SYDNEY - Jane Campion's agent has strongly rejected claims that The Piano was based on an 80-year-old book.
Responding to claims that Campion may need to return her Academy Award for the screenplay, agent Viccy Harper said: "I'm flabbergasted this keeps coming around because it's not true.
"I wish she were here because she would be able to tell you in her own words exactly how The Piano came about."
The Oxford Companion to Australian Film asserts that The Piano was based on The Story of a New Zealand River, by Jane Mander.
Mander's biographer, Rae McGregor, quoted Mander's great- niece, Judy Beecham, as saying: "If Aunt Jane were alive today, she would have kneecapped Jane Campion." - NZPA
'Piano' tale original says agent
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