Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Film
Review: I've yet to see this DVD release, but the theatrical release was brilliant. The film does a wonderful job of bringing Elfriede Jelenek's book to the screen.
Rating:
Summary: The audience is plunged into a very unsettling world
Review: In French, with English subtitles, this film is a risky psychological drama about a well-respected music professor at a prestigious Vienna music school. She's in her forties, wears no makeup, keeps her hair in a bun and dresses in the plainest of clothes. As a teacher, she is severe and demanding. She and her mother live together and their constant arguments include slaps and tears and reconciliation. Her secret life, however, includes pornography, voyeurism and genital self-mutilation. When an attractive young man starts to pursue her romantically, she shocks him with her perversions. How this all plays out is fascinating and the eventual conclusion is inevitable, but along the way the audience is plunged into this very unsettling world.Isabelle Huppert's performance as the teacher is absolutely magnificent. There are a lot of close-ups of her unsmiling freckled face and dark opaque emotionless eyes. There is a vague reference to her father being in an insane asylum; other than that there is no back-story to help us understand her. Benoit Magimel, cast as her young suitor, has a difficult role as well. During the course of the film, we watch him change before our eyes. All the other characters are also well cast and give outstanding performances. The director, Michael Haneke, kept the tension and erotic undercurrent strong throughout. There is a lot of classical music and scenes of recitals and piano lessons in a very rigid and upscale world. And then there are those scenes targeted to make the audience squirm in their seats. When all the elements are put together, the results are a film that will long haunt my memories. The Piano Teacher is not for everyone. But for those adventurous few who are willing to experience the different and dramatic, don't miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: THE PIANO TEACHER NEEDS A LIL' MORE PRACTICE
Review: Hmmmmmmm - another ... movie about a prude that doesn't get to express herself. It has its moments but not enough. The movie becomes incredibly predictable with each scene. At times, It did keep my attention but it really wasn't anything new and a certain point I just wanted what I knew was going to happen for it to just happen. Also, the film needed some MAJOR editing -- two hours and 15 min. for a movie that is basically about a teacher and student being freaky could have been wrapped up a little more tightly. The movie is sooooo quiet that by the first 90 minutes I felt like I was watching people whisper - very In The Bedroom with subtitles. Of course the acting was great but I would have loved to see more plot turns or just a little more creativity with the script. This easily could have been an hour special on HBO.
Rating:
Summary: Aahhh...
Review: ...I considered Chapter 5 to be very important. This is the kind of movie that has to be viewed in its entirety, from beginning to end without interruption. I am not especially fund of dark stories, of sadomasochism. You may want to hold on to something that would make you feel secure and safe while viewing this movie. In a world of dysfunction, the main character, Isabelle Huppert, who plays Erika Kohut is among the top. She is a forty year-old piano professor at the Vienna Conservatory (incidentally she thinks that none of her pupils are good enough). She lives with her mother who worries about her daughter but in actuality is unable to face the fact that her daughter is an adult. Their co-dependency would make you sad. They sleep on the same bed and they even have fistfights! This dysfunctional relationship makes Erika among other things a voyeur. Erika meets a young man, whom she uses to act on her secret desires. He is sympathetically played by Benoit Magimel. Somewhere along the movie you wish she would listen to this man, but this is not a love story although a lot of 'I love you' statements are uttered. Even the boyfriend thinks she is sick. It was petrifying to watch a scene where Erika performs an act of self-mutilation. The film never shows the details but the effect is tremendous. This movie drives you on the edge of your seat. It was a relief when it ended, although quite abruptly, so there goes another French movie that will make you think for a long time after the last frame. If you are already a fan of Isabelle Huppert, you will find this extraordinary and remarkable performance indeed worthy of a Best Actress award (2001 Cannes Film Festival). But if you cringe at the thought of a man hitting a woman but would like to get to know Isabelle Huppert, do not make this be your first movie. Watch something like Entre Nous or wait for Huit Femmes (8 femmes, also a 2001 movie). The Piano teacher is not yet rated in the US but if 'Elizabeth' gets an 'R', this movie easily deserves it.
Rating:
Summary: HANEKE RULES!!!!.....
Review: o.m.g! this film is absolutely brilliant!__the intensity, the actors, music, directing...
MICHAEL HANEKE's style is a little like a combination of kubrick and gaspar noe. i honestly don't know if haneke's adaptation is faithful to Elfriede Jelinek's novel "the piano teacher".
however, this film is so intense, so captivating..(and even funny)... plot:
erika kohut is a middle aged piano teacher of the vienna music conservatory who is still living with her possessif mother.
she appears to be normal.
however, she is a sadomasochrist.She watches porn while sniffing used condoms,cuts herself with razor blades and..well..you get the picture.
she's a sadistic loner. she does not want to be loved,but humiliated and tortured.
Walter, is her admirant student.
he is fascinated and he adores her.
what follows next, is their strange relationship.
in short , Humiliation is part of the menu.... i think this film was rated nc17, but i'm not sure..anyway,do not bring any children with you!!
some scenes are really extreme!..apart from that,on a technical level, this film is perfect. ISABELLE HUPPERT is not acting in this film, she's living her part.
she is incomparable.
defenitly the best actress of 2002
even the brilliant Naomi watts (of mulholland drive), is no match to huppert. BENOIT MAGIMEL and annie girardot, are also Really, impressive!!
there are no false notes. the conclusion of the film is sudden and imprevisible.
(like in every haneke films) SUGGESTIONS: michael haneke's "CODE UNKNOWN" with juliette binoche._ FUNNY GAMES (made in 1997) _ BENNY'S VIDEO (made in 1992) _ and THE CASTLE (made in 1997).
Rating:
Summary: A Comercial Success to say the Very Least
Review: I entirely agree with the previous reviewers. The actors and actresses are of the best choice. The characters are so well portrayed and the settings are so well depicted. The overall effects are quite convincing. It's defintely shocking and at least commercially this film is a success. The choice of Schubert's music at least serves two points. First, Schubert's music is one of the saddest in the history of music, it's the music of the loniest pilgrim. Second, contrary to Beethoven's music, which is so clear and straight forward, the change of moods in Schubert's music is so sudden and so abundant and that it is often difficult to follow, so are the turns and twists in this story. A general survey of the life of the pianists would making this story more convincing. An American critized Kissin for knowing nothing but playing on the piano from day to night all his life; Glenn gould shut himself up in front of the piano since or before his pre-teens; Allica de Larrocha's mother begged her daughter to "live her life" (Allica's word), instead of sacrifying it to the piano; MargaretArgerich's "fiance" (Margaret's own word) was the piano... The life of a musician destined to become a concert pianist could be very lonely ( and boring )to the point of abnormality unless you really love it, or unless you can balance it with sufficient chamber music or the like. Yet, competition is so keen that 99 concert pianists out of a hundred would advise against a cereer of a concert pianist unless he is exceptionally talented. Obviously the heroine here, despite her sacrifice, didn't make it as a concert pianist. Her mother, so possessive and dominating, openly urged her to earn more money in order to buy a flat. Furthermore, the family has a history of mental problem; and her mother sharing the bed with her even when she was forty something... Needless to say, this case is by no means a norm yet it is not at all unconvincing. What is controversial though is the deliberate distortion of the sound of all music, be it's piano or vocal music, so that there is NO MUSIC LEFT AT ALL. Perhaps this serves the main theme of the story better, delivering a greater impact upon the audience. And yet on the other hand, one also wonders if that is really necessary, whether a mix of bitteress & sweetness would be more impressing.
Rating:
Summary: Huppert All the Way
Review: Erika (Isabelle Huppert) is a fortyish piano teacher with deeply repressed sexual feelings. She lives with her mother (Annie Girardot), a controlling, oppressive woman, and deals with her erotic longings through voyeurism, visits to sex shops and self mutiliation. She still sleeps with her mother. The film largely takes place at the conservatory where she teaches and at the apartment she shares with her mother. Huppert in an excellent on-disc interview says Erika longs to be loved but is frightened of seduction. She treats her students coldly but is drawn to one who is vain and handsome, and played by Benoit Magimel. The rest is the story of her creating and accepting a masochistic relationship with the young man that spirals down into her own psycho-sexual collapse. This movie won't be everyone's choice for an evening with the kids. It's a serious, disturbing film for adults that looks grimly at repressed feelings and emotional self destruction. For the grownups, it might put you off sado-masochism for a few days. It's a first-rate film. Isabelle Huppert is one of my favorite actors. Like Depardieu, she has no apparent screen vanity; she'll do what it takes for the role. She also has the rare ability to express deep, unsettling feelings with an absolute economy of expression. She is incredible in this film. I'm happy to have the disc, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure how many more times I'll watch it. The DVD transfer is excellent, the audio is first rate, and the English subtitles are easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic, powerful, and disturbing
Review: The Piano Teacher is a beautifully acted, wonderfully cinematic, and deeply disturbing masterpiece. It is quite unlike any other motion picture experience I have ever had. Isabelle Hubert is a brilliant actress and she absolutely shines in her role as a psychotic piano teacher who can't get what she wants, so goes out to ruin the life of others. The movie reveals this slowly and beautifully. I was impressed that there was no attempt at pop psychology or mediocre explanations that you would expect in a Hollywood melodrama with similar subject matter. The film is done in a simple, elegant, and gut-wrentching style, sure to fascinate and disturb, even if the film is hated in the end. Also worth mentioning is that Hubert's troubled but sympathetic character lives with her mother, in what has to be one of the most chilling mother/child relationships since PSYCHO. This is an exceptional film, thought-provoking, powerful, and strangely moving. It is not for those who can't face the dark side of human nature. It's far from being a life affirming "feel good" movie; it's a movie that is difficult to watch and raises plenty of questions. If the difficult subject matter of 'Irreversible' interested you, then this is your kind of movie. I enjoyed it immensely, as uncomfortable as I was watching it, and consider it a worthwhile, rewarding experience. The film has a haunting and disturbing finale, and is not always easy to digest, and therefore, it is not for all tastes. For fans of French or art-house cinema, this is definitely your cup of tea. Note: Stay away from the R-rated version, which goes so far as to blur out the video images in a porn shop. Grade A.
Rating: 
Summary: Are you kidding me?
Review: I watched this film a few years ago, and like The Secretary, it was a truly bad film. Sick and extremely disturbing, not to mention boring. I must've fell asleep 10 times while watching this film. I could've made a better movie. Not recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking and Intense
Review: This movie is unusual from the beginning. I was so transfixed when I first saw it in the theater that I went back three more times. This is unlike you will see from an American studio. The French, it seems, display more bravado when dealing with controversial topics. The story centers around Erika (played magnificently by Isabelle Huppert), a piano teacher still being treated like a 12-year-old by her mother(Annie Girardot). Erika seems to derive all of her satisfaction in life by means of a piano. When a younger man shows interest in her, she at first, rebuffs him. You get the impression that Erika has never been involved in a relationship with a man before. The problem is, the man,Walter,(also magnificently played by Benoit Magimel), doesn't know what he's getting himself into. The object of his desire performs masochistic experiments on herself, even to the point of drawing blood. (This scene is omitted in the R Rated version.) After Erika has her student attacked she and Walter proceed to have perhaps, the most unusual sex scene you are ever to see on film. The story unravels with her revelation that she wants him to beat her. The catch, ironically enough,is that she doesn't want to be beaten, she wants to be loved. Everything comes to a head at the when Walter beats and rapes her. The apparent moral of this is: don't say anything you don't absolutely mean. And perhaps, be careful what you wish for. Walter, himself, also says something he ultimately doesn't mean. I found the ending unexpected when I first saw it, and I don't want to give it away. You will have to see it for yourself. Isabelle Huppert's performance in this picture is haunting. You sense her character's cold exterior, while simultaneously, sensing her inner vulnerability. The classical music of Franz Schubert is expertly placed in this movie. And it's effect is obvious when you see it. Both co-stars spent a year perfecting the music. There is nothing false about their performances. There are a number of scenes in this movie that can turn your stomach. If you are looking for lighthearted fare you might want to look elsewhere. But if you are intrigued by something complex and daring, a movie that holds no punches, a movie that will have you talking about it after it is over, or if you appreciate first-rate acting, then I highly recommend this movie. It ranks at the very top of my list of favorites, and has made me into a lifelong devotee of Isabelle Huppert. The DVD includes a 20 minute interview with the star.
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