The Piano Teacher (2001) La pianiste (original title)

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writers:

Michael Haneke
Elfriede Jelinek (novel)

Release Date:

31 August 2001 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Pianist | Piano Teacher | Piano | Audition

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 16 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Erika Kohut
Annie Girardot	...	The Mother
Benoît Magimel	...	Walter Klemmer
Susanne Lothar	...	Mrs. Schober
Udo Samel	...	Dr. George Blonskij
Anna Sigalevitch	...	Anna Schober
Cornelia Köndgen	...	Mme Gerda Blonskij
Thomas Weinhappel	...	Baritone
Georg Friedrich	...	Man in drive-in
Philipp Heiss	...	Naprawnik
William Mang	...	Teacher
Rudolf Melichar	...	Director
Michael Schottenberg	...	Teacher
Gabriele Schuchter	...	Margot
Dieter Berner	...	Singing teacher
Volker Waldegg	...	Teacher
Martina Resetarits	...	Teacher
Annemarie Schleinzer	...	Teacher
Karoline Zeisler	...	Teacher
Liliane Neiska	...	Secretary
Luz Leskowitz	...	Violinist
Viktor Teuflmayr	...	Pianist
Viviane Bartsch	...	Woman in drive-in (as Vivian Bartsch)
Florian Koban	...	Pupil
Thomas Auner	...	Haydn pianist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noam Morgensztern	...	The first pupil (voice)
Lisa Olah	...	Sex shop girl (as Lisa Wölzl)
Vitus Wieser	...	Klemmer's Friend (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Haneke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Haneke
Elfriede Jelinek		novel

Produced by
Yvon Crenn	....	executive producer
Christine Gozlan	....	executive producer
Veit Heiduschka	....	producer
Michael Katz	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Christian Berger

Film Editing by
Nadine Muse
Monika Willi

Casting by
Kris Portier de Bellair
Markus Schleinzer

Production Design by
Christoph Kanter

Set Decoration by
Hans Wagner

Costume Design by
Annette Beaufays

Makeup Department
Françoise Andrejka	....	makeup artist
Fabienne Bressan	....	hair stylist
Ellen Just	....	makeup artist
Thi-Loan Nguyen	....	key makeup artist
Michaela Oppl	....	special makeup effects artist
Waldemar Pokromski	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Roman Haschberger	....	unit production manager
Michael Katz	....	production manager
Gebhard Zupan	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Katharina Biró	....	assistant director
Fritz Noltmann	....	assistant director
Hanus Polak Jr.	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Gerhard Dhor	....	construction crew (as Gerhard Dohr)
Peter Dörflinger	....	construction crew
Peter Ecker	....	props
Katrin Huber	....	property master
Fritz Martan	....	construction coordinator
Hannes Salat	....	props
Peter Wenhardt	....	scenic artist

Sound Department
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Pascal Dedeye	....	assistant foley artist
Othmar Eichinger	....	sound playback operator
Dominique Eyraud	....	boom operator
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound mixer
Nadine Muse	....	sound editor
Guillaume Sciama	....	sound

Special Effects by
László Kovács	....	special effects coordinator
Hans Wagner	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Geoffrey Kleindorfer	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Rainer Barta	....	electrician
Stefan Biebl	....	Steadicam operator (as Stefan Bibl)
Petro Domenigg	....	still photographer
Peter Drittenpreis	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Katharina Frank	....	second assistant camera
Gerald Helf	....	first assistant camera
Regina Höllbacher	....	second assistant camera
Bernhard Pötscher	....	first assistant camera
Harald Staudach	....	assistant Steadicam operator
Reinhard Vince	....	electrician
Wolfgang Vince	....	gaffer
Jörg Widmer	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Carmen Loley	....	casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brigitte Fink	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Yannick Coutheron	....	assistant editor
Alarich Lenz	....	assistant editor
Monica Parisini	....	assistant editor
Franz Rabl	....	color timer
Gabriele Sikuta	....	negative cutter

Transportation Department
Thomas Messer	....	property driver

Other crew
Roman Haschberger	....	location manager
Eva Jürgens	....	production trainee
Andreas Kispert	....	set manager
Ulrike Lässer	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Arte (participation)
• Bavaria Film International (participation)
• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Eurimages (participation)
• Filmfonds Wien (participation)
• Les Films Alain Sarde
• MK2 Productions
• Wega Film
• arte France Cinéma
• Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)
• Österreichisches Filminstitut (participation)

Distributors

• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Kino International (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Madman Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Alta Classics S.L. Unipersonal (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2001) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Artificial Eye (????) (UK) (theatrical) (subtitles)
• CinemaFilm (????) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (????) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Europafilm AS (????) (Norway) (theatrical)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Rosebud (????) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution (2001) (Canada) (all media)
• Homescreen (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Kamras Film Group (2001) (Finland) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2002) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Nelonen (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Odeon (????) (Greece) (VHS)
• YLE Teema (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2004) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• LISTO Videofilm (visual effects)

Other Companies

• LISTO Videofilm  post-production
• Les Audis de Boulogne  post-production
• Moviecam  camera equipment provided by

Also Known As:

"La pianiste" - Austria (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for aberrant sexuality including violence, and for language (cut)

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

Austria | France | Germany

Language:

French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/18 | Ireland:18 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Italy:VM14 | Czech Republic:15 | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Brazil:18 | Canada:R | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Japan:R-18 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

The part of Erika's mother was originally offered to Jeanne Moreau

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Mother:Good evening, child.
Erika Kohut:Evening, mama.
The Mother:[sarcastically] Home already? I'm so happy.
Erika Kohut:I'm going.
The Mother:Not so fast.
Erika Kohut:Please. Leave me be. I'm tired.
The Mother:I can quite believe it. Your last pupil left 3 hours ago. Might I know where you've been all this time?
Erika Kohut:[trying to go to her room] Please.
The Mother:No, you don't. Not until you tell me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Indie Sex: Extremes (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Piano Trio in E flat, D.929

Huppert Is Extraordinary

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 mutilation. 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 movie, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure how many more times I'll watch it.