The Piano Teacher(La pianiste)

A piano teacher at a prestigious Vienna music conservatory, middle-aged Erika turns to selfharm, voyeurism, and twisted sexual fantasies as an escape from her loneliness and her elderly mother’s extreme repression. When she attracts the attention of a young engineer who happens to be a talented pianist, she attempts to start a sadomasochistic relationship with him. Haneke’s first literary adaptation is an engrossing character study that depicts a psychological tug-of-war for power and control disguised as a toxic romance. Isabelle Huppert’s fearless award-winning performance as an inhibited woman who is hiding an inferno beneath her ice-cold exterior has been cited as an inspiration for the likes of Jessica Chastain and Nicole Kidman.

Cannes Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize, Best Actor and Best Actress

5/12(Sat): Speaker: Dr. Fiona Law (Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong)