Hidden on DVD (2005)

Hidden

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 28/01/2006

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.

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Worst. Film. Ever.

BH101 from Cambridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 16/02/2007

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.

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Psychological depth

brixtonman from England , 06/07/2006

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.

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Keeps you guessing 'til the end...

RJTaylor from London , 30/06/2006

...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.

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Forgettable

KeithBirmingham from Birmingham , 22/08/2008

So forgettable I dont even remember watching this one.

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Hidden Meaning

Hackit from Leeds , 26/08/2008

Good acting but it will leave you wishing you hadn't wasted your time.

I'm a big fan of foreign language films and can also appreciate a film which has a more arty / intellectual slant however there is no excuse for this painfully slow, laughably unrealistic offering. I even had to watch the special features in order to find out what the point was as the film itself just stops rather than concludes. Don't bother would be my advice.

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