Film: The Piano Teacher
Release date: 27th May 2002
Certificate: 18
Running time: 129 mins
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Austria/France/Germany
Austrian director Michael Haneke wants to provoke you. Having challenged his viewers about the morality of horror movies in his 1997 film Funny Games, Haneke tackles the subject of repressed sexual desires and sadomasochism in The Piano Teacher (or La Pianiste), based on the novel by Elfriede Jelinek.
Isabelle Huppert plays Erika Kohut, a stern and abrasive woman in her early forties, who teaches piano and still lives – and shares a bed - with her overbearing mother, played by Annie Girardot, in their suffocating apartment. The opening scene shows the two characters in violent conflict with one another when Erika is scorned by her mother for returning home late.
Initially Erika appears cold and socially isolated, with little outside her musical interests – she is nothing more than a loner, if a formidable one. We learn that her father went mad, yet as the film continues there are glimpses into what is clearly a darker story. She goes to a peep show in a sex shop and, in an even more uncomfortable scene in the bathroom; she cuts herself between the legs whilst her mother calls out from the other room to tell her that dinner is ready. Beneath the strict composure lays inner torment and repressed longing. She is also fiercely jealous and resentful; at one point crushing a glass and pouring it into the coat pocket of one of her pupils.
The protagonist is introduced to a self-assured young student Walter Klemmer, who takes a shine to Erika, and auditions to join her music class. After much resistance on her part, he is accepted onto the course, where he pursues his teacher’s affections, and a relationship starts to develop. But Kohut only wants this on her terms and intends to list all her sexual desires in a letter to Klemmer for him to peruse at his leisure. The way he reacts, and the actions taken after, plunges the film into even more disturbing territories…
Isabelle Huppert is magnificent in the role of Kohut, portraying all the tortuous complexities of this character with real conviction. There is a wonderful scene where she watches Klemmer play during his audition - you see her trying to maintain her composure, yet little twitches in her facial expressions give away all the anguish and emotion raging inside her. There is great chemistry with Benoit Magimel, also strong in the role of Klemmer, who is convincing as the young man who is frustrated and frankly baffled by this perplexing woman. Both lead actor and actress received awards at Cannes.
Haneke always seems to cause a stir at Cannes, audiences famously walked out of the screening of Funny Games and this later, though equally controversial, film won the Grand Prix prize. The director seems to enjoy provoking a reaction from his audiences, testing their moral boundaries, but perhaps trying a little too hard to do so at times. He also leaves films widely open for interpretation, allowing audiences to make up their own minds, but also leaving them frustratingly lost for answers. Watching a Michael Haneke film can sometimes feel like being repeatedly prodded in the arm for two hours without explanation.
There is a lot which should be credited to this film, such as the fascinating development of relationships between the characters, and the classical soundtrack which binds the whole thing together. The use of music, particularly composers such as Schubert, is essential to the film, and communicates the mood as brilliantly as Isabelle Huppert’s facial expressions.
But, at one point, when Erika rolls on top of her mother in bed, it was hard to see how much further the film could push the boundaries. In fact, after the initial shock, the next reaction it provokes is laughter – and a hysterical kind of laughter. There is a truly hilarious moment when Klemmer picks up the letter detailing all of Kohut’s sexual requests to which he responds, “Heavy.” It may ease the discomfort, but the comedy found during even the film’s darkest moments seems out of place.
The Piano Teacher really is a powerful piece of work, as collectively interesting and disturbing as Erika Kohut’s toolkit. It’s just a shame that Haneke feels he has to hammer away at the audience to such an extent. KB
