The Piano Teacher18

Directed by Michael Haneke | Austria/France/Germany | 2001 | 2h 11m | French & German w/ English subtitles | Starring Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel

Erika Kohut is a piano teacher at the Vienna Conservatory, living in emotional confinement with her domineering mother. Now in her forties, Erika finds release only in secret visits to adult cinemas and peepshows. But when a student attempts to seduce her, the rigid walls she has built around herself begin to crumble, unleashing a torrent of repressed and dangerous desire. Isabelle Huppert delivers a steely, unforgettable performance in Michael Haneke’s provocative psychological drama. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, it remains a disturbing and powerful work nearly 25 years after its release.

Reviews

‘The film still holds the same fraught charge it did a quarter of a century ago.’
★★★★★
Danny Leigh, Time Out

‘This is a film, European arthouse to its core, that seemed to look back at Hollywood’s “erotic thriller” boom — Basic Instinct, Body of Evidence, Eyes Wide Shut — and say: “Pah, that’s nothing.”’
★★★★★
Kevin Maher, The Times

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We showed The Piano Teacher between July 19, 2025 and July 21, 2025.

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Today (Thursday 9th April)

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Descriptive Subtitles
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18:00

Mon Oncle U
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20:45

The Love That Remains 15
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Tomorrow (Friday 10th April)

14:45

La Grazia 12A
2h 13m | Italian w/ English subtitles
As the end of his presidency approaches, Italian leader Mariano De Santis faces difficult political and personal choices. Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) directs a sweeping drama about power and freedom, featuring Toni Servillo in an award-winning performance.

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17:45

Sentimental Value 15
2h 13m | Norwegian w/ English subtitles
Actress Nora confronts her estranged father, a famed director preparing a comeback, and reconnects with her sister. Old tensions and new ambitions collide, forcing them to face their past. Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning star in Joachim Trier’s (The Worst Person in the World) emotionally rich story of reconciliation.

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20:45

The Good Boy 15
1h 50m
Tommy, a reckless nineteen-year-old, is abducted after a night of drugs and partying and wakes imprisoned in a remote Yorkshire basement. Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough star in this fresh, unsettlingly twisted thriller.

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Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!