The Piano Teacher

Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher (2001) is an intimate examination of sexual and masochistic pathology, social perversion, and heartless betrayal. Considering that this is a Haneke film, it should come as no surprise that the film views all of this through the mildly disinterested gaze of a voyeur rather than turning into an uplifting tale of love that overcomes psychopathology.

Indeed, piano teacher Erika Kohut (Isabelle Ruppert) is so entrenched in her masochistic condition that no proposition of normative desire, in this case Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel), can possibly understand and mediate between a normal love and Erika’s preconceived desire for masochistic control. As such, when Erika finally reveals her true sexual leanings to Walter vis-à-vis a note, he cannot comprehend the extent to which her pathology separates them.

Any attempt to normalize their relationship is cannot be, since Erika does not know what a normal relationship consists of, since she instead turns to voyeuristic watching of young couples having sex and porn videos. When Walter finally breaks and commits the culminating crime, something between a forced sex / emotionless rape exists between the two. The fine line that negotiates between forced sex, which is what Erika essentially desires, and rape is so minute that even she is momentarily unsure of which has occurred. Ultimately, though, it is a rape, and this realization confirms to her that she is incapable of experiencing love the same way as others.

Yet, to further complicate our perspective, Erika also channels this masochism into her piano teachings. When a young girl student cannot properly play a piece being readied for performance, Erika sabotages her by placing shards of glass in the girl’s jacket. The inevitable lacerations deny the girl any opportunity to give a mediocre performance, and so Erika’s pathological commitment to the music is guaranteed. This aggression forces us to reconsider how to empathize with Erika, which is what Haneke, of course, wants. How do we empathize with a character that is so far removed from normal negotiations of decency and right and wrong? The answer: we cannot, but we can still appreciate the grim journey.

At the end of The Piano Teacher, there lies the irrevocable suggestion that Erika’s domineering mother fostered this pathological condition in her daughter. Yet the music and Erika’s devotion to it likewise fostered such a desire for control. And while this film is never truly fun viewing, it does explore psychopathology and its myriad repercussions intelligently and articulately. Ruppert gives a bravura performance in a role few would dare to perform, and the journey makes for a grim but engaging film.

The Piano Teacher: 8.5/10