Concert pianist Anat’s waters break while she is playing. Devastatingly, her son proves deaf. The Baby Mozart CD her father gives her can go straight in the bin. However, Anats will to raise a piano genius who would befit her respected musical family only becomes stronger, and she takes drastic measures to make this happen. Composed as a moral parable with a touch of thriller, God of the Piano tells the story of a mother – played with great reserve by Naama Preis – whose obsessive behaviour and mile-high expectations threaten to crush her child, just as she was once crushed. While focusing on mother-son relations, the film also explores the uncertain nature of prodigy. Is talent inherited? Is there a secret tension or even an interplay between giftedness and averageness? And – most importantly – what price does a person, be it adult or child, pay for being labelled a genius?
