The Piano Teacher is the apex of his controversial oeuvre, and his talent is matched by an equally fearless personage in working with Huppert. While Amour is rightfully hailed as a masterpiece, Huppert and Haneke found a nugget of inspiration that matched their aesthetic purview, and the result of their collaboration in The Piano Teacher broadcast a fully matured salaciousness; outflanking the director’s penchant for confrontational cinema as it’s bolstered by an auteurist actress such as Huppert.