amour (2012). directed by micheal haneke.

this is not an easy watch. i think after watching micheal haneke, i appreciate more the movies of another director - yasmin ahmad, surprisingly. i used to hate the fact that she has this thing about placing a static camera and observing her actors from afar. 

micheal haneke did the same exact thing - observing the daily life of an old couple. they have been married for a long time, they had adult children who have their own lives. i don't know what he does, but she was a piano teacher. their apartment mirrored their life and passion. he is so gentle with her, she is a tad caustic, but i can sense their adoration is mutual and runs deep. 

but love, is not love, unless it is thoroughly tested. 

it makes me think why the film depicted an old couple, instead of a young couple like a lot of movies out there.  i think - in haneke's universe at least - love is something to be earned. it doesn't just exist out of thin air. it is earned with years of commitment, tested with all sorts of situations and challenges imaginable. 

the film doesn't sugarcoat the nature of old age and the challenge of illness that comes with it. it is very difficult caring for a sick loved one, especially when they descend to the level of children. sometimes it is not love anymore - it is a mix of despair, self pity and disgust. 

i don't know how i will handle it when the time comes.   

the white ribbon (2009). directed by micheal haneke.

there is no supernatural horror in this film and yet i was scared as if a ghost is going to jump on me, ju-on style. 

that is the genius of micheal haneke, amongst others. 

while the children seems to be mysterious and aloof, often subjected to unreal expectations of adults around them, i find the adults in the film are the ones who are the hypocritical enforcer of morality. while they all try to control the seemingly ordered life that is spinning out of control very fast - the only certainty is this - bad things happened and they don't need any reason at all. perhaps it was a sign that a bigger chaos is coming - in the form of the first world war.

god save us all. 

the piano teacher (2001). directed by micheal haneke.

perhaps the black swan will win tonight. it will be shown on tv at 2am, sudan time, which is 7am malaysia time. i am not staying up for that. i have a review with my seniors, yawn really, but necessary for me to attend. so i need my beauty sleep.

in a way these two movies are similar - a tale of sacrifice for art and how far does one willing to enslave oneself for it, that it changes you into someone else. the demands art makes on them physically and emotionally is combustible - it is a world rife with competition, jealousy and intrigues. no one is ever good enough. and everyone is always on the verge of a mental breakdown. perhaps we've never seen a real life example - but what kind of an environment could have produced such destructive forces in otherwise creative individuals?

the protagonist in the piano teacher is a music teacher who teaches schumann and schubert and is very strict in her methods, punishing students to spare them from feeling "not good enough". she is unfriendly, as if she had been wronged in the past. her mother is a creature of constant criticism, as if demanding her to achieve an ideal that is not human. despite the facade of propriety,  she visits sex shops and watches couples having sex to get sexual pleasure. the neat division in her life crumbles with the arrival of a male student who openly flirts with her, as if challenging her authority. the relationship tilts the power balance she holds dearly all this while - the virgin vs. the human needs - as if not sure how to react - she fights the demons of sexual fantasy and reality with equal fierceness. this is a person who has no outlet, but under constant pressure to be perfect - professionally and personally. she is bound to crack, someday, some way. the story ends with her sticking a knife to herself - signifying the pain she felt when the student walks away from their liaison.

needless to say, the movie has many shocking scenes that involve sadomasochistic acts that does not pass NC-17 rating. in my mind, french films is often shot in such a way that involved the audience more closely than hollywood films - and thus, i often feel too close for comfort with the characters. it is an uneasy feeling when you start to feel - you are them, and can be them.

i wonder how the black swan would fare with the piano teacher in mind.