In Vienna, Erika Kohut (Isabelle Huppert) is a sick single forty years old piano teacher of the music conservatory. She lives alone with her dominative mother and due to her repressed sexuality, she self-mutilates her sex, visits porno shops in the nights looking for peep-shows and has a weird and abnormal behavior regarding sex. In a recital, Erika is introduced to Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel),an young student of engineering and excellent pianist, and he falls in love with her. Their perverted affair destabilizes the fragile emotional control of Erika. This weird tale of repressed sexuality of a woman has magnificent performances of Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel, very well supported by Annie Girardort. The beginning of the story is amazing and Isabelle Huppert has one of the best performances of her stunning career, I even dare to say that it is one of her best roles. Although recommended only to specific audiences, this complex and sick love story is an excellent film. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and the Austrian novelist Elfriede Jelinek won the 2004 Nobel Prize in literature two days ago. The direction of Michael Haneke is precise and sharp as usual. If 'Le Pianist' were an American movie, it would probably be among the IMDb Top 250. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): 'A Professora de Piano' (The Piano Teacher')

"La Pianiste" is not a film for everyone. Although the film garnered some awards at Cannes and other film festivals, it is more a film festival sort of film than a mainstream film the average person would watch and enjoy. This is not necessarily a complaint...more an observation about the plot, style and characters in this film. It simply is a movie that would be off-putting to most viewers. After all, the leading character is unlikable and an emotional basket case--not the sort of person folks would want to see on a date night at the theater! Again...this is NOT a complaint. I mention this because you might want to think twice before watching the film. The other reason is that the movie has some very graphic moments...such as some very graphic sex scenes as well as scenes where the leading lady is genitally mutilating herself (fortunately this is not nearly so graphic). Yes, this lady with a Borderline Personality cuts on her genitals because of her many emotional problems...so this isn't exactly "Singing in the Rain" or "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"!

When the film begins, you see Erika (Isabelle Huppert) going through her daily routine as a piano teacher. You also see her engage in some very dysfunctional interactions with her emotionally abusive and sick mother (with whom she lives) as well as Erika going to sex shops and drive-in movie theaters to watch folks make love! Clearly she's not a happy person, though in every interaction you see, she's also caustic, cruel and nasty...the sort of person you'd never hope to meet. Most psychotherapists would likely diagnose her with a Borderline Personality--especially in light of her self-harm (cutting) and antisocial behaviors. Most others would avoid her like the plague.

Despite Erika being a thoroughly unlikable and pathetic person, a very talented young pianist, Walter (Benoît Magimel) is inexplicably attracted to her. She never gives him any indication she's interested. In fact, she does a lot to push him away by insulting him and his talent. Yet, despite all this, he arranges for her to become his teacher, as he wants to use this to get closer to her. Clearly Walter has a few issues of his own and this is not a typical romance film!

This film is a tough one for viewers. While the portrait of Erika is very interesting and well done in many ways, making her so difficult to like seriously compromises the watchability of the film. In other words, if you strongly dislike a protagonist in a movie, how likely are you to continue watching it? You feel a bit sorry for her...but mostly you dislike her and would never want to associate with someone this nasty (such as when she pours broken glass into a woman's coat or berates her for having diarrhea). I think making her more pathetic and sad as opposed to cruel would have improved the film's watchability tremendously...though it might have been a less interesting psychological portrait.

Technically, this film is well made and the acting is good. But it's also about a much fun to watch as war atrocities....making it a film more for elitists than the average person.

The Piano Teacher is not an easy watch and is not going to be everybody's cup of tea. I for one found it a powerful and sometimes beautiful film. I will admit the first half is better than the second however. The second half does take a nosedive in plausibility particularly a really awkward moment where Erika takes out her sexual frustrations onto her own mother, while the first half is absolutely fascinating. The Piano Teacher is very well made, bleak and somewhat cold in colour palette but at the same time sumptuous. The cinematography is splendid, as is Michael Haneke's sure-handed direction. The music is outstanding, Schubert's music- Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Schoenberg and what sounded like Bach in the two pianos-playing sequence- is the most frequent and it is deliciously lyrical though the repetition of Im Dorfe- the one with the growling-sounding bass line- is likely to haunt your mind. I also have to say the piano playing is amazing, some of the best I have ever heard. The script has its very thoughtful moments in the piano teaching sequences and the letter scene actually is revealing about Erika's sexually frustrated and somewhat warped state of mind. The sex scenes though do have some lines that are likely to make you go "um, okay", the worst offender being the penis-related one in the bathroom sex scene.

The story is interesting in life as a piano teacher and how the pieces are interpreted and has some genuinely disturbing moments primarily Erika cutting herself, Erika's attack inflicted by Walter and the rape scene. The ending is interpretative and on the abrupt side but was a clever and fitting to end the film. The characters are not easy to empathise with, the main character especially is very cold while Walter is somewhat relateable until his terrifying change in character. The performances are really great. Isabelle Huppert is incredible in a difficult(both in character and how she relates to the audience)role with eyes and delivery that tell a huge amount. Benoit Magimal is a charmer in the first half, and once Walter is repulsed by the letter his change in character does manage to terrify. Annie Giradot is perfect as the stuffy mother figure, and the rest of the cast give good performances if not quite up to the standard set by the three leads.

Overall, powerful, beautiful and shocking, not perfect but very effective. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox