Haneke’s early trademark

Great film to watch and enjoy after a very busy week at work - this film grows and pulls together its narrative thread visually and through the diverse use of sound and language, so that the attention wanders and eddies around the several characters, eventually coming together around a deeper understanding of the philosophical message that underlies all Haneke’s work.

Less overt than the later Caché and Das weisse Band , nonetheless, there seems to be a much greater humanist streak in this work.

All sounds very, very pretentious I know - but it does make for a very relaxing film and allowed me to lose myself completely on a Friday evening, which is really why I watch films in the first place. No great story or story line. What is there is fragmented into 46 individuals scenes all of which are composed to a universally high standard - Haneke is now recognised as one of our greatest film makers and it is very easy to see why on this showing. I loved the film.