This is my 3rd Haneke experience (1-Funny Games, 2-Cache) and I'll go as far as saying that his movies are God-sent. Watching 'La Pianiste' just yesterday, i feel like it came at the right time in my life.
sharewhat you said is so incredibly true. Haneke's films are gifts to his audiences. It's so nice when he is appreciated and given the respect and awe he deserves!
"You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent!"
-- George Sanders, All About Eve
I've seen the exact three you listed + Seventh Continent, La Pianiste being my second though. It's beautifully paced, beautifully acted, beautifully directed...Haneke knows how to not only shock his audience but to tell his audience a message, something that I think is rare these days. Bought his boxset off amazon a few days ago. Cant wait for the rest!
If he's so weird, why is he wearing Nikes?
Haneke knows how to give his audience a message? So how come so many people remain baffled by his decision and indeed entire films? For me, any message is generally obscured by excessive focus on small details that do not signify all that much, and hugely vague symbolism that out of context, or without knowing any 'intended' message beforehand, could mean almost anything.
sharelol, a bunch of **** ups and social misfit outcasts in this thread
share(Warning: here be spoilers.) Having recently seen Das weisse band and having just finished La pianiste just moments ago (these two films my only experience with Haneke), I noticed the theme of authority and violence, particularly in the sphere of the family. The bitterness and austerity of the Lutheran upbringing of the children in Das weisse band ultimately leads to bizarre, violent acts of defiance. Similarly, the cruelty with which Erika deals with her pupils itself masks her own dark fantasies of being dominated in a sadomasochistic fashion. Just as she speaks of her students needing to make "sacrifices" for their art, so her mother speaks of making "sacrifices" the night when Walter resists her perverse laundry list of sexual desires. Haneke's characters in these films (the pastor and his family in Das weisse band and Erika, Walter, and her mother in La pianiste) seem either void or incapable of tenderness in familial and erotic love. This repression and austerity ultimately leads to violence. Whether you agree with such a psychoanalytic account of affections, I think there's a message there.
Speaking directly to La pianiste, I thought that the unconventional nature of the liaison between Erika and Walter was a subtler but unmistakable theme. Despite her naivete, we are privy to some of the more sordid secrets of Erika's sex life prior to her liaison with Walter. By the time she gets Walter in her bedroom to read her laundry list, I almost get the feeling that he is in over his head. I'm not sure what to make of his violation of Erika - was she the one who put all these ideas in his head, or did she merely awaken some latent rape fantasy within him (going back to the theme of authority and violence)? There seems to be little commentary on the surface of the film/narrative about the possible moral ramifications of the age difference and the power structure of their official relationship, but I wondered if perhaps there was a lesson to be learned here about the education Walter receives at the hands of his icy piano teacher.
I thought that the unconventional nature of the liaison between Erika and Walter was a subtler but unmistakable theme. Despite her naivete, we are privy to some of the more sordid secrets of Erika's sex life prior to her liaison with Walter. By the time she gets Walter in her bedroom to read her laundry list, I almost get the feeling that he is in over his head. I'm not sure what to make of his violation of Erika - was she the one who put all these ideas in his head, or did she merely awaken some latent rape fantasy within him (going back to the theme of authority and violence)? There seems to be little commentary on the surface of the film/narrative about the possible moral ramifications of the age difference and the power structure of their official relationship, but I wondered if perhaps there was a lesson to be learned here about the education Walter receives at the hands of his icy piano teacher.Interesting remarks about Walter and Erika and power dynamics. I agree he was in over his head; Erika also seemed to have gotten in above her head too. At various points his emotional responses suggest this. I'm not sure what his lesson at the hands of his teacher would be. Possibly or hopefully that he didn't enjoying metting out the abuse he did to Erika, which seemed to be his interpretation of what she was asking for.
I'm a fountain of bloodshare
In the shape of a girl
Haneke have never failed me. From The Seventh Continent to Caché (haven't seen yet Funny Games U.S.) all his movies have been a powerful experience to me.
I love the fact that through the years he remains unspoiled by success, fame and the always present temptation of filming a "commercial" flick. He is a true auteur. Not even those who dislikes him or his works could deny it.
More Haneke films, please!
Word.
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