La Pianiste and Haneke’s Alternative Representation of Violence
La Pianiste and Haneke’s Alternative Representation of Violence
‘That 's Michael Haneke 's quest - to look at the mental violence in each scene. His point is not to provoke with disturbing images, his point is to provoke because he speaks about intimacy in a way that is unbearable sometimes.’ (Kino International, 2012) That is how the actress Isabelle Huppert, who plays Erika Kohut in Haneke’s film La Pianiste (2001), or The Piano Teacher, describes Haneke’s approach to cinema. This fascination with violence, is evident in recent years, where a trend has formed inside the European art house market, and especially in France. The critics use the term extreme cinema for films where filmmakers boldly introduce themes of violence and/or sexuality that seek to provoke the audience in a number of ways unthinkable for mainstream cinema. In this essay I’m going to explore some of the characteristics of extreme cinema, by examining Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher.
According to Tim Palmer (2006), the modern mainstream movies seek to award the viewer with instant and simple gratification but sometimes there emerges an opposite tendency, aggressive and abrasive forms of cinema that seek a more confrontational experience. (p. 22) In typical mainstream cinema, the filmmakers follow a structure that presents the viewer with plots about sympathetic characters and their sometimes dire but ultimately solvable problems. The cinematography is designed and created with the idea to bring appeal and gratification to the audience, and to satisfy all their primal senses. While the so-called extreme cinema seeks the opposite – to remove the audience from the comfort zone, to provoke thoughts and contemplation, even if it comes at the cost of an apparent aggression and abrasiveness.
Of course, this is not really a novelty. Filmmakers have always sought to confront and provoke their audiences into considering and thinking about vehement problems and themes. Examples of such
‘That 's Michael Haneke 's quest - to look at the mental violence in each scene. His point is not to provoke with disturbing images, his point is to provoke because he speaks about intimacy in a way that is unbearable sometimes.’ (Kino International, 2012) That is how the actress Isabelle Huppert, who plays Erika Kohut in Haneke’s film La Pianiste (2001), or The Piano Teacher, describes Haneke’s approach to cinema. This fascination with violence, is evident in recent years, where a trend has formed inside the European art house market, and especially in France. The critics use the term extreme cinema for films where filmmakers boldly introduce themes of violence and/or sexuality that seek to provoke the audience in a number of ways unthinkable for mainstream cinema. In this essay I’m going to explore some of the characteristics of extreme cinema, by examining Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher.
According to Tim Palmer (2006), the modern mainstream movies seek to award the viewer with instant and simple gratification but sometimes there emerges an opposite tendency, aggressive and abrasive forms of cinema that seek a more confrontational experience. (p. 22) In typical mainstream cinema, the filmmakers follow a structure that presents the viewer with plots about sympathetic characters and their sometimes dire but ultimately solvable problems. The cinematography is designed and created with the idea to bring appeal and gratification to the audience, and to satisfy all their primal senses. While the so-called extreme cinema seeks the opposite – to remove the audience from the comfort zone, to provoke thoughts and contemplation, even if it comes at the cost of an apparent aggression and abrasiveness.
Of course, this is not really a novelty. Filmmakers have always sought to confront and provoke their audiences into considering and thinking about vehement problems and themes. Examples of such
Bibliography: Brunette, Peter (2010) Michael Haneke, Champaign: University of Illinois Press. cinefilsmagazine (2010) MICHAEL HANEKE on VIOLENCE - cine-fils.com [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOx3rpkMtY8 (Accessed 5 January 2012). crtv74MagicLantern (2011) Isabelle Huppert Interview - The Piano Teacher [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orCP6Nfcm0A (Accessed 5 January 2012). Internet Movie Database. (2012) Michael Haneke [Online]. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0359734/ (Accessed: 3 January 2012). Kino International (2012)The Piano Teacher Reviews [Online]. Available at: http://www.kino.com/pianoteacher/piano_revfr.html (Accessed 5 January 2012). Kino International (2001)The Piano Teacher Interviews: Isabelle Huppert [Online]. Available at: http://www.kino.com/pianoteacher/piano_huppint.html (Accessed 5 January 2012)La Pianiste (2001) Directed by Michael Haneke [DVD]. London: Artificial Eye. Palmer, Tim (2006) ‘Style and Sensation in the Contemporary French Cinema of the Body’, Journal of Film and Video, 58 (3), pp. 22-32. Pryce, Michael and Rhodes, John David (2010) On Michael Haneke, Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Quandt, James (2005) ‘Flesh and Blood: Sex and Violence in Recent French Cinema’, Artforum. Available at: http://www.artforum.com/inprint/id=6199 Wheatley, Catherine (2009) Michael Haneke 's Cinema: The Ethic of the Image, Oxford: Berghahn Books.