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The Piano Teacher (La
Pianiste) (2002) Kino International, 2 hrs. 10 mins.
Starring:
Isabelle Huppert, Benoit Magime, Annie Girardot, Anna Sigalevitch, Susanne
Lothar, Udo Samel
Directed by:
Michael Haneke |
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Sigmund Freud would definitely have
a field day with Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke's twisted and
absorbing look at sexual repression and psychological alienation in the
exceptionally audacious "The Piano Teacher" (a.k.a "La Pianiste"). Haneke,
whose previous offering "Code Unknown" was an explosive and tactical film
to appreciate, helms this psychosexual artsy drama with precise tenacity.
"The Piano Teacher", based on the confrontational novel "Die
Klavierspielerin" by Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek, dares to explore
the depravity and desperation of a frustrated middle-aged woman waiting to
burst out of her hellish shell of isolation and loneliness. As a
filmmaker, Haneke astutely crafts this film cleverly as he picks apart the
tabooish turmoil of one emotionally destitute woman aimlessly searching
for a seedy series of quick fixes to patch up her otherwise unfulfilling
sexual and psychological makeup. "The Piano Teacher" is a deliciously
salacious and riveting personal drama that borders on the line of
intensifying absurdity and an awkward quest for absolution.
Isabelle Huppert ("The Lacemaker") gives a brave and astounding
performance as Erika Kohut, a frigid fortysomething professor who teaches
piano at the Conservatory in Vienna. Her stern and cold approach to
musical instruction is definitely felt by her weary and bewildered
students. Erika's icy disposition may have to due with the fact that she's
an unmarried female getting up there in age who still has the misfortune
and distinction of living with her demanding mother (Anne Girardot). One
of the bizarre revelations is that Erika actually shares a bed with her
overbearing mother! Apparently mommy dearest scrutinizes over Erika's
activities and makes no bones about invading her space and overall
privacy. We also learn about Erika's other parent--her institutionalized,
delusional father who's holed up in an insane asylum. With a smothering
intrusive mother and a father whom has lost all use of his mental
faculties, it's no wonder that Erika is not the bursting bundle of joy.
The dysfunctional antics of Erika Kohut doesn't just end with her wayward,
wearisome parents. To "relieve" the pressure of her less-than-stellar
numbing existence, Erika engages in some over-indulgent kinky impulses to
combat her eager, repressed libido. Her extreme peculiar behavior finds
her doing outrageous things such as self-mutilating her private body
parts, frequenting adult bookstores and ultra-raunchy sex peep shows,
spying on fornicating couples at the drive-in theaters to arouse her own
"wishful-thinking" sexual stimulation, and sniffing nasty discarded
Kleenexes. Erika, with the risk of utilizing the following obvious
understatement, has some serious major issues to contend with.
Soon, a young self-assured studmuffin named Walter (Benoit Magimel) enters
the picture and enrolls in Erika's piano class. He wants to be more than
the teacher's pet and pursues the standoffish Erika with reckless
abandonment. But Erika eventually gives in to her urges and welcomes
Walter into her unsatisfied, lackluster lusty universe. Walter cannot just
stroll into Erika's life and expect to play footsies anytime he wants;
Erika manages to set the weird conditions of their relationship in motion
by insisting that Walter meet her unsavory needs to participate in the
unpredictable sadomasochinistic practices that she desires so much. And of
course their union takes a turn for the worst as their addiction to the
eye-popping hedonistic world they crave plunges into the lower depths of
regrettable decline.
"The Piano Teacher" is a sensationalistic and volatile showcase of rough
sex and the ill-advised human behavior that welcomes it unwisely with open
arms. Haneke does a fascinating job in tying together the angles of
foibles that subsequently invade most of our underlying dark tendencies
that play into our anxieties. The film suggests that we have a solicitous
nature in the way we invite certain obstacles into our lives that are both
challenging and daunting. This perversely seductive examination is
compelling and cockeyed enough to reveal the mindset of Austrian
autocratic rigidness and bring it down to its knees in terms of
infiltrating the shock value of pornography as its form of comeuppance.
Sure, the film is very uncompromising when it bluntly presents uptight and
unfocused people doing stupid and fearless things. But what makes Haneke's
"The Piano Teacher" register is the brilliance behind the grimness and
gratuitous vibrancy that gives this movie the calculating coolness and
subversive flow it wallows in so convincingly.
"The Piano Teacher" could have dangerously fell into a mockish groove
given the outlandish premise of penetrating perversion and bouncy
vileness. But thanks to the honest and electrifying performances and the
credibility of the film's stark inclinations, "The Piano Teacher" taps its
keys with resounding forethought. Brash, intelligent and erotically
perplexing, Haneke's portrait of an upper class Austrian society and the
suppression of its tucked away demons is uniquely felt with a sardonic
jolt. |
