The Piano Teacher

Original title: La pianiste

2001
R
2h 11m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

74K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:37

Psychological Drama Drama Music

A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.

Director
- Michael Haneke
Writers
- Michael Haneke
- Elfriede Jelinek
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

74K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,387

559

Director
- Michael Haneke
Writers
- Michael Haneke
- Elfriede Jelinek
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 18 wins & 23 nominations total

Videos2

Trailer 1:37

Bande-annonce [VO]

Clip 1:36

The Piano Teacher: I Can't Even Look At You (English Subtitled)

Clip 1:36

The Piano Teacher: I Can't Even Look At You (English Subtitled)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Isabelle Huppert really played the piano in the film. She had studied piano for 12 years. As preparation for her role as a piano teacher, she resumed practicing a year before the film was started.

Goofs
When Walter starts his piano audition; in the background, there are various teachers sitting in certain chairs. However in the following shot which is a medium-long shot of Kohut while Walter is performing; one of the female teachers is sitting in a different chair and a male teacher that was closest to Kohut is no longer sitting there but his belongings are on the chair. Then in the following shot after that, after Walter finishes his audition; the missing male teacher is back in his seat.

Quotes
Erika Kohut: After all, love is built on banal things.

Alternate versions
The R-rated edition from Kino makes a number of changes and omissions, removing the shots of the hardcore peep booth footage viewed by Huppert's character in the mall, as well as optically pixellating pornographic images on magazine covers in the sex shop. In addition, this version completely removes the following two sequences: -Huppert's cutting sequence in the bathtub -Magimel taking Huppert to the ground and humping her at the hockey rink. In the latter case, the film awkwardly fades out and in again in quick succession, to elide the missing footage.

Connections
Featured in The 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2003)

Soundtracks
Piano Sonata in A Major, D.959
Franz Schubert

Isabelle Huppert must be one of the greatest actresses of her or any other generation. "La Pianiste" truly confirms it. As if that wasn't enough, Annie Girardot plays her mother and Annie Girardot is one of the greatest actresses of her or any other generation. So, as you may well imagine, those pieces of casting are worth the horror we're put through. Isabelle and Annie play characters we've never seen before on the screen. A mother and daughter yes but with such virulent fearlessness that sometimes I was unable even to blink or to breath. Personally, I don't believe in the director's intentions, I don't believe they (the intentions that is) go beyond the shocking anecdote and the ending made me scream with frustration but I was riveted by the story written in the face of the sensational Huppert and the fierceness of Girardot's strength. I highly recommend it to cinema lovers anywhere and to the collectors of great performances like me, you can't afford to miss "La Pianiste"