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The Piano Teacher
GERMANY · 2001

The Piano Teacher

Michael Haneke
sexual repression maternal domination power dynamics in relationships classical music self-harm and masochism
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Synopsis

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

Cinema Atlas Connection
I guess there are directors like David Cronenberg, Gaspar Noé, Michael Haneke, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Lars von Trier, who are my main influences. These are directors who are not afraid to show what is ugly and confront us with taboo subjects, but who always maintain a certain distance, a kind of observation that allows us to reflect rather than just react viscerally. This is something I try to do myself. It is my way of making genre film without falling into exploitation.
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