The Piano Teacher

"La Pianiste" is based on the famous book of the same name by the Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek. Erika Kohut (Isabelle Huppert) is a fortyish piano teacher who lives with her mother (Annie Girardot) in a flat in Vienna. The two have a love-hate relationship and are constantly at each other's throats. Erika's life seems as tightly organised as a Bach composition, but in reality she leads a double life. Her impassive exterior conceals complicated emotions that she only expresses at night in neighbourhoods where she would not show herself during the day. When a visitor to one of Erika's piano concerts falls in love with her, he enrols at the conservatory to be near her. But the much younger Walter (Benoît Magimel) is not prepared for Erika's masochistic desires and her complicated personality. A dangerous game develops.