Michael Haneke's - Caché - Hidden Juliette Binoche Daniel Auteuil

(aka 'Hidden')

Directed by Michael Haneke
France / Austria / Germany / Italy 2005

A television presenter, Georges, starts to receive anonymous packages containing videos of himself with his family that have been secretly filmed from the street along with a number of violently disturbing sketches. As the content becomes more personal and he begins to suspect that he knows the perpetrator. However the police refuse to help as no direct violence has actually been made. George decides to take the matter into his own hands and discovers something that has disturbing results.

****

A master of the icy yet visceral shock, Austrian-born Michael Haneke often turns his formidably unpleasant imagination to the movie equivalent of a cruel prank. But in CACHE ("Hidden"), the subject matter is worthy of his nastiness: What first appears to be a subtly sadistic campaign of terror against one annoyingly smug, bourgeois French intellectual proves rooted in global discontents, national character and personal responsibility. Middle-age TV personality Georges (Daniel Auteuil), host of a literary roundtable program, lives with his wife, Anne (Juliette Binoche), and their 12-year-old (Lester Makedonsky) in a handsome apartment filled with books, art and cultured knickknacks. Cocooned in a world of brittle conversation and middle-class comfort, they're deeply unsettled when a videotape appears outside their front door, one that consists of a lengthy surveillance shot of their building. If it's a joke, neither Anne nor Georges can figure out the punch line. If it's a threat, they're both baffled by its nature and origin. A second cassette arrives wrapped in a childish drawing of a blood-spattered face, followed by more tapes and more bloody scrawls. The police say they can do nothing. But even before the arrival of a tape showing the country home where Georges grew up and his aging mother (Annie Girardot) still lives, it seems increasingly clear that the veiled message is directed at Georges. His peevish protestations of ignorance ring hollow, and during a visit with his mother, he alludes to "Majid" and some long-ago unpleasantness that they circumvent with practiced deference. Yet another tape, which prowls the shabby hallway of a low-income building before coming to rest on a battered apartment door, leads Georges to a charged confrontation with Majid (Maurice Benichou), an Algerian man his own age whom life has clearly treated less kindly. But Majid denies knowing anything about the matter, and Georges' decision to keep their encounter secret has serious repercussions at home when the stalker delivers a new tape showing their lengthy conversation; her husband's secretiveness has made her look at him with newly ungenerous eyes. Haneke's trademark perversity guarantees that while the drama between George and Majid comes to a brutal conclusion, the persecution doesn't.

Excerpt from Maitland McDonagh's review at TV Guide located HERE

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Theatrical Release: May 14th, 2005 - Cannes Film Festival

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DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from: We will compare to the upcoming NTSC edition as soon as we can:
Distribution	Artificial Eye Film Company - Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:53:12
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.30 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Michael Haneke interview by Serge Toubiana (25:26) • Making of Hidden (31:50) • Theatrical trailer (2:00) • Filmographies DVD Release Date: June 19th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

For the most part this image looks excellent. It is possible that there is some black boasting, but the 1.78 anamorphic transferred colors and detail are top notch. At times objects in the background can appear out of focus but I can only assume this is how it was shot - I seem to recall a similar technique on Haneke's Code Unknown. Subtitles are well done but a shade high on the screen. Audio is clear and consistent.

Extras include an optionally subtitled Haneke interview where he discusses his intent to make the film a 'moral tale' with discussion of the behavioral aspects of his characters. He details certain areas of the film he intentionally left 'open' (without resolve). Also included are a 30 minute "Making of..." featurette that shows cast members discussing the film and deals more with the 'nuts and bolts' of production. A theatrical trailer and some text screen bios are included. Overall this is an exceptional DVD, which we will compare to the Region 1 edition as soon as we can.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a typical Haneke feature but his signature style and mise en scène seem imbedded in Cachè. Certainly previous themes of communication breakdown and its social relevance are evident. Another thought provoking and interesting piece of modern cinema from Haneke.

Gary W. Tooze

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