The Piano Teacher (film)

Burberry trench coats were selected for costumes.

The film is based on the 1983 novel The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek,[5] who won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature.[6] Director Michael Haneke read The Piano Teacher when it was published and aspired to adapt it to transition from making television films to cinema. However, Haneke learned Jelinek and Valie Export had already adapted a screenplay, a project aborted due to lack of investment.[7] Jelinek later abandoned hope for a film version before selling the rights to Paulus Manker, who asked Haneke to adapt the screenplay, though Haneke would not be the director. Manker did not secure a budget, so the producer asked Haneke to direct.[7]

Haneke agreed to take over the directorial helm, though the screenplay had been written with Manker's direction in mind, only if Isabelle Huppert was the star.[7] Haneke also reorganized the novel's story, and developed the character of Anna Schober and Mrs.Schober to mirror the Kohuts mother-daughter relationship at a past stage.[7] In pre-production, Haneke followed Jelinek's choices in costumes, including pleated skirts and Burberry trench coats common in Vienna conservatories.[7]

Haneke had previously reached out to Huppert to star in his film Funny Games (1997), which she passed on for another professional conflict. When Haneke told her he would not direct The Piano Teacher without her, Huppert skimmed the screenplay and realized its potential.[8] She said she had studied piano as a child, quitting when she was 15, but began playing again for the film.[8]

Filming began in 21 August 2000 and ended in 28 October 2000

For the scene in which Erika cuts herself in the bathtub, tubes and a pump were used for the false blood, which the props artist had to conceal from the camera under Huppert.[7] Huppert also wore a blood bag under her clothing for the self-stabbing scene, taken from the novel.[7] Benoît Magimel studied piano during filming to convincingly simulate his playing scenes at the end of production, while the music is playback.[7] Susanne Lothar performed in German, but her lines were dubbed over with French in co-production.[7]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 73% approval rating based on 85 reviews, with the site consensus being: "Though it makes for rather unpleasant viewing, The Piano Teacher is a riveting and powerful psychosexual drama".[9] Roger Ebert awarded it three and a half stars, citing Huppert's confidence, writing on hints of revenge against The Mother character and defending the ending, saying "with a film like this any conventional ending would be a cop-out".[10] Peter Bradshaw credited Haneke for aptitude in creating "nerve-jangling disquiet" and Huppert for "the performance of her career".[11] David Denby praised the film as "audaciously brilliant".[12]

In 2017, The Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang recalled The Piano Teacher as Huppert's best work in a Haneke film, and "a major achievement in a disturbingly minor key".[13] Mick LaSalle credited Huppert for "a rich incarnation of a woman we might see on the street and never guess that she contains fires, earthquakes and infernos", comparing it to her in the 2016 film Elle.[14]

The film won awards on the European circuit, most notably the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, with the two leads, Huppert and Magimel, winning Best Actress and Best Actor. The film was Austria's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[15] but it was not nominated.