The Piano Teacher
2001 · TMDB 7.3 · La Pianiste
Directed by Michael Haneke
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
Why it matters
A repressed piano teacher at a Viennese conservatory enters a sadomasochistic relationship with a young student, drawing up a contract of humiliations. Isabelle Huppert's performance is a masterclass in controlled fury, as the transaction becomes a battlefield for her own demons.
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Released
- 2001-09-05
- Studio
- Wega Film
- Country
- France
- Language
- French
- TMDB score
- 7.3
KinoChain appearances
Chains through this film
Where this title sits in a journey — and where cinema takes you next.
When Money Buys Trouble
Position 5 of 8
A repressed piano teacher at a Viennese conservatory enters a sadomasochistic relationship with a young student, drawing up a contract of humiliations. Isabelle Huppert's performance is a masterclass in controlled fury, as the transaction becomes a battlefield for her own demons.
The Architecture of Obsession: Cinema of the Fixated Mind
Position 4 of 8
Haneke's cold dissection of Erika Kohut, a repressed piano teacher whose masochistic sexual fixations collide with a younger student's advances. The film's static, clinical compositions and abrupt cuts mirror Erika's compartmentalised psyche, while the diegetic piano pieces becom...
Connected films
Where this film leads
Linked through chains, directors and neighbouring cinema.
Bitter Moon
Previous in chain · When Money Buys Trouble
In the Realm of the Senses
Next in chain · When Money Buys Trouble
Taxi Driver
Previous in chain · The Architecture of Obsession: Cinema of the Fixated Mind
The Master
Next in chain · The Architecture of Obsession: Cinema of the Fixated Mind
Anora
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Midnight Cowboy
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Klute
Also in “When Money Buys Trouble”
In the Mood for Love
Also in “When Money Buys Trouble”
Decision to Leave
Also in “When Money Buys Trouble”
Vertigo
Also in “The Architecture of Obsession: Cinema of the Fixated Mind”
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