The Piano Teacher
Tis the season for film recommendations. After reading Arianna's post, I have a few more films I think you all might enjoy. We'll just choose one to start with. As Arianna mentioned in the comments, "The Piano Teacher" or "La Pianiste" is another superb piece directed by Michael Haneke that captures obsession, sexual repression, and the human condition of loneliness and suffering. I don't know what it is about the insane artist completely consumed with their work, but this seems to a theme popping up in many on the films I've viewed recently. Proving herself to be one of the best actresses of our time, Isabelle Huppert is marvelous in the role of the masochistic piano teacher and really brings the character to life. Haneke is quoted saying "[Huppert] has such professionalism, the way she is able to represent suffering. At one end you have the extreme of her suffering and then you have her icy intellectualism. No other actor can combine the two."
Take a look at the trailer here. Music plays an important role in the film, the music being that composed by Schubert and Schumann with some of the songs even containing German lyrics (see, there's still the German connection and this post, therefore, does not deviate completely from the purpose of this blog!). I'll warn you however, this film is seriously disturbing. Know that before casually loading it on Netflix some evening.
Will definitely watch sometime, of course.
ReplyDeleteI mostly just want to say my view of Isabelle Huppert is forever and ever skewed because the first thing I saw her in was I <3 Huckabees.
Really, I know I should adore her, but the sexy mud scene...THAT'S ALL I CAN SEE WHEN I LOOK AT HER.
I never replied to this, but I <3 Huckabees is probably one of my favourite films of all time. It captures so many human emotions with amazing accuracy. Granted, I don't thank many of us will be making love in the mud anytime soon, but the discussions on interconnectedness in competition with individual isolation and loneliness really fascinates me.
DeleteTo elaborate on the "German" aspect of Haneke's "The Piano Teacher," I'd like to put in my two cents concerning the music. (Of course...)
ReplyDeleteI'm not very well versed on Schubert, honestly, but Schumann fits this character of "insane artist" so it is quite interesting his music is used in this film. Schumann is one of the great piano and Lieder composers of the Romantic period, which is defined by greatly passionate music. Schumann was intensely in love with his wife, Clara (also a great composer), and wrote her this song for their wedding day (I will be performing it at my recital on April 28 - shameless plug, sorry..)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QpChVbsPm8
Aren't those words just amazing? "O, du mein Grab" - Oh, you my grave. The song may sound light and free, but it expresses that of a really REALLY intense love.
After suffering from demonic visions (perhaps a symptom of syphilis), Robert Schumann threw himself into the Rhine in 1854, attempting suicide. He died two years later in an insane asylum. Clara devoted the rest of her life to interpreting, publishing, and performing her husband's work (and maybe sleeping with Brahms).
I just love filmmakers who connect their characters to the composers of the accompanying score! It is fascinating that Schumann's insanity parallels that of the characters in "The Piano Teacher."
PS. If you are interested in German Lieder like the one you just heard, Diana Damrau is German and a FABULOUS soprano. You should check more of her stuff out! Especially her version of "Morgen!" by Strauss - another wedding song.
That's so interesting Ashley! I'd never even thought about the possibility of filmmakers connecting their characters to the score, I don't think I've seen a movie like that before.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the theme in the film of oppression, and sexual repression especially, I think this harks back to a lot of what we've seen in this course, as Daphne said. The Germans always manage to throw in a little bit of an atypical , awkward, or disturbing sex scene. And then there's people like Master Patrick...
Oh my goodness, I just watched this movie today. It was definitely made by Haneke, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteAshley-- I'm really glad you brought up the connections to Schumann! I think the music was very important in this film and adds an entire dimension to the characters. Not sure if you caught it, but Erika mentions that her father was in an insane asylum as well.
The movie itself... I did not like so much. Way too much awkward for me. But I won't let that get in the way of a proper analysis.
Second time I watch this film and I am still as fascinated as the first time.
ReplyDeleteThe way Haneke, in his films, is able to capture the perverse aspect of the human mind is mesmerizing.
This is the second Haneke film i've scene, the first being "Le Temps du Loup" (french, the Time of the Wolf). I found this one is much better than Le Temps du Loup, as it had a much more defined style, even if it did not have a specific conflict resolution in the ending.
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