Aside from documentaries and newsreels, I've always been aware that films are stories performed by actors in a representation of life. Some are simply entertainments, many are trivial, but there are a few I've found to be extraordinarily powerful. Always with those few, it's been the actors inside their characters that have deeply touched me. Actors are the greatest "special effect".
Frequently, it's been a well-acted characterization of an ordinary person that has impressed me (e.g. Brenda Blethyn's Cynthia in "Secrets and Lies"). Sometimes, the character has a personality unlike anyone I've ever known. Always, though, the actors have instilled in me a far deeper understanding and empathy than I'd ever have in my own life for individuals such as these. My very humanity has been enlarged.
That is the case with Isabelle Huppert's performance as "The Piano Teacher". Since the film makes a good point about the possibility of not knowing what might lurk below the surface of a friend or relative's persona, I can't be certain that I've never met somebody like Erika Kohut. I can say that I thought I'd never comprehend how someone could be masochistic, "enjoy" pain and desire humiliation. After witnessing Huppert's performance, I've begun to understand.
The amazement aroused in me by "great acting" is one treasured response to the art. A larger heart is another.
This film has flaws, to be sure. It isn't fun. It is riveting, though, if you admire the power of transcendent acting. If your mind and heart are irreversibly closed to sympathy for people unlike yourself, forget about seeing this movie. Otherwise, be brave, go and you'll be unforgettably rewarded.
Frequently, it's been a well-acted characterization of an ordinary person that has impressed me (e.g. Brenda Blethyn's Cynthia in "Secrets and Lies"). Sometimes, the character has a personality unlike anyone I've ever known. Always, though, the actors have instilled in me a far deeper understanding and empathy than I'd ever have in my own life for individuals such as these. My very humanity has been enlarged.
That is the case with Isabelle Huppert's performance as "The Piano Teacher". Since the film makes a good point about the possibility of not knowing what might lurk below the surface of a friend or relative's persona, I can't be certain that I've never met somebody like Erika Kohut. I can say that I thought I'd never comprehend how someone could be masochistic, "enjoy" pain and desire humiliation. After witnessing Huppert's performance, I've begun to understand.
The amazement aroused in me by "great acting" is one treasured response to the art. A larger heart is another.
This film has flaws, to be sure. It isn't fun. It is riveting, though, if you admire the power of transcendent acting. If your mind and heart are irreversibly closed to sympathy for people unlike yourself, forget about seeing this movie. Otherwise, be brave, go and you'll be unforgettably rewarded.