Five Easy Pieces (Milo Rau) about how we deal with the emotional shock and pain caused by an extremely upsetting experience. Milo Rau's "Five Easy Pieces" is also a reflection on theatre. The title "Five Easy Pieces" refers to a series of exercises that Igor Stravinsky composed in 1917 in order to teach children how to play the piano, and that were also called "Five Easy Pieces". The theatre production of Milo Rau is made up of five monologues, each offering a different perspective on how children learn to act and how they learn to grow up. Milo Rau sees his performances as "Lehrstücke", in
Five Easy Pieces Touch Me", and "When There's a Fire in Your Heart". According to "Variety", the film earned $1.2 million in North American in 1970. By 1976 the film had earned $8.9 million in North America. The film opened to positive reviews. It holds an 87% "Certified Fresh" rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The critics' consensus states: "An important touchstone of the New Hollywood era, "Five Easy Pieces" is a haunting portrait of alienation that features one of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances." Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out