What about the knife at the end ?
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Der_Schnibbler — 13 years ago(March 29, 2013 07:35 PM)
You're deluded. Walter was a sensitive, caring person before she made it perfectly clear she deserves to be treated like nothing more than a filthy piece of meat, and that's what he did.
The only thing that infuriated me about this movie was that Walter finds a sublimely dirty harlot like this woman and then is too much of a wimp to give her what she wants. Here's a woman who knows her place in life desperately looking for a man strong enough to give it to her, but this imbecile is too young and stupid to understand it.
what a shame.
"Den Gleichen Gleiches, den Ungleichen Ungleiches." -
Krustallos — 13 years ago(May 08, 2012 09:55 AM)
This movie always makes me so angry at Erika because she could have had a real good chance with a guy that could've helped her to overcome so much, because he genuinely cared.
You mean
this
guy? I don't think so. This was all about the battle for control between the two of them and of course in the end he wins. (The extent to which it's symbolic of the relationship between men and women in society generally is open to debate but there are plenty of clues if you ask me).
Walter is basically a complete bastard who just wants to hump and dump her. A guy who genuinely cared could have engaged with her fantasies in a playful and creative way and just maybe there would have been the basis for a satisfactory relationship. (Although something tells me Jelinek and Haneke aren't of the same opinion).
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity. -
Der_Schnibbler — 13 years ago(March 29, 2013 07:37 PM)
Walter is basically a complete bastard who just wants to hump and dump her. A guy who genuinely cared could have engaged with her fantasies in a playful and creative way and just maybe there would have been the basis for a satisfactory relationship. (Although something tells me Jelinek and Haneke aren't of the same opinion).
While I really did Walter had done that, you must agree most "normal" men would find that letter incredibly weird. You calling him a "bastard" after he made EVERY ATTEMPT to reach her emotionally just shows how immature you must be.
"Den Gleichen Gleiches, den Ungleichen Ungleiches." -
Bree_33 — 12 years ago(May 08, 2013 02:33 PM)
What a brilliant & disturbing Ending.
According to wikipedia: Erika stabs herself in the shoulder and leaves the foyer. Her onscreen injury is not especially severe, but the implication is that further self-harm will ensue.- __@
`<, - ()/ ()- -__@
`<, - ()/ ()
nec spe, nec metu - __@
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anspruchsvoiier — 16 years ago(December 03, 2009 05:31 AM)
thanks for giving an insight to what the novel actually says. all these other crazy assumptions that have been posted so far don't take her personality into account and rather sound like snippets taken from other movies. your explanation was also pretty close to what i thought about this scene. it's pretty obvious that she wanted to kill walter after what he had done to her. her stab at herself is nothing more than a way to bury her emotional pain under real pain. how people get that she wanted to kill herself with such a short, shallow stab through her coat in a non-lethal area is beyond me.
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nyxzt — 17 years ago(March 15, 2009 11:37 PM)
If I hadn't seen a Haneke film before, I think I would have thought she was either going to stab him or commit suicide.
I don't think she herself knew entirely what she was doing, and I think it was a combination of different motives.
Some velvet morning when I'm straight -
Krustallos — 13 years ago(May 08, 2012 09:41 AM)
Personally I thought it was pretty clear just from the film itself that she went there with the intention to stab Walter, but couldn't do it and turned her frustration and anger in on herself, as women are traditionally wont to do.
It didn't seem like a fatal wound to me, but I wasn't sure. Perhaps it's not really that important, the point is that she turns her anger inwards.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity. -
wearyourlove — 12 years ago(July 21, 2013 03:50 PM)
Haneke's films are preoccupied with casual violence, brutality and abuse that goes by without anyone acting up to stop it. The fact nobody even dares to mention Erika's obvious black eye is part of Haneke's condemnation of this willful inaction.
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knoxfan2008 — 12 years ago(January 16, 2014 06:04 AM)
I think that there is tragedy to Walter's character as he is initially very hesitant of any violent sexual activity. However, he also seemed to have aggressive sexual urges beneath him and it is even more tragic that they both have similar tastes yet are so far off. Erika wants to be 'powerless', yet she has specific instructions, showing that she still had control over the whole scheme. Walter constantly disobeys and does not care for any of her rules because he, like her, wants to be in absolute control. So even though he sexual abuses her and mistreats her mother (like she wanted) it is not in the manner she specified and therefore feels empty and depressed when it is over.
I think Walter's smile and politeness at the end doesn't show he is no longer interested, it shows that he is still in control and does not acknowledge that she hated the experience. She could have hurt herself for a number of reasons, to give herself back control, to excuse herself from performing in an environment that she despises or in an act of genuine self hatred.
The ending is cold and disgusting, showing that her sexual urges may never be fulfilled, that she will never find anyone that will truly love her, and she will never be satisfied. Walter can, as he is still young, attractive, more confident and probably more talented and this absolutely crushes her.