Erika Kohut is a piano teacher at the Vienna Conservatoire. At the age of 40, she lives with her mother, from whose influence she can only escape through regular forays into porn cinemas and peepshows. Her sexuality is an exercise in morbid voyeurism and masochistic self-mutilation. Erika lives in a world of her own, until the day one of her pupils decides to seduce her. *The Pianist* is a study of power and control that is as captivating as it is disturbing, and one of Michael Haneke’s most acclaimed films.