Film Forum

(2001) A study of female sexuality and the dynamics of control, adapted by Haneke from a controversial 1983 novel by Elfriede Jelinek. Isabelle Huppert delivers an icy but quietly seething performance as Erika, a middle-aged piano professor at a Viennese conservatory who lives with her mother, in a claustrophobically codependent relationship. Severely repressed, she satisfies her masochistic urges only voyeuristically until she meets Walter (Benoît Magimel), a young student whose desire for Erika leads to a destructive infatuation that upsets the careful equilibrium of her life. A critical breakthrough for Haneke. Winner of the Grand Prix as well as dual acting awards for its stars at Cannes. DCP courtesy of Janus Films.

Reviews

“Huppert gives one of her greatest screen performances.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“Audaciously brilliant. A genuinely shocking work…seriously scandalous, beautifully made, and it deserves a sizeable audience that might argue over it, appreciate it – even hate it.”
– David Denby, The New Yorker

“A disconcertingly assured tango between tenderness and brutality.”
– Desson Thompson, Washington Post