Oh, good, I thought: a woman with no shame that her sexual curiosities are as powerful and assertive as a man's. And, just like a cheap, "B" horror movie, she must "pay" for her transgressions and invasions into aggressive and blatant urge. sigh.
Freudianism is the real restraint, the real sadism of this film. It's all Mommy's fault! Yawn. I saw no indication that Mommy's insecurities and urge to control were anything like a justification for reckless, irresponsible behavior.
There is a point at which one must climb from Mommy's bed and live one's own life. I know this from personal experience. My mother was so mentally ill, she tried to tear my genitalia off with her finger nails when I was eighteen months old. She forced me to sleep with her for several years while I was a young girl. And she beat me into a brain injury and PTSD.
I didn't just choose not to let my mother into my adult bed (metaphorically as well as literally), I worked at it very hard, very consciously, until I could experience the pleasure of being a woman with eyes wide open, completely sober, with no guilt.
French pride in Sade makes as much sense as German pride in Mengela would.
And this is not sado masechism. This is not consensual: people are affected without choice.
So, I can only rate it as adequate. It's not a story in which people grow, learn or die with the risk of trying.
This is a sensationalistic film by, for and about cowards who'd rather watch life than live it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Piano_Teacher
