Grand Piano - Symphony of Fear - DVD

Content: The once so celebrated pianist Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) has completely retired from the public eye after a completely failed performance. Now, in honor of his late teacher, he plans to return to the stage after a five-year hiatus. At the concert grand piano of his former teacher, he wants to prove to himself and his audience that his lapse five years ago was only an exception. But the way back into the limelight quickly becomes an absolute horror trip for Tom, and not only because of the enormous stage fright. A stranger has set his sights on him and threatens to shoot him if he plays even one wrong note. What Tom initially thinks is a bad joke turns bloody serious when his girlfriend Emma (Kerry Bishé) is also caught in the crosshairs of the mysterious stranger...

Grand Piano has a thoroughly exciting initial idea that is strongly reminiscent of the thriller Don't Hang Up. Instead of a phone booth, the action here is confined to a concert hall. This has a certain appeal, but also makes for some rather illogical scenes. Sure, some things - like the somewhat unusual placement of the concert grand piano - can be excused as artistic license. Others, however, just seem silly. The boorish behavior of Emma's friend Ashley (Tamsin Egerton) and her boyfriend Wayne (Allen Leech), for instance, seems too forced to be even remotely believable. And also the resolution of the whole thing, for all its well-intentioned originality, lacks any logic.

But if you manage to look past the big holes in logic and the badly constructed moments, you get a very atmospheric and quite exciting thriller, which can please especially with its stylish visuals and a convincing Elijah Wood. The pace that director Eugenio Mira sets is, despite some somewhat lengthy sequences, pleasantly rousing and the level of tension that he begins to build after only a few minutes, his production can also maintain almost to the end.

Produced the thriller was, among others, Rodrigo Cortés, who since his acclaimed directorial Buried - Lebendig begraben well knows how to create gripping tension reduced to the smallest space. Unfortunately, Grand Piano doesn't reach the quality of this claustrophobic shocker. But the good idea with its slight Hitchcock flair, the visual realization and the good actors are enough to offer the viewer 90 minutes of thriller entertainment. And for that there is a very clear: Recommended!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD pleases with a very warm color scheme and a good overall sharpness, which has little loss of quality even in the many dark moments. Minor flaws in detail presentation and contrast matching hardly carry any negative weight in this regard. The sound is primarily dominated by the powerfully mixed music and the well intelligible dialogue. There are not big surround revelations, but in some scenes, especially the ambient noises and smaller sound effects also provide a little dynamics in the action. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has only the trailer and other program tips to offer.

Conclusion:Grand Piano is a very interesting and also exciting thriller at its core, but with some very illogical elements gives away much of its potential. However, even if Spanish filmmaker Eugenio Mira hasn't delivered the big time, the good actors, stylish visuals and decent level of suspense make this a very entertaining thriller that fans of films like Don't Hang Up should definitely give a chance. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp