The Piano Teacher is an erotic psychological drama that delves deep into the piano teacher’s provocative psychosexual relationship with her student.
The erotic, psychological drama movie The Piano Teacher is based on Elfriede Jelinek’s 1983 novel “Die Klavierspielerin”. Is definitely a classic french series to watch. Based on the story of a repressed piano teacher, the film was released in 2001, and since then, it’s been a cult favorite, mainly because of the erotic scenes, kinks, and representation of BDSM.
Erika Kohut, a woman of questionable character, is the central figure in the play “La Pianiste,” sometimes known as “The Piano Teacher” or “The Piano Player.” Isabelle Huppert plays her as a gloomy, pale, and stony woman whose hair, clothes, and face are all pulled in. She has no cosmetic embellishments. In the first scene of the film, she is shown in a sympathetic light as a late-middle-aged adult who is depressed and is still living under the control of a manipulative and aggressive mother (Annie Girardot).
Later in the film, however, as she finishes her day as a piano instructor at a Viennese conservatory, she is seen in a much more icy and unlikeable light. She is unrelenting, nasty, and demanding with her adolescent students, scolding them for not understanding what she, a superb, lifelong pianist, has grown to enjoy. However, she also has sexual fantasies that she keeps to herself. The movie might make you feel very uneasy at times, but it will also show you something about sexual suppression that is more disturbing than anything else you have ever seen.
What Makes The Piano Teacher so Unbearably Stunning?
The Piano Teacher is so painfully beautiful because of how its naturalistic parts, which aren’t overly romantic, and the character’s extremely sexual kinkiness, work together.
Erika is a compulsive snooper who goes to pornographic bookstores and walks around drive-in movie theatres to watch couples having sexual encounters in their cars. Then, while her controlling and intrusive mother (Annie Girardot), with whom she lives, is preparing supper, she engages in genital self-mutilation in the privacy of her own house behind closed bathroom doors.
This relationship between mother and daughter is tense, stifling, and incestuous in all ways except one: deed. The women share a room with a pair of pushed-together twin beds and regularly slap faces amid their heated arguments.
While peers and students may see Erika as strict and in charge, she has a wide range of sometimes controversial sexual urges that she keeps to herself. However, as she lives with her authoritarian mother, she cannot fulfill her sexual fantasies, such as masochism and voyeurism. After meeting a young guy, Walter, at a piano recital, the two begin an affair to fulfill Erika’s desires. To watch her navigate the complex terrain of sex for the first time, the audience is put in an intimate and uneasy position. In short, the Piano Teacher is an exceptionally challenging film to sit through, but it is also stunning to look at.
What Sets The Piano Teacher Apart from Other BDSM-Related Movies?
The Piano Teacher isn’t a casual watch; it’s an intense one, and the filmmaker Haneker certainly knows how to get the viewer’s attention. This filming approach, with the exception of the kinks and the BDSM role, is quite sharp without giving the impression of being lavish. Even though he embellishes the set design slightly during the excellent performance in which Erika and Walter have their first encounter, the setting is nevertheless believable. It fits in well with the overall tone of the movie. There is no shadow of a doubt that the acting was superb.
Isabelle Huppert gives a convincing performance as a stern piano instructor, despite her character being complicated by lustful impulses that run more profound than the surface. Benoit Magimel brought much depth to Walter’s role through his performance. At first, he seems to be a typical student, but as the story progresses, his true self emerges, which is a terrifying development, particularly in the third and final act. These characters have repressed desires, which contributes to the fact that they are both scared of their rights. Although the score could be more compelling, traditional music is heavily emphasized throughout the movie. This makes perfect sense, given that over half of the scenes occur in or around the conservatory. Besides this, there is a sense of tranquility, but it is also a distraction from how dangerous some people in this posh atmosphere are. This setting is full of hoity-toity people.
However, it’s not a happy-go-lucky watch. It does possess violence and kinks but has also negatively portrayed BDSM, which is criticized among the BDSM community.
The Negative Portrayal of BDSM
According to the BDSM community, the film has nothing good to say about BDSM, which is surprising, especially when the film’s protagonist is a BDSM devotee. However, if you only read the synopsis, you might get the impression that the movie is making a statement about the acceptability of BDSM. After all, it features an educated and successful protagonist who is set against the backdrop of a vanilla and authoritarian mother. Furthermore, the entire plot revolves around the release of BDSM desires.
However, the film has stigmatized BDSM more than any other movie on the list. Here’s a brief rundown:
- Erika’s mother is abusive, so it makes sense that childhood maltreatment or ongoing emotional abuse could be the root of Erika’s BDSM aspirations as a masochist (learn more about masochist signs).
- Self-harm and BDSM are confused in Erika’s case since she cuts herself severely in the genital area for no reason and gets no pleasure from the act. There is much blood, and it’s harrowing even in the context of BDSM since it appears to be self-harm rather than amusement.
- Walter is the aggressor and displays sexual arousal by jumping up and leaning over a stall door to spy on his professor, Erika, while she uses the toilet. The fact that Erika didn’t fight back when he tried to get close to her is a sign of gender stereotypes and double standards.
- Although Erika’s feelings about incest and the sexual assault she committed on her mother are extreme, they are not typical of the BDSM subculture.
Erika Uses a Knife on Herself in Broad Daylight
Though Walter’s initial reaction to Erika’s rape fantasy is one of disdain and rage, when Erika ultimately gets what she wants, she is disappointed since it is not as fantastic as she had hoped. The movie has now concluded. It’s clear that the author has a feeble impression of BDSM and is implying that it can cause harm to patients’ mental health. Realized desire is painful for the woman but satisfying for the man. This could be seen as a negative view of how women show their sexual expression.
Bottomline
In sum, “The Piano Teacher” by Haneke is a must-watch despite some drawbacks. Many scenes are monstrously ugly on a psychological level and contain elements of sexual horror. But French actress Isabelle Huppert gave one of the best performances of her career as Erika Kohut, a proud and sexually repressed high-culture priestess. If she had not played Erika with restraint and intimacy, the picture would not have had the same gently disquieting effect.
In case you didn’t see the movie yet, find the Amazon Prime version here. If you are Netflix user have a look on our another review, show: Bonding.
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