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The Piano Teacher
The Piano Teacher
8.5
/10
28,474 Ratings

THE PIANO TEACHER

La pianiste

Directed by Michael Haneke
Austria, France, 2001
Drama

Synopsis

Erika, a piano teacher at the Vienna Conservatory, lives with her tyrannical mother in a hermetically sealed world of love-hate and dependency. Her sex life consists of voyeurism and masochistic self-injury. But when one of Erika’s students decides to seduce her, the barriers around her collapse.

Synopsis

Erika, a piano teacher at the Vienna Conservatory, lives with her tyrannical mother in a hermetically sealed world of love-hate and dependency. Her sex life consists of voyeurism and masochistic self-injury. But when one of Erika’s students decides to seduce her, the barriers around her collapse.

Our take

The great Isabelle Huppert is the intensely smoldering center of this gripping tale of lust and obsession, which won Best Actress, Best Actor, and the Grand Prix at Cannes. One of Haneke’s most popular films, and one of the most incisive, disturbing and psychologically rich dramas of this century.