THE PIANO TEACHER
http://www.kino.com/pianoteacher/
I was perusing the foreign film aisle of my local Blockbuster and the film 'The Piano Teacher' caught my eye. I blindly rented it and with baseless excitement rushed home to discover a movie so disturbing it was captivating.
This French film is based around a very stern piano teacher (played by Isabelle Huppert) who is forced by routine to deal with her annoying and overbearing mother. She rebels against this by staying out after work and indulging in acts of disturbing sexual deviancy. In one scene she goes to an adult video store, rents a private viewing room, and sniffs the semen on the Kleenex in the waste basket.
During one of her recitals she moves and inspires a young man (played by Benoît Magimel) and he pursues private lessons with her. This sparks the chain of events that results in a sometimes hot, mostly tepid and awkward love affair between the two that reveals just how insane she is.
The cinematography is well done, but not over the top; never reaching too far to impress. It keeps you in the experience and focused on the goings-on of the movie.
The acting is so absolutely superb that during the entire film I felt like a voyeur more than a viewer. It felt as though I was watching the lives of these people rather than a movie with scripts and sets. Isabelle Huppert is an actress extraordinaire. Her performance was easily one of the best I've seen because of how well she pulled off all of the different emotions and dynamics of her character. She could go from insane to meek to stern in the blink of an eye and make it believable.
The plot was interesting and engaging with a fist clenching climax and a resolution that may at first seem shallow and abrupt, but was a great end to the conflict the movie presented. The movie showcases well the insanity and insecurity of a woman who seems so cultured and together at first. It's a movie that doesn't hit you with that fact all at once, either, but rather introduces it little by little as to keep you on your toes the entire time.
I'd hate for people to overlook this film. It walks on the right side of a fine line between boring and engaging and, despite some dragging scenes, is one of the better flicks I've seen in the last year. As far as character driven flicks go I'd put this well above something like the aurally and visually pleasing, ultimately lacking 'Garden State'.
BIG THUMBS UP
I'd imagine anyone who likes character driven films like 'Lost in Translation' or 'Garden State' will like this.
http://www.kino.com/pianoteacher/
I was perusing the foreign film aisle of my local Blockbuster and the film 'The Piano Teacher' caught my eye. I blindly rented it and with baseless excitement rushed home to discover a movie so disturbing it was captivating.
This French film is based around a very stern piano teacher (played by Isabelle Huppert) who is forced by routine to deal with her annoying and overbearing mother. She rebels against this by staying out after work and indulging in acts of disturbing sexual deviancy. In one scene she goes to an adult video store, rents a private viewing room, and sniffs the semen on the Kleenex in the waste basket.
During one of her recitals she moves and inspires a young man (played by Benoît Magimel) and he pursues private lessons with her. This sparks the chain of events that results in a sometimes hot, mostly tepid and awkward love affair between the two that reveals just how insane she is.
The cinematography is well done, but not over the top; never reaching too far to impress. It keeps you in the experience and focused on the goings-on of the movie.
The acting is so absolutely superb that during the entire film I felt like a voyeur more than a viewer. It felt as though I was watching the lives of these people rather than a movie with scripts and sets. Isabelle Huppert is an actress extraordinaire. Her performance was easily one of the best I've seen because of how well she pulled off all of the different emotions and dynamics of her character. She could go from insane to meek to stern in the blink of an eye and make it believable.
The plot was interesting and engaging with a fist clenching climax and a resolution that may at first seem shallow and abrupt, but was a great end to the conflict the movie presented. The movie showcases well the insanity and insecurity of a woman who seems so cultured and together at first. It's a movie that doesn't hit you with that fact all at once, either, but rather introduces it little by little as to keep you on your toes the entire time.
I'd hate for people to overlook this film. It walks on the right side of a fine line between boring and engaging and, despite some dragging scenes, is one of the better flicks I've seen in the last year. As far as character driven flicks go I'd put this well above something like the aurally and visually pleasing, ultimately lacking 'Garden State'.
BIG THUMBS UP
I'd imagine anyone who likes character driven films like 'Lost in Translation' or 'Garden State' will like this.
