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THE PIANO TEACHER (LA PIANISTE)

What You Need To Know:

THE PIANO TEACHER opens with thirties-something piano teacher Erika Kohut coming into her apartment to face her irate mother, who berates her viciously for being late. They come to blows and then to tears of reconciliation. This is not a happy family. Eventually, the movie reveals Erika’s sado-masochistic longings and her perverted relationship with a handsome young man named Walter, which leads to tragedy.

THE PIANO TEACHER is a Freudian nightmare, an ode to the worst theories of psychologist Sigmund Freud. The ending implies to anyone with a modicum of common sense that pornography destroys people’s lives, but many of the critics at Cannes were enamored of it. Furthermore, the anti-mother, anti-female plot is so strong as to be misogynistic. Erika converts Walter to her perversion, but is destroyed by her conquest. THE PIANO TEACHER is beautifully filmed, well-directed and well-acted, which is why it won the grand jury prize and two acting awards at Cannes; however, it is a perfect example that production value does not atone for moral degradation. THE PIANO TEACHER is vile. Don’t let it play with your mind. It is an extremely misogynistic, pornographic movie with a sickening humanist worldview

Content:

(HHH, HoHoHo, B, LL, VVV, SSS, NNN, AA, D, MM) Freudian worldview with repressed homosexual content & a moral ending; 12 obscenities and 1 profanity; intense sexual violence including female circumcision, slapping & fist fights, brutalizing women, rape, putting glass in a girl’s pocket to cause harm, blood, & suicide; fornication, voyeurism, penetration, oral sex portrayed, rape, & sadomasochism; full male & female nudity in pornographic movies; alcoholism; smoking; and, lying, torture, cruelty, & dominance.

More Detail:

THE PIANO TEACHER is an extremely misogynistic, pornographic movie with an anti-pornography moral. Set in Vienna, it is an ode to the worst theories of Freud. Even worse, many of the critics at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival liked it.

The movie opens with thirties-something piano teacher Erika Kohut coming into her apartment to face her irate mother, who berates her viciously for being late. They come to blows, and then to tears of reconciliation. Clearly, this is not a happy family. As in Freud’s half-baked theories, the mother is the root of all evil; in this case the root of Erika, who is truly evil.

Next, the movie cuts to Erika’s piano class where she is psychologically abusing her student. Then, Erika and her mother go to Erika’s recital where the handsome young Walter falls in lust with Erika. Then, Erika goes to a porno parlor where she watches pornography and sniffs the used tissues in the wastebasket. Next, Erika mutilates herself. Then, when a student of hers excels on stage, Erika puts crushed glass in the student’s pocket to permanently maim the student. Clearly, this is not a happy piano teacher.

Even so, the beguiled Walter comes to get Erika after the crushed glass incident to tell her he loves her. She plays the dominatrix in a couple perverted sex acts and forces him to stand with his private parts exposed. Soon thereafter, she gives him a letter with all the sadomasochistic things she wants him to do to her. Correctly, he is repulsed, but comes back to fulfill her dreams. In the meantime, she has tried to rape her mother. When Walter tries to fulfill the reality of her pornographic dreams, she goes frigid and commits suicide.

THE PIANO TEACHER is a Freudian nightmare. The ending implies for anyone with common sense that pornography destroys, but many of the critics at Cannes were enamored of it. Furthermore, the anti-mother, anti-female plot is so strong as to be misogynism. Erika converts Walter to her perversion, but is destroyed by her conquest.

THE PIANO TEACHER is beautifully filmed, well-directed and well-acted, which is why it won the grand jury prize and two acting awards. However, it is a perfect example that production value does not atone for moral degradation. THE PIANO TEACHER is vile. Don’t let it play with your mind, heart and eternal soul.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.