Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

GazerRise Fantastic!

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

quinimdb "The Piano Teacher" is an intense character study that centers around a perfectionist piano teacher, Erika Kohut, her demanding mother, and an effortlessly charming and talented young man, Walter that wants to be taught by Erika. That description of the movie (and the characters), however, does not do it any sort of justice. This is an incredibly subtle, psychological, expertly crafted film. All of the camera placements, editing and shot selection, and blocking of the actors are precise and perfect, each element contributing to the characters and the building intensity of the subtle psychological battle between them going on underneath the surface. Perhaps the most standout aspect of this film, however, is the performances. This is a film that could've been much worse if the actors weren't at the top of their game, and boy, do they deliver. They each add depth and nuance to their characters in the most subtle ways, showing the repressed emotion behind each character perfectly, most specifically Isabelle Hupert, who, even the most silent stretches of the film, manages to invest the audience into her character and the flurry of conflicting thoughts and emotions constantly stirring inside her. As a character study, only a complete scene by scene analysis of the film could truly convey the full spectrum of each character and their individual desires and how each one relates to the other. Almost every action of the characters has a deeper meaning, and teaches us more about them. It is definitely one of the greatest character studies I've ever seen, if not the best.Michael Haneke's omniscient style works well with this brutal and realistic film, and it may be his best as well (although every film I've seen of his has been essentially perfect, except for maybe "Funny Games"). Even though its a hard watch, definitely watch this, because it is everything a character study should be.

Rania E Three years ago, I was reading Jelinek's novel on a plane that was flying over Greenland. Maybe it was the combination of the intensely disturbing content together with being so high up in the air, but at some point I couldn't take it. It was too much. I blacked out- it was such an embarrassing moment. Airsickness, the air hostess thought. I would never admit it was a book, and for five hours afterwards I was afraid of re-opening it. I never got back to it since. Yesterday I finally found the courage to watch the film. It was followed by one of the worst nights in my life. I couldn't sleep. My chest hurt. I repeatedly sat up, struggled to think happy thoughts, to remember Schubert's music instead of Erika. I couldn't.What is most terrifying about this film is that Erika is not some monster. She is human. Her perversion, her self-hate, her capacity to hurt and self-hurt are not completely alien. They are real. They are possible. They exist in a person that you wouldn't just brush aside as "evil". And it is that split second of identification that makes the film very, very difficult to watch.As a musician, there was something disconcerting about hearing great music start off in a recital or rehearsal and then continue as a background for the dark, the cruel, the perverse. Haneke loves Schubert. Stay away from Schubert, Erika told Walter. Schubert must be left to an old age, many musicians advise. Schubert, who himself died at 31. Schubert, who portrayed loneliness more honestly and more painfully than any other composer- cold, bleak, longing for another but at the same time incapable of truly reaching out and communicating with another. It is too late, it is too late. And it seemed to me that Jelinek and Haneke are showing the other face of that loneliness, the shocking violence and cruelty that it is capable of.What is the function of art, I found myself wondering. Art is supposed to move us. There are so many ways one can be moved, and this one is particularly uncomfortable, particularly difficult. It turned my stomach. It drilled a hole in my spirit. There is still a knot underneath my chest, and everything around me is dark. Is it for a good purpose? If art shocks you, scars you, sends you so low that your awareness of existing is too heavy to take, is it so you can rise afterwards? Is art supposed to be "beautiful"? After other films by Haneke, like Amour or "The White Ribbon", I was disturbed, but it was good for me. It was good discomfort, good sadness. The kind that cleanses you and makes you grow. It's too early to say the same for the Piano Teacher. Will something come of this terrible, terrible feeling it left me with? I need more time to digest it and to reflect on it before I can discuss themes of loneliness and power and repression and genius and madness. But at least I know I will be thinking about them for a long time to come.

ljt236 Since when did depravity become entertainment? This film starts out kinky and descends into utter depravity. I'm no prude but I now know that I do have limits. If I were suicidal, I'd be looking for a way to off myself right now. I can't believe that the producers of this film felt anything other than total hatred for its intended audience. The Maltin book gave this movie three-and-one-half stars. I'm assuming that one star was for originality, a second for acting, a third for editing, and the half for holding the audience's attention long enough to be around for the extended slide into complete depravity and disgust. I feel like I need to take a shower. Please excuse me.

a-dawood133 La Pianistelove is complex as far as humans go . it is a feeling they have they develop they enjoy they find peace and calmness in it . it is the ultimate feeling of emotional encounters . in every moment you were moved at . it will contribute in your love feeling and that what this movie is all about ! . it is a love story involves a pianist and his teacher . her love -the teacher- is expressed in a bizarre way which is the point referred to at the top she enjoyed bing treated in a peculiar way and i would argue that since love is the ultimate feeling and it would be effected by the emotional moments of one's life that she was treated with aggression rather than compassion . because of the oddness of the story the movie takes you to a different level of romance . would you do hurtful things for the ones you love even if they bleed ? or you would protect them from themselves because you love them ? it is a question of what comes first ? you or them and what would it mean to come first .good movie.