The Piano Teacher

2001 • 131 minutes
4.1
28 reviews
73%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
Watch in a web browser or on supported devices Learn More

About this movie

In this riveting study of the dynamics of control, Academy Award–winning director Michael Haneke takes on Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek’s controversial 1983 novel about perverse female sexuality and the world of classical music. Haneke finds his match in Isabelle Huppert, who delivers an icy but quietly seething performance as Erika, a piano professor at a Viennese conservatory who lives with her mother in a claustrophobically codepen­dent relation­ship. Severely repressed, she satisfies her mas­ochistic urges only voyeuristically until she meets Walter (Benoît Magimel), a student whose desire for Erika leads to a destructive infatuation that upsets the careful equilibrium of her life. A critical breakthrough for Haneke, The Piano Teacher—which won the Grand Prix as well as dual acting awards for its stars at Cannes—is a formalist masterwork that remains a shocking sensation.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

4.1
28 reviews
Jonni Johnson
January 22, 2022
This was a movie that really tried to be emotional and capture your imagination, but it didn’t quite succeed. I wanted to get lost in it like other piano-based movies but it never could quite be believable. Therefore I can’t recommend to someone who wants a good drama.
Did you find this helpful?
micca jackson
November 2, 2018
I like the clip next be in English this clip 😁🤷🏽‍♀️ is in England laughed And I can't understand🙅🏽‍♀️ it I didnt by the movie or rent it because I an 12 and cant buy it😢I want see the movie
15 people found this review helpful
Did you find this helpful?
robert sand
July 23, 2018
Isabelle Huppert's riviting and meticulous performance carries the film but the rapid emotional transformations of Benoit Magimel's character are not quite believable, spoiling what could have been a perfect movie. Nervertheless still well worth watching.
11 people found this review helpful
Did you find this helpful?

Rate this movie

Tell us what you think.