The Piano Teacher (2001)
Unsurprisingly Haneke’s take on a erotic drama is deeply unconformable and disturbing. Yet again Haneke depicts the stifled front appearance in upperclass soceity with cutting deep into their repressions. Here with a top tier piano teacher being very assertive in her “day job” as a teacher, but with let’s say some rather unusual sexual fantasies at night.
It is one of those films where characters do seemingly illogical unexplained things, but lots is conveyed by the actors through body language and unspoken expressions. The overall emotions shown is plenty of repression and conflicting desires. What makes Erika’s development interesting is that it is not simply a case of “careful for what you wish for, you might get it” - even though there is an element of that, I see her as someone who has sacrificed most her life to art, but her own dreams and desires became broken as a consequence. One way to read the scene where she hurts that young piano student, is that she is actually trying to save her from that terrible faith. At least I see it that way with derived from the scenes where she talks with the mother.
As with most of Haneke films, it ends in a way that may seem unsatisfactory for many. Though that is what makes his films so effective and unique, because the film doesn’t end for the viewer when the film ends.
Rating: 4.5