Hidden Reviews

* * * This review contains spoilers * * *ShowHide

Worst. Film. Ever.

Utter merde. Every bit as bad as most people here have said, and then some.

I like French films. I like films that are difficult, or challenging, or don't pan out the way I would expect. I sometimes like films that are ambiguous or lack resolution. None of these things excuse Hidden for its appalling, implausible story and its deliberate 'two fingers to you, viewer' lack of an ending.

At the core of this film is a laughably stupid conceit - the idea that the unfriendly behaviour of a boy of six years old towards another could haunt him into his adulthood and lead to repressed feelings of guilt. Come on. Have you ever met any kids, Michael Haneke? They are sometimes a bit mean to each other. Big deal. Don't use it as some cr-ppy metaphor for international politics. It doesn't hold up.

Despite what you may have heard, this film has nothing to say about politics. Or Algeria, or immigration, or French colonial history. It's an utterly implausible and deeply boring story that doesn't withstand any scrutiny whatsoever.

Apparently, Haneke has said that anyone who still wants to know at the end who is sending the tapes 'hasn't understood the film.' Oh pur-lease. It's a film based entirely around the story of these mysterious surveillance tapes, and a couple's attempts to find out who is sending them. It's the only thing that moves the narrative forward.

Nothing in this film makes sense or is believable. The flashback scenes to the chilhood will leave you scratching your head thinking 'yeah, and...... ?' The sudden suicide is just horrible and unnecessary. A waste of two brilliant actors. If you want to see Auteuil

and Binoche in something decent, rent La Veuve de St Pierre instead. That film is slow, but it's an absolute masterpiece compared to this dross.

Not deep. Just rubbish.

Avoid. Like the plague.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Hidden

A brilliant and disturbing new film from Michael Haneke. Dread absolutely suffuses this film from first frame to last as Haneke uses long and often static takes to implicate you the viewer in what happens. The one brief act of violence is among the most shocking I've seen and the leading performances of Daniel Auteil and Juliette Binoche are excellent. It should also improve on second viewing.

Psychological depth

If you want easy answers and not to have to think then this isn't for you. This film isn't hard to watch and the suspense will maintain your interest, but only if you understand that it is about the differences between how a person presents themselves to the world and how they are inside. What we choose to remember and what we choose to forget and the consequences of long-ago actions. Regret, guilt, atonement, admission and denial - these are the themes of this movie.

Keeps you guessing 'til the end...

...and when the credits roll you find yourself still guessing and feeling you've missed something. What? Er... Who? With..? Um... Eh?

The tension builds nicely at the beginning, creating all sorts of exciting possibilities. But if there's no release, and no answers to the questions the film raises, there's no point. Watching Hidden is like being hauled slowly to the top of a very high rollercoaster only to find that there's no steep drop at the top, but instead a gentle scenic railway ride: Potentially exhilarating but ultimately disappointing.

Its in French!!!

How did I miss the fact that this is a French film with English sub-titles? We did not continue to watch once we realised the whole film was in French.

lost in translation

This film started off very well, I was intrigued as to who was leaving the tapes, and how were they unseen? The deterioration of the marriage and the meeting of Georges and the grown boy, still intrigued. Then the film gets too confusing, something happens with their son, or doesn't happen? A shocking incident that doesn't really make sense. It all gets too abstract, after starting as a thriller to which I was hoping for an ending. This massacre in 1961? in France obviously has a lot to do with the meaning of the film, but I, and I suspect 99 per cent of the population, know nothing about it, so the double meanings are lost on us. Also, if we are all to pay for things we did when we were six, then god help us all!

What's it all sbout? Who cares!!

Haneke makes another baffling, controversial film to keep the critics happy as well as the audience. Who is sending the tapes? What is the significance of all the books in the home? What are the two sons talking sbout at the end of the film and are they the perpetrators? Why is Juliette Binoche so dowdy in this? The great thing about this film is you never are told and so can interpret it for yourself. Haneke stated in an interview that everything in the film, save for one line of dialogue, is a lie!! He also swore never to reveal the secret of the tapes. So it is up to you to figure out the meaning of it all. A brilliant postmodern masterpiece.

Pretentious, dull, unrealistic & annoying or 'challenging'

If your house was being filmed from across the street and the tapes left on your doorstep over and over would you A: Try and find the poorly concealed camera, B: Set up your own camera to film your doorstep or C: What should we have for dinner?

If you answered C you're fully qualified to enjoy this challenging unconventional 'thriller' that's about as exciting as reading a phonebook and deals with social issues such as class and racism with a griity sense of realism not seen on screen since Jurassic Park.

FRUSTRATED & ANNOYED...

I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth after watching this film. Initially I was a little intrigued, then bored & at one point shocked, but the over riding feeling at the end of this movie was- AHHHH, what was that about? It was confusing, slow & to be honest I did not get it at all, some of the shots were lingering & painfully boring. I have never felt so frustrated by a film in my life; it was a complete waste of time.

Sins of the fathers

A film about how the past, both within a family AND within a nation can come back to haunt them. The film builds tension marvellously. A great deal is leaft unsaid. You are left guessing as to who is making the videos. The film is meant to provoke thought. The french historical event in the film could be compared to Bloody Sunday in recent British history. CLUE (Spoiler) At the very end, the closing titles on the school steps - as part of the general scene you see the sons of the two men meet up. They clearly KNOW each other well - without their respective families knowing about it. Watch carefully, you might even miss it at first viewing.