The Piano Teacher/La Pianiste (2001) or, The Cursed Pervert

9/10/2023

The Piano Teacher/La Pianiste (2001) or, The Cursed Pervert

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A simple yet striking image of a loving embrace on a public bathroom floor makes up this titillating poster for Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher

A middle-aged Parisian piano teacher gets courted by a juicy younger student of hers, which activates her perversions and her labored psyche.

The Piano Teacher is written and directed by great German-born Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke (The Seventh Continent/Der Siebente Kontinent (1989)), adapting Der Klaverspielerin (1983) by Elfriede Jelinek (Die Kinder der Toten (1995)). The original French title translates to 'the pianist'.

It is a tragic character study and a story of a romance that evades fulfillment. Haneke elevates a serious drama with powerful photography (by Christian Berger (Ludwig II (2012))) and contrasting, at times underpinning and at times beautiful music (piano sonatas by Franz Schubert) and astoundingly uninhibited, flawless acting by Isabelle Huppert (Mama Weed/La Daronne (2020)) as well as Benoît Magimel (Lola (2019)) and Annie Girardot (Ursule et Gelu (1974)) as the student and the teacher's mother, respectively.

The film is strong and typical for Haneke in its conclusion. The Piano Teacher may give increased understanding and sympathy for the strange and sometimes wounded perverts out there, while it shows us one exponent of these same perverts as psychically unbalanced, dysfunctional and miserable.

Related posts:

Michael Haneke: Happy End (2017) - A worthy full stop for Haneke's dark oeuvre

2012 in films - according to Film Excess
Amour (2012) - Tender love, unseizing death in Haneke's pictures
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Hidden/Caché (2005) - Haneke's slick, cold surveillance drama-thriller

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003) - Apocalyptic meanderings by Haneke

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 6.2 mil. $

Box office: 9.6 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.54 times its cost)

[The Piano Teacher premiered 14 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 131 minutes. 13 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and making of the film. Shooting took place from August - October 2000 in Vienna, Austria. The film opened #54 to a 29k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #44 and in 19 theaters, grossing 1 mil. $ (10.4 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was France with 3.3 mil. $ (34.4 %). North America was the 2nd biggest, and then came Germany with 881k $ (9.2 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, won 1/2 César award nominations and the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes, and two other awards there (it lost the Palme d'Or to The Son's Room), also winning 1/3 European Film award nominations. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Haneke returned with Time of the Wolf/Le Temps du Loup (2003). Huppert returned in 8 Women/8 Femmes (2002). The Piano Teacher is fresh at 73 % with a 7.0/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Piano Teacher?

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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9/10/2023