The Piano Teacher

The Piano Teacher (French: La Pianiste) is a 2001 film directed by Michael Haneke, starring Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel. It is based on the novel Die Klavierspielerin by Elfriede Jelinek, (Nobel Prize for Literature]] winner in 2004).

Plot
Erika (Isabelle Huppert) is a piano professor at a Vienna music conservatory. Although she is in her thirties, she still lives in an apartment with her domineering mother (Annie Girardot). Erika is only able to 'feel' by exacting cruel punishment on her students, whom she secretly detests. She destroys the musical prospects of a talented girl by hiding shards of glass inside of her coat pockets. Behind her icy façade, Erika is a sexually-repressed woman with a long list of sadomasochistic fetishes.

Upon meeting Walter (Benoît Magimel), a charming seventeen-year-old engineering student, she becomes obsessed with him. He is also a capable performer and shares in her appreciation for Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Walter is very insistent in starting a relationship with her. However, when she finally acquiesces, Walter is unwilling to indulge her violent fantasies. After an unsatisfying sexual encounter, Erika stabs herself in the shoulder with a kitchen knife.

Cast and Crew

 * Isabelle Huppert .... Erika Kohut
 * Annie Girardot .... The Mother
 * Benoît Magimel .... Walter Klemmer
 * Susanne Lothar .... Mrs. Schober
 * Udo Samel .... Dr. Blonskij
 * Anna Sigalevitch .... Anna Schober
 * Cornelia Köndgen .... Mme Blonskij
 * Thomas Weinhappel .... Baritone
 * Georg Friedrich .... Man in drive-in
 * Philipp Heiss .... Naprawnik
 * William Mang .... Teacher
 * Rudolf Melichar .... Director
 * Michael Schottenberg .... Teacher
 * Gabriele Schuchter .... Margot
 * Dieter Berner .... Singing teacher
 * Volker Waldegg .... Teacher
 * Martina Resetarits .... Teacher
 * Annemarie Schleinzer .... Teacher
 * Karoline Zeisler .... Teacher
 * Liliane Neiska .... Secretary
 * Luz Leskowitz .... Violinist
 * Viktor Teuflmayr .... Pianist
 * Viviane Bartsch .... Woman in drive-in (as Vivian Bartsch)
 * Florian Koban .... Pupil
 * Thomas Auner .... Haydn pianist
 * Noam Morgensztern .... The first pupil (voice)

Won

 * 2001 Cannes Film Festival
 * Grand Prix
 * Best Actor - Benoît Magimel
 * Best Actress - Isabelle Huppert


 * 2002 César Awards
 * Best Supporting Actress - Annie Girardot


 * 2002 German Film Awards
 * Best Foreign Film


 * 2001 European Film Academy
 * Best European Actress - Isabelle Huppert


 * 2001 French Academy of Cinema
 * Best Supporting Actress - Annie Girardot


 * 2002 L.A. Film Critics Association
 * Best Actress (Runner-up) - Isabelle Huppert


 * 2002 National Society of Film Critics
 * Best Actress (Runner-up) - Isabelle Huppert


 * 2001 Russian Guild Of Film Critics
 * Best Foreign Actress - Isabelle Huppert
 * Best Foreign Film


 * 2002 San Francisco Film Critics Circle
 * SFFCC Award - Best Actress - Isabelle Huppert


 * 2002 Seattle International Film Festival
 * Golden Space Needle Award - Best Actress - Isabelle Huppert

Nominated
2002 Bafta Awards
 * Best Film not in the English Language

2003 Bodil Awards
 * Best Non-American Film

2001 Cannes Film Festival
 * Golden Palm

2002 César Awards
 * Best Actress - Isabelle Huppert

2001 British Academy Awards
 * Best Foreign Language Film - Michael Haneke
 * Best Foreign Language Film - Veit Heiduschka

2001 European Film Academy
 * Best European Film
 * Best European Screenplay - Michael Haneke

2001 French Academy of Cinema
 * Best Actress - Isabelle Huppert

2002 Independent Spirit Award
 * Best Foreign Film