★ 7 / 10
There are some fairly unnerving strands in this
CinemaSerf
There are some fairly unnerving strands in this drama that make for uncomfortable viewing at times. “Erika” (Isabelle Huppert) is a rather uncharismatic music…
There are some fairly unnerving strands in this drama that make for uncomfortable viewing at times. “Erika” (Isabelle Huppert) is a rather uncharismatic music professor, still living and sleeping with her mother (Annie Girardot) who finds herself being pursued by the handsome young pianist “Walter“ (Benoît Magimel). Ostensibly, he wants her to guide him through the vagaries of Schubert, but is clearly much more fascinated with her than with her prowess as a teacher. Initially, she dislikes him. She considers she has little to teach this confident, borderline arrogant, young man but he persists. Meantime, we learn a little of this woman’s own personality, of her compromised self-esteem, peccadilloes, and of her innate sexual frustrations so whilst some of what comes next is shocking, it’s not so very surprising. Not for the viewer, at any rate, but for the young “Walter”, well he can’t quite decide if he’s repelled or ensnared - or both. Huppert delivers an understated yet masterly performance here as she exposes the vulnerability of a woman lauded for her musical talents but almost entirely under-appreciated as an human being. Magimel also brings something insecure and susceptible to his own role as her conduct simultaneously inspires and corrupts his own. It asks quite a few questions about the more visceral elements of human behaviour. Boundaries that, or ought to, seem set fast soon dissolve amidst emotionally and/hormonally-charged scenarios, but then can reset themselves as if someone had flicked a switch off, then back on again. The denouement is fittingly inconclusive - riddled with exasperation, indifference and what I thought was a fairly ghastly assessment of just how empty her shell of a life could be, and it’s provocative stuff about what drives us to crave acceptance, attention and love and the lengths we will go to procure them.
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★ 8 / 10
A Compelling Shoker
claudiaeilcinema
Isabelle Huppert must be one of the greatest actresses of her or any other generation. "La Pianiste" truly confirms it. As if that wasn't enough, Annie…
Isabelle Huppert must be one of the greatest actresses of her or any other generation. "La Pianiste" truly confirms it. As if that wasn't enough, Annie Girardot plays her mother and Annie Girardot is one of the greatest actresses of her or any other generation. So, as you may well imagine, those pieces of casting are worth the horror we're put through. Isabelle and Annie play characters we've never seen before on the screen. A mother and daughter yes but with such virulent fearlessness that sometimes I was unable even to blink or to breath. Personally, I don't believe in the director's intentions, I don't believe they (the intentions that is) go beyond the shocking anecdote and the ending made me scream with frustration but I was riveted by the story written in the face of the sensational Huppert and the fierceness of Girardot's strength. I highly recommend it to cinema lovers anywhere and to the collectors of great performances like me, you can't afford to miss "La Pianiste"
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It's only overrated in the minds of idiots that don't try or are too conditioned to understand anything else than the greatest earners in the US