The Piano Teacher

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The Piano Teacher ★★ La Pianiste 2001

Middle-aged Erika (Huppert) teaches piano at the Vienna Conservatory where she is demanding—if not cruel—to her students. Erika lives with her controlling mother (Girardot) and spends her off hours mutiliating herself, watching porn, and engaging in other bizarre behavior. Which doesn't improve when she agrees to a questionable sexual relationship (on her masochistic terms) with hot new student Walter (Magimel). Not for the fainthearted; adapted from the 1983 novel by Effriede Jelinek. French with subtitles. 130m/C VHS, DVD . FR AT Isabelle Huppert, Benoit Magimel, Annie Girardot, Udo Samel, Susanne Lothar, Anna Sigalenteh; D: Michael Haneke; W: Michael Haneke; C: Christian Berger. Cannes ‘01: Actor (Magimel), Actress (Huppert), Grand Jury Prize.