The novel of Elfriede Jelinek where La Pianiste is based upon is an interesting feminist study of suffocation of women by men set against an autobiographic background. Die Klavierspielerin is also a personal settlement of her life with her mother. Jelinek herself studied at a Conservatory in Vienna. Later works of her are more an indictment of the suffocation of life in Austria, a common element in Austrian post-war culture as the country has never come to grips with its troubling past.
In the movie less emphasis is paid to the relationship with the mother and so the source of Erika's behavior remains largely unexplained here. Erika's father dies and mother and daughter show no emotion at all. In the beginning there is a short fight between mother and daughter about control the mother has on her life. The TV is always on, thereby explaining that mother and daughter don't live life to the fullest at all. Later on she sleeps in one bed with her mother; her mother suddenly starts to warn her for failure if not performing at her best, a theme often to be found in Jewish culture. Huppert is apt for this role and some years earlier did another movie where Jelinek did part of the writing (Malina).
The glass-breaking scene has a double meaning. Not only does Erica want to punish Walter for his attention to and interest in another student, she also sees a reflection in that girl's mother of her own mother; in a way she wants to help her preventing having the same life as her with no personal choices of her own.
By entering into the relationship with Walter, a classic male/female struggle starts. Although women in Western societies are nowadays more equal than ever before, Jelinek wants to say that women and men are still strictly attached to certain role models that are almost all power-driven (among which sexual role models). Her sexual desires, although extreme and communicated in the most awkward of possible ways, can not be realized in a relationship. The relationship turns into a sexual battleground, in order to be loved and not lose Walter she has to give in to him, so he eventually vindicates and her total disintegration as a woman starts. The self-inflicted wound in the end only confirming her loss and being a 'punishment' for her choices.
The movie's distant and cold-hearted style reflects the book, so there is congruency there. But the movie lacks interesting camera-work as all shots are long and static shots that only move sometimes to follow the characters. I find this combination often deadly for a movie. Compare this to Tarkovsky (long but moving shots) or Koreeda (short but static), both of which can work. Cinematography is almost absent here. Haneke can create shock value from his actors and by editing: The transition of the first traditional part to the sex store is rather abrupt, although not on the level of editorial transitions Kubrick makes in Eyes Wide Shut for example. There are some good moments: There is no music when the end credits run, the use of Schubert (although used better in Barry Lyndon) as indication of 'decay', Erika never performing for a large audience herself, the mother has no name.
On her personal website, Elfriede Jelinek has commented about the movie making process. Not only does she see the meticulous planning process associated with making a movie as restricting and compares that to the choices one has to plan his or her own life. On that website she has also written a very interesting review of Lynch's Lost Highway, one of the more important movies ever made. If ever a director like that could have taken on this intriguing book.
In the movie less emphasis is paid to the relationship with the mother and so the source of Erika's behavior remains largely unexplained here. Erika's father dies and mother and daughter show no emotion at all. In the beginning there is a short fight between mother and daughter about control the mother has on her life. The TV is always on, thereby explaining that mother and daughter don't live life to the fullest at all. Later on she sleeps in one bed with her mother; her mother suddenly starts to warn her for failure if not performing at her best, a theme often to be found in Jewish culture. Huppert is apt for this role and some years earlier did another movie where Jelinek did part of the writing (Malina).
The glass-breaking scene has a double meaning. Not only does Erica want to punish Walter for his attention to and interest in another student, she also sees a reflection in that girl's mother of her own mother; in a way she wants to help her preventing having the same life as her with no personal choices of her own.
By entering into the relationship with Walter, a classic male/female struggle starts. Although women in Western societies are nowadays more equal than ever before, Jelinek wants to say that women and men are still strictly attached to certain role models that are almost all power-driven (among which sexual role models). Her sexual desires, although extreme and communicated in the most awkward of possible ways, can not be realized in a relationship. The relationship turns into a sexual battleground, in order to be loved and not lose Walter she has to give in to him, so he eventually vindicates and her total disintegration as a woman starts. The self-inflicted wound in the end only confirming her loss and being a 'punishment' for her choices.
The movie's distant and cold-hearted style reflects the book, so there is congruency there. But the movie lacks interesting camera-work as all shots are long and static shots that only move sometimes to follow the characters. I find this combination often deadly for a movie. Compare this to Tarkovsky (long but moving shots) or Koreeda (short but static), both of which can work. Cinematography is almost absent here. Haneke can create shock value from his actors and by editing: The transition of the first traditional part to the sex store is rather abrupt, although not on the level of editorial transitions Kubrick makes in Eyes Wide Shut for example. There are some good moments: There is no music when the end credits run, the use of Schubert (although used better in Barry Lyndon) as indication of 'decay', Erika never performing for a large audience herself, the mother has no name.
On her personal website, Elfriede Jelinek has commented about the movie making process. Not only does she see the meticulous planning process associated with making a movie as restricting and compares that to the choices one has to plan his or her own life. On that website she has also written a very interesting review of Lynch's Lost Highway, one of the more important movies ever made. If ever a director like that could have taken on this intriguing book.