Film Forum

France, Austria, Germany, 2001
Directed by Michael Haneke
Written by Michael Haneke
Based on the novel by Elfriede Jelinek
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot, Susanne Lothar  
Approx. 131 min. DCP.

A study of female sexuality and the dynamics of control, adapted from the controversial book by Nobel Prize-winning playwright and novelist Jelinek. Huppert delivers an icy but quietly seething performance as 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 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 two stars, at Cannes.

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