Review of The Piano Teacher (2001) by Rachel B — 21 Dec 2007

Absolutely floored me. Isabelle Huppert's representation of Erika as a cold, calculating, ruthless, demanding woman slowly deteriorating in all her vulnerability, insecurity, and helplessness is one of the most amazing performances I have seen in a long time.

To my friends: if any of you are willing to watch this movie and have an INTELLIGENT conversation about it with me (and forgive me for being snobby and not particularly optimistic about the prospect), I would be much obliged, because I am begging for intelligent conversation of any sort, period, and there's no shortage of material here.

There are so many themes to explore that I ended up writing notes and thoughts while I was watching, continuing to rewind as I picked up another nuance of a scene - it damn near took me five hours to watch the movie because I would have another couple thoughts or angles occur to me during several scenes.

The power dynamics of sex, control, submission, sadomasochism, insecurity, and other provoking topics are among the most fascinating topics one can discuss in our world.