La pianiste

Forty-year-old Kohut, stern and outwardly inflexible, teaches at the Vienna Conservatory. Her oppressive, symbiotic relationship with her tyrannical mother, with whom she even shares a bedroom, makes any other relationship impossible. Her life looks as tightly regimented as a composition by Bach – but in reality she’s leading a double life. Her rigid exterior masks complex emotions. During the day, she’s trapped in a mutual love-hate relationship with her mother, while in the evenings she visits porn cinemas and peepshows with an addicted voyeur, and at night devotes herself to lonely masochistic pleasures.

Suppressed feelings of desire

When a young visitor to one of her piano recitals falls in love with her, he signs up to study at the conservatory. Talented Walter decides to seduce his teacher. But he hasn’t taken Erika's complex, perverse personality into account. She seeks an outlet for her suppressed feelings of desire in porn, voyeurism and self-harming.

Haneke's remote approach results in a disquieting portrait of a woman caught up in a drastic struggle to remain in control of her emotions. La pianiste is extra interesting for the complex portrayal of transgressive (female) sexuality, particularly compared to recent films such as Babygirl, that address similar themes but are considerably tamer. Huppert – herself a passionate pianist – plays one of her best roles in years, and won several awards for her performance, including the Best Actress Award in Cannes, where the film screened as part of the Golden Palm competition.

Screenings on 35mm from the Eye collection and DCP.