Few films dare to embrace a character as intimately as The Piano
Teacher. Fewer still would dare to get so close and offer neither
comfort nor redemption but instead, a critique of power and its
unending reign of terror. Michael Haneke has directed this film
with an everyday eye which is all the more confronting and
revealing for its expression of the dark depths of the mundane.
Erika is the piano teacher but she has nothing to give. Her
students are taught by their parents to love the fear and sadism
which she offers them when its emptiness confounds them and
robs her of purpose. Beyond the discipline which her craft
demands and a desperate, intense relationship with her mother,
Erika seeks out sexual expression vicariously. She has her role in
the world but subverts it gently by venturing like a wolf into the
fringes of everday life. She is a voyeur in a world around her which
values her talent but not her own person. A society set which
cherishes blindly the musical art of Schumann and Schubert
without any context but the silent, knowing self-satisfaction of
arrogant appreciation. For them, she is a brilliant pianist and
teacher, a dutiful daughter, and a convenient artistic freak raised
as such.
Erika is not a victim. Haneke brilliantly enables her life to be
expressed in the minute everyday details which define the society
in which she lives and the prison which holds us all. Erika does
not evolve so much as become aware of what already binds her.
The film conveys a bleak vision but an honest and confronting one.
At a recital, Erika is confronted with Walter Klemmer, a young man
with confidence but a profound lack of experience. His raw talent,
physical beauty and warmth inspires in others respect and
devotion, but for Erika he is another bottle sitting on the wall. His
beauty and charm are obvious, but she desires him as an
imaginary self. She wants to possess him on strict terms. She is a
teacher, but she doesn't want him as a student. The scene in
which she tries to reject his application to study under her only to
be overruled by other teachers perfectly represents the
powerlessness she is subjected to and the subtle vengeance she
must eventually wreak.
This is not a film about a character finding herself. It is a film about
power. Erika may want to be exposed but only in a court of her
making, in a trial where her guilt can be punished. It seems that
the annihilation of being controlled in a sadomasochistic sense,
emotionally and sexually, being silenced comes naturally to Erika.
She knows nothing else, trusts nothing else and is appreciated
for...
When Walter does become Erika's imaginary self , she can see
the horror of these power relations. She sees the heart of
darkness but in the end, so does Walter. Except in a world of men,
power and class, Erika is revealed to be a prophet of the most
damning kind. Her final act, reminiscent of Pasolini's Salo, is a
last stand. Our final glimpse of Walter is perhaps even more
powerful.
There are so many brilliants scenes in the film, yet its final form
expresses much more than any of them. Such films are not
common, but like treasure they are often found. I hope many of you
embark on the journey.
Teacher. Fewer still would dare to get so close and offer neither
comfort nor redemption but instead, a critique of power and its
unending reign of terror. Michael Haneke has directed this film
with an everyday eye which is all the more confronting and
revealing for its expression of the dark depths of the mundane.
Erika is the piano teacher but she has nothing to give. Her
students are taught by their parents to love the fear and sadism
which she offers them when its emptiness confounds them and
robs her of purpose. Beyond the discipline which her craft
demands and a desperate, intense relationship with her mother,
Erika seeks out sexual expression vicariously. She has her role in
the world but subverts it gently by venturing like a wolf into the
fringes of everday life. She is a voyeur in a world around her which
values her talent but not her own person. A society set which
cherishes blindly the musical art of Schumann and Schubert
without any context but the silent, knowing self-satisfaction of
arrogant appreciation. For them, she is a brilliant pianist and
teacher, a dutiful daughter, and a convenient artistic freak raised
as such.
Erika is not a victim. Haneke brilliantly enables her life to be
expressed in the minute everyday details which define the society
in which she lives and the prison which holds us all. Erika does
not evolve so much as become aware of what already binds her.
The film conveys a bleak vision but an honest and confronting one.
At a recital, Erika is confronted with Walter Klemmer, a young man
with confidence but a profound lack of experience. His raw talent,
physical beauty and warmth inspires in others respect and
devotion, but for Erika he is another bottle sitting on the wall. His
beauty and charm are obvious, but she desires him as an
imaginary self. She wants to possess him on strict terms. She is a
teacher, but she doesn't want him as a student. The scene in
which she tries to reject his application to study under her only to
be overruled by other teachers perfectly represents the
powerlessness she is subjected to and the subtle vengeance she
must eventually wreak.
This is not a film about a character finding herself. It is a film about
power. Erika may want to be exposed but only in a court of her
making, in a trial where her guilt can be punished. It seems that
the annihilation of being controlled in a sadomasochistic sense,
emotionally and sexually, being silenced comes naturally to Erika.
She knows nothing else, trusts nothing else and is appreciated
for...
When Walter does become Erika's imaginary self , she can see
the horror of these power relations. She sees the heart of
darkness but in the end, so does Walter. Except in a world of men,
power and class, Erika is revealed to be a prophet of the most
damning kind. Her final act, reminiscent of Pasolini's Salo, is a
last stand. Our final glimpse of Walter is perhaps even more
powerful.
There are so many brilliants scenes in the film, yet its final form
expresses much more than any of them. Such films are not
common, but like treasure they are often found. I hope many of you
embark on the journey.