The Piano Teacher

I just finished watching The Piano Teacher (on Watch Instantly).

About a decade ago I was on a real Jelinek kick, and read several of her novels, all of which I was really into. I think, if I remember correctly, that I liked The Piano Teacher the least. Still I have been meaning to see the French film version of it for a long time.

So... I just don't know what to think. I suppose that is a good thing, when the director doesn't impose a point of view on you. But it's rather disconcerting.

The Piano Teacher is basically a character study, focusing on a kind of archetypically repressed woman. Hair back, high collared shirt. She is a highly intelligent, highly controlled, curt and acerbic musician who teaches piano at a conservatory. Her personality is so cold, so unforgiving, and so stiff, that it is very difficult to empathize with her. This becomes a particular problem when she mutilates herself, and when she does one very cruel thing to one of her students. Not being able to connect with her makes these things, and others, very agitating to watch.

She lives with her overbearing and unkind mother, and she has a few dark sexual predilections. But the story centers around a relationship between her and student at the conservatory who pursues her, and whom she ultimately engages in masochistic fantasy.

I felt agitated and disturbed throughout the movie. But I was mesmerized by the pacing, the control, and the acting. It was an unpleasant experience, but a powerful one.