There is no doubt that German director Michael Haneke is a masterful director. His films are among the best of the art house films, and always hit home. Yet, despite his films being masterpieces on a technical level, only some of his films serve a point and qualify as brilliant (see Cache or The White Ribbon). Some films, such as this one and Funny Games, just serve to disturb and do not bring across the point that Haneke hopes to establish. Here we have the title character, a middle aged woman who still lives with her mother while her father wastes away in an asylum. After spending her days methodically and even cruelly teaching piano, she spends her nights engaging in voyeuristic activities. When she meets a new student and takes up with him, it becomes clear just how deeply depraved she really is. Like I stated before, there is nothing wrong with the film technically speaking. The material is extremely disturbing, the characters were unlikable, and there was no point to be gotten, at least by me.
**1/2
