There’s often a trend among filmgoers to dismiss a movie like Bad Timing, Antichrist or The Piano Teacher simple because they are unabashed enough to present matter which is difficult and challenging to sit through, without really giving the movies their due. Austrian provocateur Michael Haneke’s sixth directorial effort, The Piano Teacher, like his Funny Games, forces the audience as well as the characters to take a trip to the very edge of sanity and reason, through such dark and disturbing by-lanes as obsession, sadomasochism, voyeurism and repression. Erika, played unflinchingly and brilliantly by Isabelle Huppert, is a frigid middle-aged classical-piano teacher at a music conservatory. She loves Schubert, but she also has kinky obsessions, which, when spelt out to her much younger student who has become infatuated with her, leads to shocking, catastrophic consequences and an incredibly bleak climax. In the meantime she lives with a domineering mother whose presence in her life might have been the reason for her being what she is. The movie is elegantly shot, and has its fair share of Schubert renditions, that are in direct contrast to the psychological tussles that define the complex mother-daughter and the destructive older woman-younger guy relationships.
Director: Michael Haneke
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama
Language: French
Country: Austria/France
2 comments:
"Austrian provocateur Michael Haneke’s sixth directorial effort, The Piano Teacher, like his Funny Games, forces the audience as well as the characters to take a trip to the very edge of sanity and reason, through such dark and disturbing by-lanes as obsession, sadomasochism, voyeurism and repression."
Indeed Shaubhajit. Nobody says it as well as you when it comes to making every word count. And yes Huppert is superlative, delivering for Haneke here what is probably her best performance. This isn't my favorite Haneke, but I do like it, and agree that some might tune out for the exact reasons you suggest. With the recent release of THE WHITE RIBBON, it's a good idea, methinks, to go back to Haneke's previous films.
Thanks a lot Sam for the appreciation. Unlike Funny Games, this isn't as provocating, though. And it also made me feel that I haven't yet watched his best work. His Cache & White Ribbon are both lying with me. Now I need to decide which of the 2 I should go ahead with first, given that both have received a lot of praise. My mind, however, is slightly tilting in favour of White Ribbon given the movie's austere B/W look.
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