The Piano Teacher (La Pianiste) (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Formidable! What a performance by Huppert. But grim. Ouch, I had hit pause three times to get through it. Art-house erotica done... again.

• Jim H

  
  A sexually repressed piano teacher falls for one of her students. Isabelle Huppert plays Erica with a reserved but volcanic sexuality that comes through in all her moments of compelling silence. Her performance is nuanced and courageous, especially when Erica's more vulnerable… More
  A sexually repressed piano teacher falls for one of her students. Isabelle Huppert plays Erica with a reserved but volcanic sexuality that comes through in all her moments of compelling silence. Her performance is nuanced and courageous, especially when Erica's more vulnerable side is revealed. Hers is a character who begins being interesting when she fights with her mother, gets uninteresting when we realize how boring her day-to-day life is, and remains interesting for the rest of the film after she cuts her own vagina with a razor blade and spends her free time in a porn shop watching the quarter peep show films. I was once in a creative writing workshop, and someone asked me why my character was the way he was. I didn't know how to answer. "Because that's just the way he is," I wanted to reply. But after watching <i>The Piano Teacher</i>, I understand the question better because it's the one flaw in the film. Why is Erica the way she is? What causes her disconnect from people? Her mother can't be blamed for everything, can she? This is where subtle backstory about her past relationships and her early development would've been enlightening. Overall, I liked <i>The Piano Teacher</i>, especially Huppert's performance, but I still think there's something important missing in the character's construction.

• Jan Marc M

  
  Disturbing and indecent, but a brilliant character dichotomy exploring themes on desires and depression. The Piano Teacher is an honest and daring wild arousal to curiosity. Remarks a rhetorical question, "what is your dark secret?" Harrowing.

• Drew S

  
  Absolutely electric; a story of a woman's complete inability to assume sexual control and the explosion of neuroses that result. Though quite long - probably a bit too long for most, though I didn't mind - The Piano Teacher's beats are extremely simple, almost… More
  Absolutely electric; a story of a woman's complete inability to assume sexual control and the explosion of neuroses that result. Though quite long - probably a bit too long for most, though I didn't mind - The Piano Teacher's beats are extremely simple, almost elemental. She has a domineering mother, she teaches piano, she catches the eye of a talented student. The film proceeds in a relatively linear fashion, but the anchor that sells the intense dysfunction around which it revolves is Isabelle Huppert. Unlikeable from the start, Erica invites pity, but only in a very limited capacity; her cruelty only seems to beget the miserable relationship she has with both her mother and herself. Her stony, pinched face renders her immediately contemptible, the kind of person you see on the street and think "what a bitch" to yourself. She wears that mask at just the right times, wearing you down to the point where you just can't tolerate her anymore, then wearing you down in a completely different way once the film starts exploring some new territory. Huppert is merciless and dazzlingly brave in the sort of work that's just too bold for the Oscars, but a performance such as this is a reward in and of itself. The events that she maneuvers through, which are all sorts of degrading and hostile and unwatchable, give the film a sense of frayed nerves. Though not a thriller by any stretch of the imagination, everyone within seems to constantly be dancing on the edge of ruination, to the point where it sure as hell feels like one. Visually sterile and sonically mute, save for diegetic piano music, it's the most suffocating film that the classically suffocating Michael Haneke has ever made. An immense challenge, but for those who are in tune with its brutality, it's also an infinitely rewarding one.

• Anthony L

  
  Intense and disturbing, The Piano Teacher isn't so much enjoyable to watch but more impossible to look away. Isabelle Huppert's performance is one of the all time greatest, and I don't mean for her, I mean ever. This film is awesome, unpleasant and one of the best in… More
  Intense and disturbing, The Piano Teacher isn't so much enjoyable to watch but more impossible to look away. Isabelle Huppert's performance is one of the all time greatest, and I don't mean for her, I mean ever. This film is awesome, unpleasant and one of the best in the last decade. There are so many great scenes here but the last one has to be one of my all time favourites, deliciously disturbing and relentlessly anti-Hollywood, probably my favourite Haneke so far.

• William D

  
  Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher" is a story about an odd woman (played by the great Isabelle Huppert) who is a tyrannical piano instructor by day and a denizen of porn stores by night. She is also a masochist, begging her handsome and talented new student (Benoit… More
  Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher" is a story about an odd woman (played by the great Isabelle Huppert) who is a tyrannical piano instructor by day and a denizen of porn stores by night. She is also a masochist, begging her handsome and talented new student (Benoit Magimel) to hit, strangle and dominate her. As usual, Haneke's direction is firm, formally excellent, visually gorgeous, and pitiless in its depiction of human frailty. Many sequences in the film are so arresting and blunt that they are almost frightening. I love the basic idea of the film, which is to probe into the layers of disappointment and hope that lead ordinary people to mistreat one another and invest erotic attraction with antagonism. But Haneke doesn't go very deep in his exploration, and neither does Huppert. They remain fairly aloof from the main character's suffering and desire. Thus we don't go too much further than watching from across the room as she jousts with those around her. When the jousting becomes sexual, the film becomes particularly tedious. Watching sado-masochists do their business is about as compelling as watching someone urinate on himself. I kept waiting for more depth in this slightly overlong film (2 hours and 10 minutes) and was left somewhat dissatisfied. Yet the strengths of "The Piano Teacher" are numerous and significant enough that any serious cinephile will find plenty to marvel at here. Haneke reminds me of his fellow European auteur Lars von Trier. Neither is a great artist, but both consistently probe human weakness in compelling and unique ways. I consider them two of the most important and genuinely artistic filmmakers working today. (Haneke's most recent film, "The White Ribbon," it should also be said, is not to be missed. It will likely be thought of in years to come as his best film. It is also the frontrunner for this year's Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.)

• Tsubaki S

  
  It has the same problems of every single film that Hackneke has made. Manipulatory and artificial, with characters that act more as sock puppets than real humans. Go ahead and flame me, but Haneke's bandwagon of adoration that most people seem to have fully embraced is a… More
  It has the same problems of every single film that Hackneke has made. Manipulatory and artificial, with characters that act more as sock puppets than real humans. Go ahead and flame me, but Haneke's bandwagon of adoration that most people seem to have fully embraced is a bandwagon that i don't want to ride at all. This films are not "provoking" or something that "makes you think", they are just irritating attention-whoring pieces of nothingness. What you get from a film like this? "Wow man, is not good to repress things, or you will end up urinating near cars while people are making out"

• Dean M

  
  Very strange story that follows the life of a 40-year-old piano virtuoso in her darkest sado-masochistic fantasies.

• Lord N

  
  Jhon E. wanted me to watch this so now I've finally gotten around to it...after a year or so...sorry Mr. E. I'll get to the rest of yours much sooner I promise. Acting/characters: The mother in this film treats her daughter like absolute garbage and then guilt trips her… More
  Jhon E. wanted me to watch this so now I've finally gotten around to it...after a year or so...sorry Mr. E. I'll get to the rest of yours much sooner I promise. Acting/characters: The mother in this film treats her daughter like absolute garbage and then guilt trips her to make her feel bad for hurting her poor old mother. People like that repulse me. she controls or criticizes her daughter's every move. Now I'm not psychologist, but it seems that her mother is imprinting the bad memories of their time together on their daughter so she will live forever in her daughter's memory. I intensely disliked the characters in the film. If they weren't being idiotic they were being petty and shallow. As I mentioned before, the mother was a nosy, controlling cow who put herself before her daughter every time, the titular character was just twisted, and her love interest was just ridiculously stupid. was the film well acted? Well...I guess so. If the actors were trying to make me intensely dislike the characters they did a great job. I as an audience member go into a film expecting to relate, or at least sympathize, with one character. In most films that is key. if the audience has no one to relate to we don't care about anything that happens. I know I didn't. 4.5/10 Plot: During the film, there is a talk about Schumann and his slow descent into madness and I think it is no coincidence that that conversation was in this FUBAR film. Or at least it tried to be FUBAR I think, maybe I'm missing something, but this film was just so boring. Near the end of the film it got more interesting but not in the way I was hoping. It was disturbing. I don't know what the filmmakers were trying to get across with this. I know that this one is based off of a novel. Seriously though, what is the point? Maybe I missed something. The whole film is in French so maybe something got lost in translation. I know that the filmmakers wanted to make the audience repulsed by the protagonist. They did a good job of that. It fluctuated between boring and sickening for me. I also felt that the first half of the film and the second half were two totally different movies almost. The first half was the titular character as a reserved jerk who is under the thumb of her domineering mother and she is a piano teacher. The second half is where things start to take a whole other turn. I didn't enjoy it but that's just me. 5/10 Screenplay: As I've previously mentioned, I have a tough time doing the screenplay portion of reviews for foreign language films. I never know what gets lost in translation. So, they might have a line in this film that I thought was stupid but in its original French it was something far better. However I didn't feel that it had any glaring flaws in it. It wasn't outstanding but I don't think that the screenplay itself was trying to be very deep. It was what wasn't spoken that was supposed to be the most brutal and powerful. It moved the story along pretty well and I didn't think it did a bad job. It is rare that I think a screenplay is the best part of the film but I think for this one it was. 8/10 Likableness: It was kind of a boring film with parts that definitely kept your attention. In a good way? well, that depends on each individual viewer. As for me, I don't think so. was it well made? I suppose so but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe there was something that I missed. some hidden meaning that I overlooked. But can I in good faith recommend this to anyone? Sorry Jhon E, but no I can't. I saw it, I suppose I'm glad that I am just for the sake of expanding what kind of films that I have seen. But I don't need to watch it again. 5.5/10 Final Score: 23/40 57% (M) Tomatometer rating: 73% Tomatometer rating if my review was added: 72% TRIVIA TIME: 1. Isabelle Huppert really played the piano in the film. She had studied piano for 12 years. As preparation for her role as a piano teacher, she resumed practicing a year before the film was started. 2. The character of the mother is based on author Elfriede Jelinek's real life mother...yeah, I figured.

• Ed Fucking H

  
  A brilliant film from Michael Haneke dealing with masochism. I'd been meaning to watch this for quite awhile and I'm glad I finally got around to it. This film really grabs the viewer from the begining and doesn't let go, even at the end. Reasons for this are Isabelle… More
  A brilliant film from Michael Haneke dealing with masochism. I'd been meaning to watch this for quite awhile and I'm glad I finally got around to it. This film really grabs the viewer from the begining and doesn't let go, even at the end. Reasons for this are Isabelle Huppert's brilliant performance. Her subtle but passionate and intense acting style is a perfect match, for Haneke's directing style which can oddly enough be described in the same way. The rest of the cast is very good as well, but as a character study the viewers main focus is on Huppert and she carries this brave role with ease. This film is upsetting, disturbing and in true Haneke fashion unsettling. This isn't a film that is to be enjoyed per se, but it is nearly impossible to look away from the screen throughout it's run time. Strongly recommended.

• Daisy M

  
  The Piano Teacher' was the second Haneke film I've seen. Funny Games was oke, but not the kind I will watch again. But this one was a very good film, powerful, provoking and features a superb performance from Isabelle Huppert. She played Erika Kohut, a brilliant pianist… More
  The Piano Teacher' was the second Haneke film I've seen. Funny Games was oke, but not the kind I will watch again. But this one was a very good film, powerful, provoking and features a superb performance from Isabelle Huppert. She played Erika Kohut, a brilliant pianist teacher. Benoit Magimel (Walter)played the young guy who attempted to seduce her. She was a deeply disturbed individual and he could not cope when her true nature. I don't want to go into any great detail about Erika or her mental state. The movie reveals this slowly and beautifully. I was impressed that there was no attempt at all to put psychology explanations that you would expect in a Hollywood melodrama with similar subject matter. The Piano Teacher' are not for those who can't face the dark side of human nature. It's far from being a "feel good" movie.

• Sunil J

  
  Isabelle Huppert is shocking and slightly profane in this French about a musician and her kinks.

• John M

  
  "La Pianiste" was a deeply moving film, very disturbing and thought-provoking, with a handful of unforgettable scenes. Interesting journey into human psyche with superb acting and cinematography.

• Quinto W

  
  A disturbing character study, masterfully performed by Isabelle Huppert.

• Janice :

  
  Is it just me or was this horrible? The concept is great, but poorly done. At first I was intrigued by the storyline which said that she found "solace in sex shops and experimenting with masochism" and that somehow she "drifts closer to the brink of emotional… More
  Is it just me or was this horrible? The concept is great, but poorly done. At first I was intrigued by the storyline which said that she found "solace in sex shops and experimenting with masochism" and that somehow she "drifts closer to the brink of emotional disorder". I was like "This is my film!!". What an original idea, right? Turned out to be painful to watch, so painful that it felt like I was experimenting masochism myself (Thanks but no thanks). Maybe it was the poor quality of the film. Or maybe it was the lack of "thrill" or just surprises and twists. Briefly, this didn't meet my standards. If, like me (before seeing this), you think this will be a masterpiece, then I suggest you rent it and see for yourself. Otherwise, go experience masochism on your own - it'll be much more pleasurable than this annoying film!

• Christopher B

  
  Heneke does a great job making a film that is truly disturbing, yet also a fascinating character study. I saw the film "Secretary" shortly after this one and I don't think it's possible to look at kinky sex as playful at all after seeing this. Horrifying.

Read all 16 featured audience ratings