What About Dick? (2012) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

An absurd imperial mystery links a sentient piano, violent attacks, and Dick's lost memories.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

The Piano's Imperial Prologue

The Piano introduces the live radio story and frames the decline of the British Empire. Kensington's eccentric household establishes the film's absurd emotional world.

Key Events

• Radio Oral Cinema Begins — The film opens as a live radio production of oral cinema narrated through The Piano. Characters: The Piano Location: Live radio production
• Empire Decline Introduced — The Piano presents the decline and fall of the British Empire. Characters: The Piano Location: Radio production
• Kensington Household Established — Emma and Helena live together with their eccentric Aunt Maggie. Characters: Emma, Helena, Aunt Maggie Location: Kensington
• Emma's Repressed Fantasies — Emma is portrayed as emotionally repressed and drawn to submission and discipline fantasies. Characters: Emma Location: Kensington
• Helena's Troubled Flirtation — Helena is presented as flirtatious and troubled within the absurd household. Characters: Helena Location: Kensington
• Maggie's Absurd Interests — Aunt Maggie pursues unconventional medical and sexual interests. Characters: Aunt Maggie Location: Kensington

A Warning in Shagistan

Sergeant Ken Russell discovers The Piano near the troops. Deepak warns that it may destroy the empire, but the warning is dismissed before the piano is transported.

Key Events

• Piano Claims Witness — The Piano says everyone touched, played, and struck it until it rang with joy. Characters: The Piano Location: Narrated story space
• Piano Found in Shagistan — Sergeant Ken Russell discovers The Piano near the troops. Characters: Sergeant Ken Russell, The Piano Location: Shagistan
• Imperial Collapse Warning — Deepak warns that the piano may cause the British Empire's collapse. Characters: Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley, Sergeant Ken Russell, The Piano Location: Shagistan
• Piano Ordered Back — Ken is ordered to take the piano back to camp for a regimental fancy-dress ball. Characters: Sergeant Ken Russell, The Piano Location: Shagistan military camp
• Comic Piano Transport — Soldiers transport the piano amid a series of comic misunderstandings. Characters: Sergeant Ken Russell, The Piano Location: Shagistan

Violence and Vanishing Objects

Comic transportation misunderstandings give way to attacks connected with the piano. Inspector McGuffin begins investigating the missing instrument and related objects.

Key Events

• Ken Leaves the Piano — Ken goes to meet his superior while the piano continues through the military episode. Characters: Sergeant Ken Russell, The Piano Location: Shagistan
• Attacks Surround the Piano — The instrument becomes connected with violent attacks and a wider imperial mystery. Characters: The Piano, Sergeant Ken Russell Location: Shagistan
• Missing Furniture Investigation — Inspector McGuffin investigates the disappearance of the piano and other objects. Characters: Inspector McGuffin, The Piano Location: England
• Dick Enters the Mystery — Dick becomes central to the mystery as the piano's connection to events remains unclear. Characters: Dick, The Piano, Inspector McGuffin Location: England

Dick's Hospital Mystery

Aunt Maggie visits Dick at the hospital, and Deepak joins the effort to help him. McGuffin connects the piano to Dick's missing memories.

Key Events

• Maggie Visits Dick — In August 1929, Aunt Maggie visits Dick at the hospital. Characters: Aunt Maggie, Dick Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad
• Deepak Joins Treatment — Deepak, presented as a visiting psychoanalysis professor, joins the attempt to help Dick. Characters: Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley, Aunt Maggie, Dick Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad
• McGuffin Links Piano Memory — McGuffin believes the piano may unlock Dick's memories of the attacks. Characters: Inspector McGuffin, Dick, The Piano Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad

The Unanswered Memory

Ken brings the piano into the hospital, but Dick still cannot remember the period after the Shagistan massacre. The surviving dialogue ends with the investigation unresolved.

Key Events

• Piano Brought to Hospital — Ken brings The Piano into the hospital for the memory investigation. Characters: Sergeant Ken Russell, Dick, Inspector McGuffin, The Piano Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad
• Dick Remains Amnesiac — Dick remains unable to remember anything since the Shagistan massacre. Characters: Dick, Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley, Inspector McGuffin, The Piano Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad
• Mystery Remains Unresolved — The surviving dialogue ends with the piano at the heart of an unresolved investigation. Characters: Dick, Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley, Inspector McGuffin, Sergeant Ken Russell, Aunt Maggie, The Piano Location: Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad

Story Breakdown

• Radio Framing Device — The film presents its story as live oral cinema narrated through The Piano.
  • Piano Narration — The Piano describes its role as narrator and witness.
  • Imperial Decline — The opening frames the story around the fall of the British Empire.
• Kensington Household — Emma, Helena, and Aunt Maggie establish the story's eccentric domestic setting.
  • Emma's Repression — Emma is associated with emotional restraint and fantasies of discipline.
  • Helena's Trouble — Helena is portrayed as flirtatious and troubled.
  • Maggie's Interests — Aunt Maggie pursues unconventional medical and sexual interests.
• Shagistan Discovery — The piano enters the military narrative and becomes linked to imperial danger.
  • Piano Found — Sergeant Ken Russell discovers the piano near the troops.
  • Collapse Warning — Deepak predicts that the piano may cause imperial collapse.
• Military Transportation — Orders and comic misunderstandings move the piano toward the military camp.
  • Fancy Dress Order — Ken is ordered to take the piano to a regimental ball.
  • Comic Misunderstandings — Soldiers transport the instrument through a sequence of comic complications.
• Violence Investigation — Attacks surrounding the piano lead to an investigation into missing objects and imperial decline.
  • Attacks Connected — The piano becomes associated with violent attacks.
  • McGuffin Investigates — Inspector McGuffin investigates the piano's disappearance and related objects.
• Dick's Lost Memory — Dick becomes the central human mystery as the characters seek an explanation for his amnesia.
  • Hospital Visit — Aunt Maggie visits Dick at the Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad.
  • Psychoanalytic Aid — Deepak joins the attempt to help Dick as a visiting professor of psychoanalysis.
• Piano Memory Test — The investigation brings the piano to Dick in hopes of recovering his memories.
  • Beach Connection — The piano is said to have been found by Dick on a beach.
  • Hospital Arrival — Sergeant Ken Russell brings the piano into the hospital.
• Unresolved Mystery — The piano remains central, but Dick's memories and the wider mystery remain unresolved.
  • Amnesia Persists — Dick cannot remember anything since the Shagistan massacre.
  • Open Ending — The surviving dialogue ends without resolving the investigation.

Directed by

Aubrey Powell, Eric Idle

Key Cast

• Suzy Eddie Izzard — Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley
• Eric Idle — The Piano
• Russell Brand — Dick
• Jane Leeves — Emma
• Sophie Winkleman — Helena