Erika and her mother attend a recital where Erika performs a piece for the guests. In the audience is a young man named Walter Klemmer. He seems to have a crush on Erika during the recital. After speaking with Erika he has fallen for her. She completely dismisses him. He tries to impress her by playing Schubert, one of her favorites, on the piano.
As the movie continues you begin to see who Erika is. One day after work she goes to a sex shop and disturbingly watches a pornographic film. It was very unexpected because you get a sense that Erika is an accomplished piano teacher and that she is very strict and proper and about discipline and here she is in a sex shop sniffing a tissue she found in the garbage bin in the shop. You begin to see that something is not right with her. She seems to be lacking love in her life. She never smiles and mutilates her genitals. You get a sense that her relationship with her mother is a controlling one. Her mother orders her around and always checks up on her. She goes through her wardrobe and throws her things out. Erika sneaks around and lies to her mother where she is going.
One night Erika tells her mother that she has a recital to attend and that it will take a long time. Instead she goes to a drive in movie and waits till all the movie goers are in their cars. She sneaks around looking for couples that are having sex in their cars. She found a car with a couple and watched them. She got caught and had to run away. You now learn that Erika is a masochist.
Walter Klemmer is still trying to get Erika. He signs up to audition to be in Erika’s class. After passing the audition easily he begins to grab Erika’s attention. He tries to learn more about her but she makes it difficult for him. She finally gives in to him in following scene. They are at a theater rehearsing for a recital. Erika is disappointed in her student being nervous to play the piano in front of an audience, so she breaks a glass and secretly puts in the student’s pocket to purposely injure her. After hearing and seeing the injury occur she runs to the bathroom. Walter follows her and kisses her. You see her masochism come out more in this scene as she tries to dominate Walter. She tells him that he will receive a letter with all her fantasies written and that he is to follow the instructions.
He isn’t sure what to but waits for her instructions. She meets him at his hockey game and hands him the letter. He reads the letter and is very disturbed by it. He is tormented by what she wants him to do.
One night as Erika is bed she hears Walter knocking on her door. He comes in looking very emotionally disturbed and is determined to do what she asks. He locks her mother in a room. As he recites Erika’s letter he acts out her instructions. He hits her hard and kicks her too. He dominates her in everyway. After sleeping with her, which looked like rape he leaves and asks her never to tell anyone.
The last scene puzzled me a bit. Everyone shows up to the recital. Erika is to take the place of her student in the show. As the show is about to begin Walter walks by her and wishes her luck as if he’s only known her as a professor. She doesn’t seem to know how to take that. So she reaches into her purse, takes out a knife and stabs herself in the upper left part of her chest. The movie ends with Erika walking out of the theater with a blood stain on her blouse.
I found this movie to be disturbing and very strange. I don’t think that I would want to watch it again. The music was very interesting and the acting was great. I wasn’t too sure why Erika acted the way she did. It seemed to be either her mothers control over her or that her father was in a mental hospital. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this movie too much.
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