Warning: This article contains major spoilers for “The Piano Lesson.”
The stars of “The Piano Lesson” had quite the spiritual experience by the time the Netflix movie came to its dramatic end.
Based on August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Piano Lesson” centers on a family’s fight over a prized heirloom piano that serves as a centerpiece to their legacy. The movie adaptation stars John David Washington as Boy Willie, a man determined to sell his family’s piano to purchase land down South — a cause that he believes his late father would support.
His sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), is vehemently against it; she wants to uphold the wishes of their late mother who believed the piano had a spiritual significance as the sole vestige of their family’s history.
Speaking to TODAY.com, John David Washington says he “felt some nerves” taking on the role of Boy Willie — a role he previously portrayed in the 2022 Broadway revival — because of his family’s ties to the project.
The film, which also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins, was a family affair for the Washingtons.
John David Washington’s brother, Malcolm Washington, directed the movie. Katia Washington, who previously worked with him on “Malcolm & Marie,” served as an executive producer alongside their father, Denzel Washington, who also produced.
“That definitely built in a little more pressure, because I want to do so well for my brother,” John David Washington tells TODAY.com. “I’m a fan of his work. I’m a fan of the director so … I felt some nerves, because … I feel like reputations are at stake here, so I wanted to be my best.”
John David Washington tells TODAY.com that working with the cast also felt very familial.
“You become a family on most productions,” he says before noting to Deadwyler that “he got a new family member” in her because of this production.
Washington and Deadwyler say they both experienced spiritual revelations on set.
Deadwyler’s breakthrough was the scene at the end of the film, where her character sits at the piano and conjures up her ancestors with every key she plays. Deadwyler reveals that the ending scene made her “emotional.”
“Remembering the actual act of the process — difficult, but witnessing it makes me emotional to see it the couple of times that I have viewed it, because that is what’s literally on you,” she says. “Not just artistically in this cinematic representation of it … you know that there are myriad ancestors who have created the space for you to be where you are.”
“You know that there are myriad ancestors who have created the space for you to be where you are.”
“You know that there are myriad ancestors who have created the space for you to be where you are.”
Danielle Deadwyler
John David Washington agrees, and notes that during the singing of a rendition of the Parchman Prison work song, “Berta, Berta,” he felt he also felt he tapped into a shared experience.
“The root of it, particularly the ‘Berta’ song, is pain, is the shared trauma, is the prison system, is the dynamics of slavery — through another mechanism,” he tells TODAY.com. “Especially in that time and this sort of rite of passage that they’re all sharing. Different generations of being locked up and forms of slavery is all happening. That song really depicts what they’re going through.”
So what exactly happened at the end of “The Piano Lesson” for the cast to say they felt a spiritual connection? Keep reading to find out.
What is ‘The Piano Lesson’ about?
“The Piano Lesson” follows the lives of the Charles family in Doaker Charles’s home.
Set in Pittsburgh in 1936, the film is based on August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. It centers on the struggle between a brother and sister, Boy Willie and Berniece, who fight over their family’s treasured heirloom, an engraved wooden piano, which documents the family’s history through special carvings made by their enslaved ancestor.
Is ‘The Piano Lesson’ based on a true story?
No, “The Piano Lesson” is not based on a true story.
In an interview with Dennis Watlington, published in the book “Conversations with August Wilson,” Wilson said the inspiration and title for “The Piano Lesson” came from a “Romare Bearden painting” he saw.
“It’s a painting of a woman, a piano, and a little girl playing the piano,” he said, describing Romare Bearden’s 1983 ‘The Piano Lesson’ collage. “The woman is standing over her, and I heard the woman in my mind admonishing the little girl: Now you, Maretha, get your piano lesson. That’s how it started.”
Wilson said Bearden’s work made him want to “explore the question, ‘Can you acquire a sense of self-worth by denying your past?’”
“I don’t think you can, and I wanted to show this,” he said, referring to his 1987 play. “I had the idea of this piano. I wanted it to be very visible on stage. I wanted the piano in the course of the play to get bigger and bigger. I figured the more you understand about the piano, the more you understand about these people. The piano goes back 137 years, and was used to purchase members of the family during slavery.”
Who are the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog in ‘The Piano Lesson’?
The Ghosts of the Yellow Dog in “The Piano Lesson” are the spirits of men who died in the 357 Yellow Dog boxcar train after it was set on fire by a group of white men who were looking for the people who stole the piano from slave owner Robert Sutter’s house.
Aside from Boy Charles (Willie Boy’s father), who was involved in the removal of the piano from Sutter’s home, it’s unclear who else was in the box car.
Jackson, who plays Doaker Charles in the film, says it’s also unclear who exactly lit the boxcar on fire, though many believe it was Robert Sutter, Sheriff Carter, Ed Saunders and/or Robert Smith.
Following the deaths the men in the boxcar, Saunders, Sutter and others who were said to have been responsible for the men’s deaths were said to have died “accidentally” by falling into wells.
“People said it was the ghosts of them men what died in that boxcar pushed him in his well,” Jackson says in the film of Saunders’ mysterious death.
What happens at the end of ‘The Piano Lesson’ movie?
In the final moments of Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson,” Berniece asks Avery Brown, a local pastor and her suitor, to “bless” their house after Wining Boy seemingly conjures up a spiritual presence when he drunkenly plays the piano.
As the lights flicker and the house gets colder, Avery begins a Christian ritual to cast out the spirit of James Sutter, but his attempts are unfruitful as paranormal things continue to happen around the house.
Meanwhile, Boy Wille, in his own futile attempt to get rid of Sutter’s ghost, antagonizes the spirit by calling out his name and sprinkling water around the house.
“Come get some of this water. You already fell down the well,” Boy Willie says.
As Boy Willie runs upstairs to sprinkle more water around the house, an unseen presence pushes him and he flies through the air, hitting the wall and falling back down the stairs.
The family looks on, shocked by the incident as Boy Willie tries to reorient himself. Refusing to give up, Boy Willie heads back upstairs and calls out Sutter’s name — only to be repeatedly struck down by an unseen presence. Eventually, Boy Willie is seen being choked by Sutter’s ghost as Avery’s ritual ultimately fails — as indicated by the snuffing out of the candle Berniece holds during the ceremony.
Avery acknowledges he “can’t do it” and pleads with Berniece to take over.
Berniece quietly agrees to take on the ritual and sits at the piano as she calls out to her ancestors’ names.
“I want you to help me,” she says repeatedly as the lights flicker on and off in their home.
“I want you to help me, Mama Berniece,” she continues as she strikes a key on the piano. She proceeds to call for Mama Ester, Papa Boy Charles and Mama Ola to help her as she dramatically strikes keys on the piano.
As Berniece calls their names and plays the piano, the spirits of her ancestors are seen gathered around her with their hands placed on her as she plays.
While Berniece plays as she’s surrounded by her ancestors, Sutter’s ghost is suddenly engulfed in flames and Boy Wille is finally let loose from his iron grip.
The house then returns back to normal with the lights no longer flickering and the candle regaining its flame. Berniece rocks back and forth and says thank you to her ancestors.
As the family looks around at the now silent house, Boy Willie comes down the stairs and clears this throat.
“Berniece, if you and Maretha don’t keep playing on that piano, ain’t no telling,” he says, before adding, “Me and Sutter both likely to come back.”
They hug and Berniece tells him “thank you” as tears run down her face.
In an interview with TODAY.com, Deadwyler spoke more about the emotions she felt and the implications of the final scene.
“You want to uphold legacy – less reputation in my sense, and more about connecting to what has existed before you that you are not as aware of and know that can come from you,” she says, reflecting on how she felt during that moment at piano where she says she was in the presence of her “ancestors.”
“I know that my last living grandparent, whom I love and adore, and encouraged me in all of her quiet ways, and had a completely different life than myself. My grandmother was with me,” she adds.
As part of the final scene, Berniece is now seen teaching her daughter Maretha how to play the piano as she they sit together on its bench.
