Author of ‘Michael Haneke’ Twitter Account Reveals Himself

Vincent Kessler/Reuters The real Michael Haneke in 2012.

While there is still plenty of time for the real Michael Haneke to become a master of social media, the creator of a satirical Twitter account that (sort of) imitated that Academy Award-winning filmmaker of “Amour” will not be carrying on the comedic impersonation well into his autumn years.

Benjamin Lee, a 28-year-old journalist and writer from London, identified himself as the author of the popular @Michael_Haneke Twitter account, which had gained an online following by mixing the highbrow cinematic milieu of the real-life Mr. Haneke with the excitable voice of what sounded like an Internet-savvy if spelling-impaired teenager./p>

In a post leading up to Mr. Haneke’s Oscar victory for “Amour” as best foreign-language film his online doppelganger wrote that the movie had become “my highst grossn film in usa!!1! i stil think americun pie is highr in its grossnuss but wot do i kno lol #teamhaneke.” During the Academy Awards ceremony the fake Haneke wrote that the bear from Werner Herzog’s film “Grizzly Man” would “totuly tayk that ted in a fite. gona giv him a call lol.”

But over the weekend a post on the @Michael_Haneke account stated there would be “no Amour lols.” In an interview with The Guardian, Mr. Lee, deputy editor of the style and culture site ShortList.com, said that he had created the Twitter account “out of total respect and admiration for Haneke and his films.”

Mr. Lee added: “I never meant to insult him in any way and I think the popularity of the tweets proves it wasn’t malicious. I love his films, but always wished he’d show a lighter side. It was out of this fanciful idea that the parody tweets were born, but I never expected them to catch on the way they have.”