think I could do it. I had to audition, like, three times,” said Judah, who also plays a younger version of Al Pacino in a completed but not-yet-released film called “Billy Knight.”

“To be honest with you, I auditioned tons of people and couldn’t find the right person,” Taylor said. “At the last minute I was like, ‘Would you want to try?’ And I think this audition was amazing.”

This is their first real film work together, and Judah said it was “really cool to see her just step into her power for the first time. It was really special.”

The film, he said, will speak to anyone affected by depression or suicide.

“It will tell them you’re not alone. And that it’s OK to ask for help.”

“Lovers” plays at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Holiday Theater and again at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Sie FilmCenter.

FAMILIES: GO WITH THE ‘FLOW’

If you are looking for a screening that is sure to be fun for the whole family, it’s the 85-minute animated film “Flow,” said Denver Film Artistic Director Matt Campbell.

“It actually doesn’t have any dialogue, so there’s no talking or subtitles,” he said. “It’s about a cat in a world where there are no more humans. Then this huge flood happens, so the cat gets into a boat with these other animals. Then it becomes a river adventure with all these misfit animals who have to work together to get downstream safely through all these challenges and dangers. It’s a really beautiful, fun little animated film, and it has huge Oscar potential.”

7:15 p.m. Sunday or 4 p.m. Wednesday, both at the AMC 9+10.

A ‘HOMEGROWN’ SURPRISE

“Homegrown” is perhaps the biggest powderkeg film of the fest, and yet its creators are hopeful that their going into the minds of three Jan. 6 seditionists will encourage understanding rather than rage.

Director Michael Premo embedded within the MAGA movement from 2018 through 2021 and  focused on three activists who eventually participated in the U.S. Capitol attack. The doc has been accepted into 25 festivals, including Venice, but Premo and producer Rachel Falcone realize that, with Tuesday’s election looming, people are exhausted by all of it. Which is why they say this film might surprise them.

“Yes, it’s sometimes hard to get people in the door. But once they’re there, we’ve been able to have incredibly rich conversations,” Falcone said, “I think the film allows people to see themselves and think about the situation in a new light.”

Added Premo: “One of the biggest things that we discovered about the people who allowed us into their lives was that ultimately, regardless of people’s professed ideology, people are looking for community, people are looking for purpose and people are looking for meaning. But we tend to shame people rather than try to listen to them.”

“Homegrown has two remaining screenings  at 11 a.m. Sunday and 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, at the AMC 9+10.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The day I met Denzel, there was an earthquake, five minutes into the meeting. An earthquake! And I was like, ‘Oh, OK. OK.’” – Screenwriter Virgil Williams on meeting “The Piano Lesson producer Denzel Washington

FUN TITLE OF THE DAY

“Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted,” about how the legendary, genre-defying musician has transformed his home into an artistic playground. 10:15 a.m. Sunday (hurry!) at the AMC 9+10.

INFORMATION AND TICKETS

Go to denverfilm.org

MORE OPENING-NIGHT PHOTOS