This is a movie about madness. An uptight, arrogant, caustic piano teacher turns out to be Mrs. Goodbar. We're led to believe she got this way from being under the thumb of a controlling mother, but like Black Swan the madness is too extreme to have come from suppression of the id. At first her madness is fascinating to watch, because her fetish seems to be sexual control....of men., but unfortunately the character then disintegrates into a masochist who allows her student to get the upper hand, and let out plenty of his suppressed anger at women. The last half hour is gruesome to watch and we learn nothing about her or the point of the movie. The ending is abrupt and maddeningly teasing. Hubbert is one of my favorite French actresses and I'm sure she took this on for the challenge but once again "madness" on the screen is used to encourage excess rather than insight.… Expand

Things about this movie that don't make sense: People in Vienna don't speak French. They speak German. Vienna is in Austria. Get it? What professor has sex in the bathroom of her school with the door open? Is that realistic? Maybe on Jupiter, where professors don't care if they get ridiculed and then fired. In Vienna, they care, even when they go around speaking French. Why, when Erika finally gets what she's been asking for during the whole movie, does she suddenly become frigid? Why does she ask her boyfriend to hit her in the face, and when he does, the first thing she says is, Not my face? I've got to give the director this much - if you've gotten the viewer to sit through a movie for over two hours and your protagonist finally gets what she's been asking for and then doesn't like it, what could possibly be a more dramatic and illogical climax than to have her then kill herself? Or maybe she kills herself because she finally realizes what a dreadful script she accepted. Now that would make sense.… Expand

Confrontations with ones emotional hollowness and inability to engage in physical love doesn't get more harrowing than in Haneke's typically masochistic study of incomplete individuality and the facades we publicly offer to assure ourselves of a full life. Despite existing in a world of gorgeous, soulful music that stirs the heart, an instructor finds herself incapable of communicating with the smallest amount of grace and decency in order to assist her frazzled students. Should it be a surprise then, that something more than failure is met when a chance at a meaningful physical connection is offered. Despite veering off in a foolish and stagy extremes during its last few minutes, this is an believably inexorable experience. Huppert is perfectly suited, with her severe brow and her uncanny introverted instincts, like Nathalie Baye, to play women who succeed in wringing out every last potentiality of pain in her characters. However, I did disapprove of Magimel's casting as he leering eyes lasciviously undress 'Erika' from the onstart. Klemmer's character should be aware of his uncommon talents but more oblivious to his sexiness and charms. Then, his longing for 'Erika' and its eventual unraveling would have been doubly heart-renderingly tragic - for him as well as for her.… Expand

This movie can be called a masterpiece! Regardless of the plot, the director knew how to make the audience tremble of emotion. The picture and the music are subtly arranged to accent the deep constrast in the personality of the pianist (the movie's original name). I particularly enjoyed the take when the protagonist's other side is first revealed: after rehearsing Schubert, the music stays in the background while the piano teacher walks through a mall and ends in a porno boutique.… Expand

Haunting! Perfect!

A superb movie, in which I really didn't know how to feel for the protagonist- sorry? like? dislike? The cold direction and cinematography, and the excellence of the actors made this seem so real. Throughout the film, you want to feel a sense of satisfaction, but we are never given it. It's a cold, shocking and brilliant film.

This is an excellent film with some quite overwhelming scenes, especially when the power of the acting is at the fore. Huppert and Magimel are simply outstanding and both fully deserved the awards at Cannes. Huppert perfectly displayed the countenance of a troubled middle-aged woman battling her demons. Magimel was equally brilliant, initially portaying the picture of the hunting dog, then the fox on the run, and then finally the caged lion. Girardot too, who played the mother, was quite exceptional, not overemphasising her character but imbuing enough oomph to make her demanding to watch. I thought the direction and (to a lesser degree) the cinematography were fascinating in this film - with the aid of the acting, it was an absorbing, albeit uncomfortable, film to watch. This is not a film I will queue up for repeated viewings of...but for a one-off movie experience, this is gripping stuff!… Expand

A painful story of a emotionally repressed and crippled woman who hides behind the rigid(and frigid?)discipline of classical music to control others and to confine her desires. The movie uses the culture of classical music as a metaphor on how tradition and art are utilized as tools of power, domination, seduction, and rebellion. It could cynically be dismissed as a silly movie about a horny woman who needs some action, and perhaps from a laidback American perspective, that view has validity. But, people--especially of older histories--are conditioned by culture and traditions; their sense of self is determined by their perception by others, and the movie asks how does a woman cope when her social status acts as both the barrier to what one really needs. It's a story of a woman who wants to be dominated but performs the role of domination; or the story of a woman who can only think in terms of domination or submission, thereby attracting those with similar tendencies. Her difficulty and hostility aren't only barriers but attractions as well, and the contradictions of the ensuing relationship lead to a harrowing non-conclusion.… Expand

... I'm still in shock!

Delme said it best, but the others who rated this below a 3 also have good points.

This film is excellent !!!

Oh God, it's Michael Haneke. The faint of heart should run like rabbits on speed. Who were born unusually fast. And fitted with rocket-pads. Run. Run, damn you, RUN! Everyone else: check it out. Avec soin.

It is a great movie to individuals who have a high understanding of art, especially classical music. The movies metaphors the differences between Bach in Baroque era and Schubert in Romantic era. The piano trio by Schubert is a symbol of the emotional of the protangonist, Erika. And the music of Bach shows balance and stability is a symbol of Bach. An excellent movie with great music.

Much head-shaking and jaw-dropping going on over here. "The Piano Teacher" is not a passive moviegoing experience. It's a freak-show gussied up. To be more accurate, the talent at work here helps transcend an exploitation film into high art. Michael Haneke gets Isabelle Huppert to do things that might even make David Lynch blush. But the power of this film is undeniable. Some scenes, it's like all the adjectives in the English language are applicable. Credit Heneke, but everything would collapse into a farce if not for the verve of his leading lady. They should name an acting statuette after Huppert. You will think about her character at least once the next day, with pity or revulsion, or more likely, both. … Expand

A fascinating and disturbing film; skillfully made, with a juxtaposition of the beauty and refinement of Schubert with the extreme abjection of the protagonist. Also, curiously we hear Bach as a constrast , a composer who reflects stability, logic and harmony in his music, so distinct from schubert. I assume Bach is normality? Schubert madness? Bravo for Haneke and Huppert for a daring performance!… Expand

"The Piano Teacher" is not a pretty picture to watch. It's not visually erotic and the audience is hardly turned on by watching Erika and Walter stumble through their bizarre romance. Director Michael Haneke obviously had no intention of creating a movie with an appealing, cliched romantic couple. The obvious intention of the director was to create a vivid glance into the strange sexuality of an emotionally immature woman. Mission accomplished. The audience is given more than a few hints as to why Walter's fascination with his piano teacher is probably not a good idea for him to pursue. The fact that the 40-something Erika still sleeps in the same room with her overbearing mother is the most obvious hint. A superbly acted and presented story. Something you'll never see coming out of Hollywood. … Expand

Not erotic, really not interesting, and actually kind of silly.

This may well be the worst movie that I have ever paid money to see. Huppert's acting achievement, impressive though it is, is diminished by the fact that her character (and indeed all the characters in this bilge) evokes absolutely no sympathy whatsoever. She has a tortured domestic life, a tortured professional life, a tortured sexual life, yes, but did I have to be tortured for it?

Watch Isabelle Huppert vomit onscreen for ten minutes! Watch her genitally mutilate herself! Watch her beaten up! This is one of those films in which shocking an audience is mistaken for having something to say. No reason is given for why the character is so screwed up--it's a psychological profile without the psychology.

One of the few films out this year that provokes intense discussion. If only most of the Hollywood junk that people are forced to see (by relentless advertising) could come close to this, wouldn't going to the cinema be a rich experience indeed!