Like with the Visconti review, this is the first film I’ve seen by Michael Haneke, so excuse my lack of previous knowledge of this director. All I knew was that he is a controversial director and his films might give me bad dreams. Anyway, since many people were talking about Haneke and I seemed to have let him go over my head, so I thought it was best to watch some of his film. Also, I found Le Pianiste for 7£ at HMV, so it seemed as good a place to start as any.
One of the first things I noticed in La Pianiste which I always look for in films was consistency in the directing. Le Pianiste has a clear style and sticks to it, which I feel always makes films better, and in this case it certainly did. The style here is cold, and the camera is at times unforgiving, giving us harsh details of the very private life of the protagonist. It’s extremely direct, and I admire Haneke for this, he doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything, and is really a force in his directing. The sexual and violent tension rises throughout the films, to moments where it seems almost unreal in its reality. Slow long takes are at work here, and Haneke has no trouble with dwelling on a single image of something that might be disturbing to the audience. He spends a lot of time building our knowledge of the characters, but at the same times avoids implying the obvious, and remains ambiguous. I feel Haneke really wants the audience to respond and be active, he shows, but doesn’t explain. In many ways it’s a very strange film, we are allowed the most personal details of the protagonist’s life, but we never seem to be able so grasp her character, her motivations. She’s throughout her life been abused by her controlling mother, but it never seem a satisfying enough explanation. The characters appear obscure enough, but at the same time the audience is given enough material to decide themselves what’s going on in their heads. As far as I’m aware, Haneke believes the interpretation of the audience is important, and it does show in this film.
What’s interesting about this film though is how it constantly attempts to provoke some response from the audience. And it’s just not the sexual scenes, but also the scenes that almost act like a subtle melodrama. There is a constant tension in the lead character and also between the different characters. As said, Haneke’s camera is almost unforgiving at times, dwelling on the characters faces, the almost too honest filmmaking I assume will be too much for some people, Haneke’s craft almost seems bitter at times. It is intimidating at times at how direct the film is, nothing is hidden or censored. The sexual scenes are unlike any other film, and are dragged out for long periods of time, feeling almost endless. We’ve seen this kind of “heightened risk” technique before, but Haneke really uses it to its full potential. He also really manages to portray the lead character’s unfolding repressed sexuality in a very non-exploitative way, but his straight-forwardness makes it seem even more mature. The interaction between the different characters is also very impressive, at times showing how they try to gain sexual dominance over one-another. Some pieces of the dialogue and action is at times fascinating, in the end culminating in a stirringly provocative ending.
This type of film might not be for everybody, but its definitely one of the most intriguing contemporary films I’ve seen, and I will definitely check out more films by Michael Haneke.
No comments:
Post a Comment