Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher is a searing and vague portrayal of mental instability. Never quiet clear, but impossible not to watch, Mr. Haneke has crafted a slow and rhythmic tale filled with two remarkable performances and a story that is essentially unexplained but compelling to both observe and interpret.

Isabelle Huppert plays Erike Kohut, a brilliant pianist who is now a strict teacher at a conservatory. She lives alone with her repressive, domineering mother (Annie Girardot), who demands to know how she spent her day and calls her during her lessons to check up on her daughter. At a recital Erika meet Walter (Benoit Magimel) a college aged engineer who is attracted to Erika’s repose and talent in music. He immediately applies to the conservatory and turns out he is quite good at the piano as well, though it seems he is only playing there to be closer to Erika. But Erika is not quite well herself. She is unusually strict in her lessons, sometimes down right cruel, and outside of music she pursues a number of sexually themed but not necessarily sexual quests, including watching a couple make love at a drive-in and watching porno at an adult theater while sniffing “used” kleenex. She soon enters a relationship with Walter, but it turns out she requires him to do strange and demeaning acts, both to himself and to her (including quite a bit of sadomasochism). Walter alternates between being disgusted with her to wanting to please her so as to continue the relationship.

Mr. Haneke wisely made the choice to give endless amounts of details about the life of Erika, but never fully (or even partially) explain the origin of her problems. There are hints of a crazy father, of a mother who may have driven her too hard professionally (and who’s current relationship with Erika ranges all over the place from loving to violent to possibly sexual), and Ms. Huppert’s face, which the director gives so much screen time to, is a mystery. Fascinating to watch, but never decisive Ms. Huppert’s performance manages to be as unexplainable as it is hypnotic. It seems a definite decision to leave Erika’s character as vaguely motivated as possible, though attentive viewers can certainly pick up enough points to piece together theories. It is shame that such original and complicated characters like Walter and Erika share the same space with the mother, who’s character (though amusingly acted by Ms. Girardot) is about as cliché as a portrayal can get, and her repressiveness is more often humorous than it is dark and effective.

The desire to watch just one more scene so as to explain Erika’s character just a little bit more is what drives most of the film. Her dynamics with Walter fluxate as Walter tries to understand his role in her life, and his attempts to regain control of the relationship are both painful and ambiguous, relationships tend to merge in The Piano Teacher, only to separate and realize they never merged at all. Mr. Hanake has created an astounding film to view, with the most emotional and difficult scenes done in long, dramatically filled takes which left me breathless. When he keeps the scenes shorter the frames showcase a mastery of color and background structure I have never seen before. Coupled with the extraordinary classical score, and an extensive knowledge of music itself The Piano Teacher is enjoyable on a number of levels.

The ambiguity hurts and helps the film, as well done ambiguity tends to do. It sparks discussion and introspection, as well as provoking analysis that would require repeated viewings, but it also tends to leave a draft of failed expectation as the credits role. As nice as it is to guess and theorize, The Piano Teacher answers very few questions it brings up; but the feeling as the film concludes is not unsatisfying (a testament to the riveting performances by Magimel and Ms. Huppert as well as the precise direction of Haneke). It leaves us as it started, with few changes along the way-it simply gave the audience a momentary picture into one woman’s mad life.