Movie Entry #2 The Piano Teacher

Laurie Troutman
Professor Larry Tung
Travel Learn: French Cinema
Diary # 2

The Piano Teacher

The Piano Teacher is a 2001 French film, directed by Michael Haneke. The movie is based on the novel Die Klavierspieler, by Elfriede Jelinek. It is a startling and shocking film based on the life of lonely piano teacher. This dramatic film stars leading lady Isabelle Huppert and leading man Benoit Maginel. The uncut version I saw was very powerful and somewhat disturbing. It’s like no movie I have ever saw.
In The Piano Teacher, the music professor is played by Erika Kaput ( Isabelle Huppert.) Right from the beginning her life was somewhat mysterious. The film begins with Erika coming home after three hours late in the middle of the night. As a result her mother grew suspicious. Her mother lives at the apartment with her, who happens to be controlling, overprotective, and domineering. However, Erika and her mother’s relationship is an essential part in this film.
Erika is in her middle to late thirties, and seems bored with her life, as a piano teacher. She looks out the window, where she teaches music, dreaming, searching for an answer. Perhaps she’s in her own fantasy world. Erika seems alone and alienated from all, as she looks over France. Her life is standing still right before her eyes.
Erika knows she is a talented piano performer as well as teacher. Probably that’s why her attitude comes off as a stiff, and stoic. Although she bullies her colleagues with her straight forward opinions, they respect her as a performer. Erika continues to teach her students in a cruel and harsh matter. She demands perfection for them , because her life is not.
However upon meeting Walter (Benoit Maginel), the new young man, something begins to change. It is shown through her body language. Walter is also a performer, a young scholar who shares in her passions as well. Each time Walter begins to play her favorite song on the piano, a faint smile appears upon her face. She begins to look beyond his growing talent and appears to be quit drawn to him. As her feelings seem to be growing stronger, her true colors begin to show. Her hidden veil of obsession and desire is revealed.
The film continues, and Erika’s sexual life becomes shocking. These acts are to dysfunctional to even mention. However scenes like the porn video store, cutting herself in the bathroom, disfiguring a young girls hand, and the drive in movie theater, lay out the sequence for the film.
Finally, her relationship with Walter becomes less pretend and more real. Although Walter has to follow her rules only. Erika’s possessive and ill shattering desires captivates Walter. Both in a good sexual way, but then in a bad repulsive way. Her possessive ways stems back to the way her mother has treated her for all these years.
The film then becomes even more darker and deeper. Erika states to Walter that before anything sexual can begin, a letter will be delivered to him. This letter will contain her sick, fetish desires in which she explains in detail what she wants Walter to do to her. As a result of the letter, Walter is disgusted, and it will eventually end up with bad consequences.
Upon returning to the apartment, Walter becomes violently angry and locks Erika’s mom in her room. His anger is real. He begins to beat and punch her like she wished in the letter, but then tells him to stop She then falls to the floor, lying there helplessly, and he ultimately takes advantage of her sexuality. In the end they both go their separate ways with no mention of what happened. They see each other one more time, where Walter looks at her like a piece of garbage, a used piece of clothing. She then stabs herself and then exits the building.
So, therefore I say never judge a book by it’s cover. By looking at a person, you never know what’s really going on in their mind. To me Erika needs psychological help. Her love and hate for her mother has led to her lash out for attention, and do many crazy things. Her mother’s possessive and controlling behavior has resulted in Erika to crave sick fetish things and become jealous very easily. The scene where Erika crawled into bed with her mom, and began kissing her is what disturbed me the most. I know Erika’s pain is real and I felt it in that scene. She wants Walter to make he feel unworthy of herself, because she feels unworthy already.
Although the film was dark and severe, it was powerful. Going into the mind of a women who wanted to be wanted sexually, and desirable. It turned into the battle of man vs. woman. In the beginning of the film Erika had the upper hand. Then Walter ended up with the dominating role. This film just shows the lengths a person might go through to seek love from another.