Hidden (Cache)
Michael Haneke, an Austrian filmmaker who usually makes films in French, would probably reject the notion that his latest film, "Hidden", is a thriller. But it certainly operates like one.
In unraveling a nearly forgotten secret in the life of a self-satisfied and smug French intellectual, Haneke probes deeply into issues involving guilt, communication and willful amnesia. Starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche, "Hidden" should do very well in Europe and in North American art-house venues, as this is one of the most accessible films by a director who often pursues off-putting subjects.
Auteuil plays Georges, the host of a TV literary review, a man, we later learn, born into wealth and a life where things have come easily for him. Binoche plays his wife, Anne, who has an equally busy career as an editor. Their son, Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky), at the difficult age of 12, must more or less fend for himself.
What shatters the bourgeois calm of this family's life is the anonymous delivery of a series of mysterious package and phone calls that Georges sees as threatening. The packages contain videotapes secretly shot from the street in front of their comfortable home, suggesting they are being watched.
Gradually, the tapes and the crude, childlike drawings that accompany them hint at things even more personal, things that cause Georges to believe he knows the perpetrator. Curiously and tellingly, he refuses to share this knowledge with Anne. Indeed he even tries to hide it but the secret watcher blows his cover.
This drives a deep wedge between husband and wife. The son feels the estrangement, causing him to react by staying out all night without telling his parents where he is. The parents panic, believing he may be kidnapped by their mysterious watcher.
To detail more of the plot would ruin the surprises, one of which is quite horrific. At the heart of the mystery lies an act in Georges' childhood in which he betrayed an Algerian boy his age. This now comes back to haunt him. But his reaction, again curious and telling, is to refuse to acknowledge any guilt. He explodes in rage, argues with his wife and breaks down in tears at one point. But he will accept no personal responsibility.
There are a few scenes involving the couple's circle of friends, which seem inconsequential but speak to a certain bourgeois complacency. The film only obliquely addresses the issue of France's collective guilt over their former colony of Algeria and the nation's one time treatment of Algerians living in France. But the ethnicity of Georges' childhood acquaintance is no accident.
A confrontation late in the film with the son of that boy underscores Georges' lack of conscience about the harm he caused. Yes, he was only 6 at the time, but what's his excuse now?
The film was apparently shot on videotape, which causes us often to wonder whether it's the movie observing Georges' behavior or the tape made by his mysterious stalker. In this way, Haneke echoes the theme of Hitchcock's "Rear Window": Moviemaking is basically an act of voyeurism. We secretly examine people's lives in every movie. But in this one, there is a hidden camera, a movie within the movie as it were, forcing us to observe a character along side a mysterious stranger.
Haneke's team behind the dual cameras does a superb job in evoking a contented, well-upholstered life in sudden upheaval.
HIDDEN
Les Films du Losange/Wega Film
Credits: Writer/director: Michael Haneke; Producer: Margaret Menegoz, Michael Katz; Director of photography: Christian Berger; Production designer: Emmanuel de Chauvigny, Christoph Kanter; Costumes: Lisy Christl; Editors: Michael Hudeck, Nadine Muse.
Cast: Geroges: Daniel Auteuil; Anne: Juliette Binoche; Majid: Maurice Benichou; Georges' mother: Annie Giradot; Editor: Bernard Le Coq; Pierre: Daniel Duval; Mathilde: Nathalie Richard.
No MPAA rating, running time 117 minutes...
In unraveling a nearly forgotten secret in the life of a self-satisfied and smug French intellectual, Haneke probes deeply into issues involving guilt, communication and willful amnesia. Starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche, "Hidden" should do very well in Europe and in North American art-house venues, as this is one of the most accessible films by a director who often pursues off-putting subjects.
Auteuil plays Georges, the host of a TV literary review, a man, we later learn, born into wealth and a life where things have come easily for him. Binoche plays his wife, Anne, who has an equally busy career as an editor. Their son, Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky), at the difficult age of 12, must more or less fend for himself.
What shatters the bourgeois calm of this family's life is the anonymous delivery of a series of mysterious package and phone calls that Georges sees as threatening. The packages contain videotapes secretly shot from the street in front of their comfortable home, suggesting they are being watched.
Gradually, the tapes and the crude, childlike drawings that accompany them hint at things even more personal, things that cause Georges to believe he knows the perpetrator. Curiously and tellingly, he refuses to share this knowledge with Anne. Indeed he even tries to hide it but the secret watcher blows his cover.
This drives a deep wedge between husband and wife. The son feels the estrangement, causing him to react by staying out all night without telling his parents where he is. The parents panic, believing he may be kidnapped by their mysterious watcher.
To detail more of the plot would ruin the surprises, one of which is quite horrific. At the heart of the mystery lies an act in Georges' childhood in which he betrayed an Algerian boy his age. This now comes back to haunt him. But his reaction, again curious and telling, is to refuse to acknowledge any guilt. He explodes in rage, argues with his wife and breaks down in tears at one point. But he will accept no personal responsibility.
There are a few scenes involving the couple's circle of friends, which seem inconsequential but speak to a certain bourgeois complacency. The film only obliquely addresses the issue of France's collective guilt over their former colony of Algeria and the nation's one time treatment of Algerians living in France. But the ethnicity of Georges' childhood acquaintance is no accident.
A confrontation late in the film with the son of that boy underscores Georges' lack of conscience about the harm he caused. Yes, he was only 6 at the time, but what's his excuse now?
The film was apparently shot on videotape, which causes us often to wonder whether it's the movie observing Georges' behavior or the tape made by his mysterious stalker. In this way, Haneke echoes the theme of Hitchcock's "Rear Window": Moviemaking is basically an act of voyeurism. We secretly examine people's lives in every movie. But in this one, there is a hidden camera, a movie within the movie as it were, forcing us to observe a character along side a mysterious stranger.
Haneke's team behind the dual cameras does a superb job in evoking a contented, well-upholstered life in sudden upheaval.
HIDDEN
Les Films du Losange/Wega Film
Credits: Writer/director: Michael Haneke; Producer: Margaret Menegoz, Michael Katz; Director of photography: Christian Berger; Production designer: Emmanuel de Chauvigny, Christoph Kanter; Costumes: Lisy Christl; Editors: Michael Hudeck, Nadine Muse.
Cast: Geroges: Daniel Auteuil; Anne: Juliette Binoche; Majid: Maurice Benichou; Georges' mother: Annie Giradot; Editor: Bernard Le Coq; Pierre: Daniel Duval; Mathilde: Nathalie Richard.
No MPAA rating, running time 117 minutes...
- 5/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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