In Michael Haneke's CODE UNKNOWN, the lives of five individuals intersects in one moment on a Parisian street. This fascinating and complex film stars Juliette Binoche along with an international cast. Read more
| Starring | Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Haneke |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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In Michael Haneke's CODE UNKNOWN, the lives of five individuals intersects in one moment on a Parisian street. This fascinating and complex film stars Juliette Binoche along with an international cast.
| Starring | Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Haneke |
| Studio | ARTIFICIAL EYE |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 52 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 19 Nov 2001 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
Opening with an audacious nine-minute tracking shot, writer/director Michael Haneke returns to the territory of his 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994) to accuse us of becoming both desensitied to both the world around us and lazy in our film watching. Set in a microcosmic Paris, the various stories involving a Romanian refugee, a teenage runaway, an abused African liberal and a disillusioned actress are interwoven with a facility that demonstrates a total mastery of both sound and image. If some of the political theorising is somewhat naive and the direction is occasionally manipulative, the acting, particularly from Juliette Binoche, is superb.
Where Haneke's earlier 71 Fragments... traced a web of seemingly unconnected events leading up to a catastrophe, this... read more on Time Out
This is one of those films that leaves you feeling as though you have been winded. In the best possible way. Powerful direction that does not lay the narrative out on a plate for the viewer, but weaves a complex and intriguing story that confounds your expectations. The acting is all round fantastic - you believe entirely in the characters, creating a film that engages with you, the viewer. One to watch more than once, as the impact lasts well beyond the first viewing. Can't recommend this film enough.
Haneke is a fascinating director, but here his continuing interest in cinematic reality left me feeling distanced and uninvolved.
Various interlinked stories unfold as people go about their lives living in, leaving or coming to Paris. The theme is that of the difficulties faced in gaining access, whether to countries, other people's lives, even liberty. Haneke achieves some fascinating technical set pieces, but in the end it's a film to observe rather than become part of.
Talking about Psycho, which celebrates its 50 anniversary next year, Alfred Hitchcock remarked how he was engaged in “the game with the audience”: “I was directing the viewers. You might say I was playing them, like an organ.” A funny kind of game, you might think. Perhaps it’s a stretch to link the Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke to Hitchcock. He’s a virtuoso, no doubt, but he’s an art-house fixture, and not just because his movies are subtitled.... Read more