Code Unknown

 

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Code inconnu: Recit incomplete de divers voyages (Code Unknown) is a film set in Paris where a minor incident in the city street play into lives of various characters who are all connected to this event. The film is a study of life in Paris as it is presented almost entirely in single-take vignettes as it focuses on various individuals in the city. Starring Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvick, Sepp Bierbichler, Alexandre Hamidi, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Ona Lu Yenke, Djibril Kouyate, Guessi Diakite-Goumdo, Luminita Gheoghiu, Crenguta Hariton Stoica, Bob Nicolescu, and Nathalie Richard. Code inconnu: Recit incomplete de divers voyages is a riveting yet discomforting film from Michael Haneke.

The film is essentially a series of vignettes based on characters who were involved in a scuffle that lead to the deportation of a Romanian immigrant, the arrest of a black man, and trouble for a young man along with those connected to those people deal with their lives as well as this growing sense of disconnect, miscommunication, lack of communication, and an ever-changing world before the turn of the Millennium. It is a film that doesn’t play by the rules as it opens and ends with deaf kids communicating with each other where the first scene has kids trying to answer what a young girl is trying to say through French sign language. The film’s screenplay is largely fragmented into vignettes as it play into various characters dealing with their lives as well as the aftermath of this small incident. Among them is the actress Anne Laurent (Juliette Binoche) who runs into her boyfriend’s son Jean (Alexandre Hamidi) who is going through some issues and walks back in anger as he unknowingly threw a piece of garbage at this homeless woman in Maria (Luminata Gheoghiu) as he is confronted by young Malian man in Amadou (Ona Lu Yenke) as the two get into a fight that is seen by many including Anne.

The fight would have Amadou endure shame and family issues forcing his father (Djibril Kouyate) to try and settle things while also his mother Aminate (Maimouna Helene Diarra) is convinced that her family is cursed. Maria would be deported back to Romania as she reconnects with her family but is puzzled by not just changes around her old home but also this desire to return to Paris unaware that there’s more trouble laying ahead. For Anne, her life with her photographer boyfriend Georges (Thierry Neuvic) becomes tumultuous due to his absences and not being there for Jean as he sent him to his father (Josef “Sepp” Bierbichler) who is an aging farmer that is having a hard time connecting with his grandson. The script doesn’t just explore a world where these characters are struggling with many issues but also this sense of change that would be the catalyst for what would happen to Europe in the 21st Century.

Haneke’s direction is largely unconventional in terms of his approach to shooting each vignette with a lot of it revolving around uninterrupted long shots to play into everything that is happening at a location or in a room. Shot largely on location in Paris as well as areas outside of Paris plus Romania and Mali, Haneke presents a world that is becoming increasingly modern in not just its setting but also in social attitudes and such where Anne lives in a posh apartment with Georges though the farm that his father owns is completely removed from modern conventions despite a few things he owns such as a tractor. Haneke’s visual approach largely consists of medium and wide-medium shots to play into characters at a certain location where as close-ups and wide shots are rarely used in the film other than the opening and closing scenes in the film involving the deaf children. The direction also emphasizes on these moments that do play on as if it is set in real-time whether it is Maria in Romania reconnecting with locals as some are planning to leave the country due to political and social instability or Amadou dealing with the chaos in his home as his father asks Amadou’s younger brother about what happened to him in school.

In the latter, Haneke is just focusing on them while there’s chatter in the background with Amadou’s mother constantly interfering as she is trying to get her word as it play into not just her lack of rationality but her own ideas of superstitions becoming disconnected with reality considering that there is an element of racism involved in what Amadou’s brother is dealing with. The usage of long shots are also in simple moments such as Georges talking to his father about Jean as well as a discomforting moment at a metro where Anne is harassed by an Arab while an elderly Arab watches in disgust. It is a moment that showcases the chaos of modern attitudes but also the fact that modern attitudes don’t last as there is always some act of kindness that occur no matter how different people are whether in social classes or in ethnic backgrounds. Overall, Haneke crafts an evocative yet confrontational film about people’s lack of communication with one another in pre-Millennium Europe.

Cinematographer Jurgen Jurges does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography in its approach to realism as it emphasizes less on style but rather capture something at the moment while also showcasing scenes in the film that Anne is making to be more stylized in its look. Editors Karin Hartusch, Nadine Muse, and Andreas Prochaska do excellent work with the editing as it has some rhythmic cuts for a few vignettes in the opening and closing scenes as well as a few bits such as Georges’ slideshow of what he captured at Kosovo. Production designer Emmanuel de Chauvigny and set decorator Laurence Vendroux do amazing work with the look of the apartment that Anne lives in along with messier apartment that Georges live in that is a sharp contrast to the more cramped and poorer homes that Maria and Amadou and his family live in. Costume designer Francoise Clavel does nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward with a lot of loose clothing from Anne that she is wearing as it play into the idea that she might be pregnant during a conversation with Georges at a supermarket (though Binoche was pregnant during filming).

The sound work of Jean-Pierre Laforce and Guillaume Sciama is superb in capturing many of the natural elements on location including the drumline rehearsals as it help maintain an air of realism into the film. The film’s music by Giba Goncalves is wonderful as it is mainly a drumline piece that only appears in two segments with one being a rehearsal and the other being the main performance as the music would appear in a couple of vignettes towards the end as it play into some of the dramatic chaos.

The casting by Kris Portier de Bellair is fantastic from Andree` Tansy as an elderly neighbor of Georges, Florence Loiret as Amadou’s date at a restaurant that Anne and Georges were eating at, Nathalie Richard and Arsinee Khanjian as a couple of friends Anne eats with at that dinner, Aissa Maiga as Amadou’s sister, Marc Duret as the policeman in the main fight, Walide Afkir as a young Arab who harasses Anne at the metro, Maurice Benichou as the old Arab who defends Anne, Didier Flamand as a film director on the film Anne is working with, and Bruno Todeschini as Anne’s co-star in the film she is working on. The performances of Bob Nicolescu as Dragos and Crenguta Hariton Stoica as Irina are terrific as a couple of Romanians that Maria knows as the former wants to help her get back to France while the other is a relative who is getting married and thinks Maris is making a mistake in trying to go back to France. Guessi Diakite-Goumdo is fantastic as Amadou’s younger yet deaf sister who is seen in the film’s opening sequence and as part of the drumline.

Djibril Kouyate and Maimouna Helene Diarra are superb in their respective roles as Amadou’s parents with the former being a rational cab driver trying to deal with all of the chaos in his life while the latter is someone who believes in superstitions and such as she becomes disconnected with the modern world. Luminita Gheoghiu is excellent as Maria as a Romanian immigrant who hoped to sell newspapers in France unaware that no one does that anymore as she gets deported only to try and return as it plays into someone who is just wanting to make money but is completely disconnected with modern-day society. Ona Lu Yenke is brilliant as Amadou as a young Malian man who witnessed Jean throwing a piece of trash at Maria as he confronts him only to get himself in trouble as he deals with not just prejudice towards him but also the fact that he’s at fault for being nosy and also a bit arrogant about the ways of the world.

Alexandre Hamidi is amazing as Jean as Georges’ son who has anger issues as he is sent to his grandfather’s farm where he finds himself not enjoying life there as he strives to be part of the modern world. Josef “Sepp” Bierbichler is incredible as Georges’ father as a farmer who struggles to make Jean feel comfortable as he also deals with changing times as he plays a man disconnected with modern society and has no answers in how to catch up. Thierry Neuvic is remarkable as Georges as a photojournalist who is often caught up in his own work as he also tries to make an artistic voice for himself as he would neglect Anne and his own son. Finally, there’s Juliette Binoche in a phenomenal performance as Anne Laurent as an actress who is dealing with working but also the chaos in her boyfriend’s family life as she does what she can to be supportive while also dealing with chaos in her own life and the attitudes of those who treat her terribly.

Code inconnu: Recit incomplete de divers voyages is a sensational film from Michael Haneke. Featuring a great cast, a straightforward yet unconventional visual approach and its study of modern society and the lack of communication from people in that world. It is a film that doesn’t play by the rules due to its unconventional and fragmented style yet it does explore a world that is coming undone by modernist ideals that would later wreak havoc on Europe in the 21st Century. In the end, Code inconnu: Recit incomplete de divers voyages is a phenomenal film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) – (Benny’s Video) – (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) – (The Castle (1997 TV film)) - Funny Games (1997 film) - The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) – Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) - The White Ribbon - Amour (2012 film) - Happy End

© thevoid99 2022

Happy End

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Happy End is the story of a bourgeoisie family in Calais whose comfortable life is hindered by events relating to them or around them. It’s a film that explores family dysfunction in an upper-class world as they try to deal with their personal lives just as the growing refugee crisis in Europe is happening around them. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Toby Jones. Happy End is a chilling and offbeat film from Michael Haneke.

The film follows a year in the life of a family living in Calais as their personal and professional lives start to unravel by a series of unfortunate events relating to tragedy and other matters. It’s a film that doesn’t have much of a plot as it’s more of an exploration of a family told largely by a 12-year old girl in Eve Laurent (Fantine Harduin) who would capture the events of her mother’s drug overdose through her phone as she would later live with her father Thomas (Mathieu Kassovitz) who shares the family estate with his wife Anais (Laura Verlinden), his sister Anne (Isabelle Huppert), and the family patriarch Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant).

Michael Haneke’s screenplay features an opening sequence where a section of a construction site collapses and a man that was inside a port-a-potty where the section had collapsed as Anne’s firm runs the site. It’s among the moments that play into the film that are dramatic but in a low-key approach as Haneke also uses the European migrant crisis as a backdrop with mentions of it on TV and parts of the film surrounding the characters. Notably as Thomas is chatting with another woman making Eve believe he has a mistress while Anne is also dealing with her adult son Pierre (Franz Rogowski) who is getting into trouble that is increased by his alcoholism due to his role in the construction accident. Georges meanwhile is suffering from dementia and is intent on committing suicide.

Haneke’s direction doesn’t really have much style other than long and gazing shots as well as this air of detachment into the direction. While the film opens with images of Eve filming things on her phone including the moment of her mother’s collapse from a drug overdose. The usage of smartphones and laptops play to the film’s visuals including the video tape footage of the construction accident where a section of the site collapses as it’s shown in a wide shot. Haneke’s usage of the wide shots add to the stark tone of the film as he displays of disconnect and detachment for characters and the world they’re in whether it’s Anne and Pierre investigating the site and area where the collapse happened or a shot of Eve and Thomas in the beach where the former is in the foreground seeing her father in the background smiling and talking on the phone.

There are moments where Haneke uses a few close-ups and medium shots in the film as it does play into characters attempting to connect such as Anne and Georges with Eve including one scene late in the film following some intense moments between Eve and Georges where it is this simple conversation that shows Haneke being at his most tender and knowing when to cut during this conversation. The film does feature a lot of long takes in shots that would last for more than a minute or two as it would also include these moments where the characters struggle to deal with a situation as some of it is happening off screen or from afar. The moment of reality that is away from their quaint world would come to ahead in the film’s final sequence as it relates to what is happening in Europe as it is about how these characters react to what is going on as well as what is happening around them. Overall, Haneke crafts a riveting yet eerie film about a year in the life of a bourgeoisie family dealing with tragedy and other unfortunate events.

Cinematographer Christian Berger does excellent work with the film’s cinematography with its vibrant usage of natural colors and lighting for the daytime exterior scenes along with some low-key lights for some scenes set at night. Editor Monika Willi does brilliant work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with a few stylistic cuts including a few rhythmic cuts for some of the conversations that occur in the film. Production designer Olivier Radot, with set decorator Nathalie Roubaud and art director Anthony Neale, does fantastic work with the look of the home that the Laurent family lives in as well as the home Eve lived with her mother.

Costume designer Catherine Leterrier does nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward with the expensive suits that Anne wears or the summer clothes some of the characters wear. Visual effects supervisor Arnaud Fouquet does terrific work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects such as the construction site accident and a few bits of scenes from the phone. The sound work of Guillaume Sciama is superb for its atmospheric sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as the emphasis on natural sounds for scenes involving characters from afar though whatever dialogue is spoken is being heard along with the way music sounds on a radio or on a karaoke machine in one scene of the film.

The casting by David El Hakim and Kris Portier de Bellair is incredible as it feature some notable small roles from Hassam Ghancy and Nabiha Akkari as a Moroccan couple who live at the Laurent estate in Rachid and Jamila who both work for the family with the former being Georges’ most loyal servant and the latter being the maid that everyone likes. Loubna Abidar is wonderful in her small role as a musician named Claire who is believed to be Thomas’ mistress through chats that Eve would discover. Toby Jones is superb as British businessman Lawrence Bradshaw whom is in a relationship with Anne as he helps her deal with the accident while watch from afar the chaos of Anne’s family life. Laura Verlinden is terrific as Thomas’ wife Anais as a woman that is trying to get to know Eve while raising a baby as she is unaware of what her husband is doing. Franz Rogowski is fantastic as Anne’s troubled adult son Pierre as someone who is unable to deal with the responsibilities of his actions as he gets himself into trouble and begins to act out believing he’s unable to cope with taking over the family firm.

Fantine Harduin is excellent as Eve as a 12-year old girl dealing with her mother’s drug overdose as well as some of the drama that is going on in her family as she films some things on her phone while trying to understand this air of detachment around her family. Mathieu Kassovitz is brilliant as Eve’s father Thomas as a doctor who is trying to make Eve comfortable at his home while hiding a secret about his affair with another woman unaware that Eve knows about it as well as question him about ever loving someone. Isabelle Huppert is amazing as Anne as Georges’ eldest child as a woman trying to run a firm that is under scrutiny as she is also dealing with her son’s alcoholism and all sorts of chaos as well as being someone trying to connect with Eve. Finally, there’s Jean-Louis Trintignant in a remarkable performance as Georges Laurent as an old man dealing with dementia who has a death wish for himself where he is tired of his age and life while eventually bonding with Eve about his own feelings of death.

Happy End is a sensational film from Michael Haneke. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, and a compelling story about a family unraveling amidst the chaos of the European migrant crisis as a backdrop. It’s a film that is a study of a family coping with their surroundings as well as being a different film of sorts from Haneke while maintaining his views on the dark aspects of life that is sprinkled with some humor. In the end, Happy End is an incredible film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) – (Benny’s Video) – (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) – (The Castle (1997 TV movie) – Funny Games (1997 film) - Code Unknown – The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) – Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) - The White Ribbon - Amour (2012 film)

© thevoid99 2019

Funny Games (2007 film)

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Funny Games is a remake of the 1997 made by Haneke about a couple and their son whose vacation home is terrorized by a couple of young men. The film is a shot-for-shot remake of Haneke’s original 1997 film as it explores the idea of violence used in films and other forms of media. Starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, and Devon Gearhart. Funny Games is a harrowing yet strange film from Michael Haneke.

A family arrives at their vacation home where they meet a couple of young visitors who would later terrorize their home and make them play a game where the family have 12 hours to live or else they all die. That is the premise of the film in a nutshell where it’s exactly the same thing that writer/director Michael Haneke told ten years before with the original film in the same name made in Austria. This time around, it’s set in America and told through English dialogue as it also has moments that break the fourth wall where one of the young men asks the audience if they want to see more violence. It all plays into this world where there are no rules other than what one decides on what to do and the fate of these characters.

Haneke’s direction has him doing the same visuals shot-for-shot as he did with his original version with a few minor differences as it is shot on location in Long Island, New York and areas in the state of New York. Notably as Haneke maintains that intimacy in the compositions through medium shots and close-ups to play up the suspense and terror. The moments of violence happen off screen as it’s more about the reaction to the aftermath rather than the action of gory violence. Haneke isn’t afraid to show blood or a dead body to maintain that sense of dread of what the characters would encounter. Then there’s these brief moments where the fourth wall is broken as one of the young men in Paul (Michael Pitt) would look at the camera and ask the audience if they could go further. The growing tension and suspense get more uneasy as the story progresses while there is concern of whether this family can get out of this situation. Overall, Haneke crafts a riveting yet unsettling film about two young men invading a family’s home.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does excellent work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key colors for some of the daytime scenes along with lights for some of the scenes set at night. Editor Monika Willi does terrific work with the editing as it is straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into some of the suspenseful moments in the film. Production designer Kevin Thompson, with set decorator Rebecca Meis DeMarco and art director Hinju Kim, does fantastic work with the look of the home of the family including the interiors of the living room and other things at the house. Costume designer David C. Robinson does nice work with the clothes as it is mainly casual with a posh-tennis look for the two young men who terrorize the family. Sound mixers Jean-Pierre Laforce and Thomas Varga do superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the home and the usage of diegetic music that is played on a stereo or a car radio that would play an array of classical music as the only non-diegetic piece that is played is a screeching metal piece by Naked City.

The casting by Johanna Ray is wonderful as it include some notable small roles and appearances from Boyd Gaines as the neighbor Fred, Siobhan Fallon Hogan as a friend on a boat in Betsy, Robert Lupone as Betsy’s husband, and Susanne Haneke as Betsy’s sister-in-law. Devon Gearhart is fantastic as Georgie Farber as a young boy who is dealing with the terror as he would try to get help only to make a chilling discovery of what happened next door. Brady Corbet is superb as Peter as the more timid of the two young men who is terrorizing the home yet can prove he can be threatening if he wants to.

Michael Pitt is amazing as Paul as the more aggressive of the two young men who has a devilish wit to him in the way he masterminds everything as well as asking the audience if they want more. Tim Roth is brilliant as George Farber as a man who gets injured as he becomes helpless in his inability to defend his family and fight back. Finally, there’s Naomi Watts in a tremendous performance as Ann Farber as a woman that is trying to deal with everything including moments of humiliation and terror as well as willing to do whatever she can to fight back.

Funny Games is a phenomenal film from Michael Haneke that features great performances from Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt, and Tim Roth. Along with its ensemble cast, eerie storyline, and haunting visuals, it’s a film that play into the concept of home invasion while making commentary on its depiction of violence in film and popular culture. While it doesn’t have much difference with its original version in 1997, it still manages to pack in some punches as well as raise questions about violence. In the end, Funny Games is a sensational film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) – (Benny’s Video) – (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) – (The Castle (1997 TV movie) – Funny Games (1997 film) - Code Unknown – The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) – Cache` - The White Ribbon - Amour (2012 film) - Happy End

© thevoid99 2018

Funny Games (1997 film)

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Funny Games is the story of two young men who hold a family hostage and force them to play games of torture. The film is a home invasion story that explores the idea of violence as well as two men trying to push a family to their limits. Starring Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering, and Stefan Clapczynski. Funny Games is a gripping yet offbeat film from Michael Haneke.

Set in a quiet lake house, the film revolves around a family who arrive to their vacation home where they receive a visit from two young men wanting a few eggs to spare only for things to go horribly wrong. Even as these two young men take the family hostage and force them to play a game in a bet to see if the family can survive the next twelve hours in a strange game where if they succeed. They’re free to go but if they do something wrong, they all die. Michael Haneke’s screenplay doesn’t have much of a plot as it’s more about a family that is being terrorized by these two men as they are unsure of what to do. Even as they get tortured physically, emotionally, and mentally in this game that these two men are playing where the game becomes more violent and gruesome.

Haneke’s direction is straightforward in terms of the compositions he creates as it is shot largely at a studio in Vienna with exteriors shot at a lake. Yet, Haneke does have elements of style in his direction in the way he opens the film with a wide shot of a car driving into the country with a boat tugged behind. Haneke’s usage of wide shots don’t just play into the locations but also this air of intrigue into what the audience is seeing such as a scene of the family waving to another family at home with these two mysterious strangers who would later come to their home and ask for a few eggs and such. Haneke’s approach to the suspense is slow-building such as the scene of the family confronting these two young men who refuse to leave home as the tension starts to loom and then it gets violent but not in a gruesome way.

The moments of violence only happen off-screen as it’s more of the impact in the aftermath that is important in what Haneke wanted to show. The fact that he doesn’t show anyone being killed just adds to the intrigue of what Haneke would say as there are also these moments when one of the young men would look directly at the camera and break the fourth wall asking the audience if they want more violence. These moments of breaking the fourth wall is largely a commentary on people’s appetite for violence in films and other forms of media where a character ask the audience if they want more. Even in moments where the aftermath of a violent act is so shocking and disturbing that it raises a lot of what is happening in the story. Even as Haneke would show a moment following a violent aftermath in a long shot that happens for nearly 10 minutes that play into not just grief but also reflection of what had happened as it would later be followed by more intense moments of violence as a character would say something in regards to the length of the film that the audience is watching. Overall, Haneke crafts an extremely disturbing yet provocative film about a family being invaded by two young men in their family home.

Cinematographer Jurgen Jurges does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward for many of the film’s daytime scenes while aiming for a moodier look in the scenes set at night including the usage of interior and exterior lights. Editor Andreas Prochaska does excellent work with the editing as it help play into the suspense with some straightforward cutting that doesn’t devolve too much into ideas of style. Production designer Christoph Kanter does amazing work with the look of the house in its interiors including the home of the neighbors in its interior setting.

Costume designer Lisy Christl does terrific work with the costumes from the posh-like clothing of the young men to the more casual look of the family. The sound work of Walter Amann does superb work with the sound as it emphasizes on the atmosphere of the home and the sound of violence off-screen. The film’s music soundtrack largely consists of offbeat music choices from the serene usage of classical music from George Frideric Handel, Pietro Mascagni, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to the menacing and abrasive metal music of Naked City.

The film’s incredible cast feature a few notable small roles from Christoph Bantzer as the neighbor Fred, Wolfgang Gluck as a friend in Robert, and Doris Kunstmann as a friend named Gerda who was riding a boat with Robert. Stefan Clapczynski is fantastic as George Jr. as a boy who is terrorized by these two young men as he tries to fight back and even go to the neighbor’s home for help only to make a horrifying discovery. Arno Frisch and Frank Giering are great in their respective roles as Paul and Peter as the two young men who terrorize the family with Frisch as the charming yet menacing Paul and Giering as the more reluctant Peter. Finally, there’s Ulrich Muhe and Susanne Lothar in phenomenal performances in their respective roles as George Sr. and Anna as a couple who endure this air of terror with the former getting injured and the latter trying to maintain composure as well as beg the young men to stop and not kill them.

Funny Games is a tremendous yet unsettling film from Michael Haneke. Featuring a great ensemble cast, eerie visuals, and a compelling commentary on people’s fascination with violence in film and media. It’s a film that play into the idea of a home invasion with ideas of what is considered gruesome for audiences who are part of a film that is confrontational. In the end, Funny Games is a spectacular film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) – (Benny’s Video) – (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) – (The Castle (1997 TV movie) – Code Unknown – The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) – Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) – The White Ribbon - Amour - Happy End

© thevoid99 2018

Amour (2012 film)

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Amour is the story about the love of an elderly couple when a man tries to deal with his wife’s stroke that left part of her body paralyzed as he becomes desperate to take care of her. The film is an exploration into the world of love and one’s devotion to another. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, and Isabelle Huppert. Amour is a mesmerizing yet powerful film from Michael Haneke.

The film is essentially the story of an elderly couple named Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) who live their life together until Anne has become catatonic having Georges believe something went wrong. After a surgery that has left Anne paralyzed, Georges makes a promise to not send Anne back to the hospital as he does whatever it takes to care of her despite her worsening condition after another stroke and the insistence of their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) to send Anne to a home. The film is about one man’s devotion to his wife as she starts to deteriorate in front of his eyes where he eventually realizes that she isn’t going to get better. Yet, he makes a decision about what to do with themselves knowing that she isn’t going to return to who she was once was.

Michael Haneke’s screenplay doesn’t really have much of a plot as it is really about these two people and their love for each other. Yet, the film doesn’t really begin with a traditional opening but rather at the end. It’s a strange way to open the film but it is then followed by more happier times when Georges and Anne attend a concert for an old pupil of theirs that establishes who they were. Suddenly, the film goes back into a more serious mood with bits of light humor as it revolves around Georges trying to help out his wife with what she would have to endure in her condition. For Anne, it becomes overwhelming as she finds herself becoming a burden as she deteriorates to the point of incoherence. While there’s moments of frustrations for Georges, he remains devoted but still has to deal with not just what people tell what he should do but also with their opinions. For him, nothing else matters when it comes to Anne as he has made a vow to her that is more sacred than anything else.

Haneke’s direction is very restrained for the most part as he doesn’t do a lot of camera movements nor anything stylish. Instead, it’s quite straightforward in its framing where Haneke is more interested in how the couple live their life and do things on a daily basis. The way the actors are positioned definitely says a lot in the framing while Haneke doesn’t go for a lot of close-ups. There are few moments where the camera does move in some parts of the films for the character of Georges to move around. Yet, it is mostly told in a simple manner where the drama does increase as it progresses to emphasize Anne’s deteriorated state. Things do get more intense though the drama remains restrained as it does lead to a very poignant ending about loss as well as the ideas of life. Overall, Haneke creates a very heart-wrenching yet uncompromising film about love.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does excellent work with the film‘s photography as it largely takes place inside the apartment with some very low-key yet lovely lighting schemes to set the mood without delving too much into style. Editors Monika Willi and Nadine Muse do superb work in the editing by not employing a lot of style to the cutting while using some effective cuts for some of the film‘s key dramatic moments. Production designer Jean-Vincent Puzos and set decorator Susanne Haneke do terrific work with the look of the apartment that Georges and Anne live in that is filled things that are part of their life.

Costume designer Catherine Leterrier does nice work with the costumes as it is mostly casual to display who the characters are. The sound work of Jean-Pierre Laforce and Guillaume Sciama is wonderful for the intimacy of the scenes that includes some very haunting moments of Anne crying out for Georges in some parts of the film.

The casting by Kris Portier de Bellair is brilliant for the small ensemble that is created as it includes appearances from Alexandre Tharaud as an old pupil of the couple, Rita Blanco as the concierge of the apartment, Ramon Agirre as the concierge’s husband, and William Shimell as Eva’s husband Geoff. Isabelle Huppert is excellent as Georges and Anne’s daughter Eva who grows increasingly concerned for what is happening to her mother as she also deals with what might be coming.

Finally there’s the duo of Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva in outstanding performances in their respective roles as Georges and Anne. Trintignant displays a chilling performance to a man desperate to help out his wife while dealing with everything else around him where Trintignant maintains this great physicality to his role as a man that is devoted to his wife. Riva’s performance is just astonishing to watch from the early going as a woman who is quite lively to someone who is deteriorating physically as she is unable to have any movement in the right part of her body and then just completely unravel as it’s a very unsettling to watch. It’s a very brave performance for the legendary actress in the way she reveals a woman losing herself and clinging to the man who loves her.

Amour is an incredible yet poignant film from Michael Haneke that features magnificent performances from Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. While it may not be in par with some of Haneke’s more darker films, it is still a film that is engaging as well as a drama that explores love at its deepest core. Notably as it explores an elderly couple being tested by something horrible as well as the specter of death. In the end, Amour is a tremendous film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) - (Benny’s Video) - (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) - Funny Games (1997 film) - Code Unknown - The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) - Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) - The White Ribbon - Happy End

© thevoid99 2013

2011 Cannes Marathon: The White Ribbon

(Winner of the Palme D’or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival)

2005’s Cache` helped establish Michael Haneke as one of European cinema’s premier directors. The film won him the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival that year along with a slew of various awards. In 2007, Haneke went to the U.S. to do a remake of his 1997 film Funny Games with a cast that included Tim Roth, Naomi Watts, and Michael Pitt. The remake drew mixed reviews as some felt Haneke was making a response to the violent films made in the U.S. In 2009, Haneke returns to Europe for a dark portrait of a family living in Germany before World War I entitled Das Wiesse Band (The White Ribbon).

Written and directed by Michael Haneke with narration by Ernst Jacobi, Das Wiesse Band tells the story of a family living in Northern Germany in 1913. During this time, strange events occur at a village where tension rises as the children are involved with these strange happenings. A film that is partially a study of violence along with repressed themes in societies. It’s a film that recalls Haneke’s provocative exploration with the dark side of humanity. The result is a chilling yet disturbing film from Michael Haneke and company.

It’s the summer of 1913 in a quiet little Northern German town of Eichwald, a Protestant village that is run by a baron (Ulrich Tukur), a pastor (Burghart Klaussner), and a doctor (Rainer Brock). It’s a place that is peaceful where everything is fine until one day when the town’s doctor was injured when his horse tripped on a wire. The incident was the first of a several things to come as many in the town wondered what happened. The second incident involves the death of a farmer’s wife at a sawmill. Meanwhile, the town’s tailor/schoolteacher (Christian Friedel) meets the new nanny Eva (Leonie Benesch) who works for the baron.

At a celebration for the harvest, the baron celebrates with the farmers and locals in the town. Everything seems fine until the baron’s cabbage crop is ruined where it’s revealed to the son of the farmer (Sebastian Hulk) whose wife had died. The son revealed his motives but is overshadowed by another incident when the baron’s son Sigmund (Fion Mutert) went missing only to be found much later hanging upside down with his pants pulled and showing bruises. Many wondered what happened as the baroness (Ursina Lardi) leaves to Italy with Sigmund and her children with the baron wondering what is happening.

With winter coming, the schoolteacher courts Eva after she had been fired by the baron while he meets her father (Detlev Buck) who is concerned about the relationship. Other incidents occur when the baron’s farm is burned while the doctor’s relationship with his longtime midwife (Susanne Lothar) is falling apart. The baron’s steward (Josef Bierbichler) wonders about the behavior of his son (Ennos Trebs) while his daughter Erna (Janina Fautz) tells the schoolteacher something will happen to the midwife’s son (Eddy Grahl) who is handicapped. Things would unravel more in the town as the baron received news about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Serbia. With World War I about to begin and more incidents happening including Erna’s premonition coming true. The schoolteacher realizes something is up as he thinks he knows who are behind these strange incidents.

When someone looks at a calm, peaceful town that is picturesque and full of beauty. It seems like a great place with wonderful people but what happens when that person gets a closer look at the town and begins to see something that isn’t right. That is what the film’s auteur Michael Haneke is asking and more. In fact, who are the culprits doing these strange incidents? What is happening to the town? Is it a foreshadow of what is come? Why are the people who are victimized being targeted? These are the many questions Haneke is asking but the answers aren’t very easy to explain because it confronts the harsh truths that people don’t want to hear.

The film’s title is about innocence as it’s one of the major themes of the film. Yet, the film is about the loss of innocence not through these incidents but also from the main figures in the town who unravel from these incidents. All of this is told from narration by Ernst Jacobi as an older version of the schoolteacher who reflects about this particular year where his life changes not through the meeting of the woman who would become his wife. It is also because it’s the moment where everything he had known about for many years at the town unravels. Jacobi’s narration not only provides information about the town but also allows his character a chance to reflect on varied incidents and such.

The screenplay has a loose structure of sorts where the film does play up to the way it approaches the story. The first act is about the first major incidents that culminates with the incident involving Sigmund and the baroness’ departure from town. The second act revolves around the doctor’s return as well as the continuation of the mysterious incidents. The third is the baroness’ return and the fallout of relationships along with the schoolteacher’s possible discovery. During these incidents, there’s little stories that involve the children throughout the film as it gives an idea of what kind of world these kids live in along with the possibilities of what they would become.

Haneke’s direction is definitely eerie to watch in the way he presents the film. Shooting entirely on black-and-white, it definitely harkens to the films of the 1950s and 1960s made by the late yet legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Like Bergman, Haneke creates an atmospheric quality to the production along with compositions that don’t reveal too much but also doesn’t reveal too little. The big difference is that Haneke’s use of Bergman’s style isn’t to create distinctive compositions that Bergman is used for. It’s to create an atmosphere that is tense and with a large degree of discomfort though Bergman might’ve done that with other films.

Haneke also creates moments where there isn’t much movement with the camera in order to just let the scene unfold. Even as he shoots one character talking in a conversation and then cuts to the other in the conversation. He also allows the film to be accompanied by just natural sounds that are enhanced a bit to bring a level of discomfort once the film progresses. Even Haneke’s use of historical context for its surroundings give way to how moods change throughout the film. By the time the third act occurs and the news of the Archduke’s assassination is heard. It’s clear that chaos is happening throughout everything as the incidents become more aggressive.

It’s Haneke being confrontational while suggesting that many of these incidents are the groundwork of what was to come after World War I in Germany. Yet, Haneke leaves that to the audience as he creates what is certainly a compelling film that leaves more questions than answers. Notably with a resolution that isn’t easy to comprehend along with the idea of how ugly humanity could be.

Cinematographer Christian Berger does a superb yet spectacular job with the film‘s black-and-white photography. Taking cues from the legendary work of longtime Bergman cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Berger’s photography definitely captures the beauty of the town that is shot throughout the film. Notably scenes during the winter as its look is truly stunning while using lots of natural light for many of the film’s nighttime interior scenes to capture the sense of dread that plays throughout the film. Berger’s work is definitely the technical highlight of the film.

Editor Monika Willi does an excellent job with the editing by maintaining a slow yet deliberate approach to the pacing along with a cutting style that is mostly straightforward. Notably in the conversation scenes as the rhythm of the cuts play to the dialogue as well as the scene itself in its surrounding. Production designer Christoph Kanter, along with set decorator Hieke Wolf and art director Anja Muller, does a fantastic job with set design for the film by re-creating the look of the houses in the early 1910s as well as the props that were made at the time.

Costume designer Moidele Bickel does a wonderful job with the costumes in recreating the early 1910s look filled with bits of traditional German clothing along with the way it represents class differences. One of the notable pieces of the costumes are the white ribbons that two of the older kids of the local pastor wears. Sound editor Vincent Guillon does a phenomenal job with the film’s sound as it plays up the tense atmosphere in the locations as well as the sense of dread in many of the interior scenes. Guillon’s sound work is another technical highlight of the film in playing up its suspense as well as the quiet but discomforting tone of the place the film is set in. The film’s music is mostly played on location as it features classical music, traditional German music, and prayers that are played throughout the film.

The casting by Simone Bar, Carmen Loley, and Markus Schleinzer is definitely amazing for its large array of actors used throughout the film. For many of the small roles in the film, there are a slew of memorable performances from Levin Henning as a young son of the pastor, Gabriela Maria Schmeide as the steward’s wife, Birgit Minichmayr as the farmer’s daughter, Sebastian Hulk as the farmer’s eldest son, Eddy Grahl as the midwife’s handicapped son, Miljan Chatelain as the doctor’s son Rudi, Michael Schenk and Hanus Polak Jr. as detectives, and Michael Kranz as Sigi’s tutor. Other notable small roles include Branko Samarovski as the farmer who loses his wife in an accident, Detlev Buck as Eva’s father, Steffi Kuhnert as the pastor’s wife, and Roxane Duran as the doctor’s daughter.

For varied roles of the children, the casting in that department is phenomenal. Among these memorable yet chilling performances are Janina Fautz as the steward’s daughter whose dreams is filled with bad premonitions along with Enno Trebs as her creepy-looking younger brother. Fion Mutert is pretty good as the baron’s son Sigmund while Maria-Victoria Dragus and Leonard Proxauf are excellent in their eerie roles as the pastor’s older children. In the role of the midwife, Susanne Lothar is wonderful as a woman who cares for her son while dealing her failing relationship with the doctor. Rainer Brock is really good as the town’s doctor who at first, seems like a good man only to be someone who is truly dark over his treatment towards women.

Josef Bierbichler is superb in his intense role as the steward who wonders what is going while he has a very intense scene where he confronts his son. Ursina Lardi is excellent as the baroness whose life is shattered by the incidents while she has a great moment when she confronts her husband about what’s happening. Ulrich Tukur is amazing as the baron whose peaceful life and rule is shattered by the incidents as he is later revealed to be someone that the farmers didn’t really like as his own political clout starts to fall.

Leonie Benesch is radiant as Eva, the nanny whom the town’s schoolteacher falls for as she displays an air of innocence and grace that the doctor falls for. Christian Friedel is great as the young doctor who is a very good though somewhat naïve man whose life goes well when he meets Eva while his whole perception about his environment is shattered by these incidents. Burghart Klaussner is phenomenal as the town’s pastor who tries to steer his children into being good though is baffled by his elder children’s sudden behavior. Klaussner’s performance is the best performance of the film as he plays a good-hearted man that lives in denial over what is happening along with the fact that he knows who it could be but couldn’t face it.

Das Wiesse Band is a harrowing yet intriguing film from Michael Haneke that features an amazing ensemble cast. Fans of Haneke’s work will no doubt see this as one of his finest films yet as well as being one of 2009’s most provocative films in a year of challenging art-house films. Casual audiences might be put off by the film’s eerie tone as well as its lack of flourishing camera shots. At the same time, it’s a film that recalls the ugliness of humanity along with the idea of innocence lost. In the end, Das Wiesse Band is a stunning yet chilling masterpiece from Michael Haneke and company.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) - (Benny’s Video) - (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) - Funny Games (1997) - Code Unknown - The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) - Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) - Amour - Happy End

© thevoid99 2011

Cache`

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 5/19/08 w/ Additional Edits.

Michael Haneke is one of the most controversial yet provocative directors from Europe. The Austrian filmmaker often touches on subjects ranging from death, the fallacy of humanity, and often in a bleak tone. After debuting with 1989's Der Siebente Kontinent, Haneke would create films including 1997's Funny Games (that was recently remade shot-by-shot for a 2007 version by Haneke himself), 2001's La Pianiste, and 2002's Le Temps du Loup that often shown harrowing outlooks on violence, sexuality, and anarchy. In 2005, Haneke returned with a film where he experimented with high-definition video cameras while exploring the fragility of humanity in the film entitled Cache` (Hidden).

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, Cache` is the story of a TV host, his book publisher wife, and son who learn they're being videotaped as their lives are changed. An exploration into voyeurism and secrecy, the film studies the world of a family who seems close and happy only to be undone by the secrets that surround them as their being filmed by outsiders. Starring Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil, Maurice Benichou, Annie Girardot, Lester Makedonsky, and Nathalie Richard. Cache` is a haunting, provocative masterpiece by Michael Haneke and company.

TV host Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) and his book publisher wife Anne (Juliette Binoche) live a nice, quiet life in Paris with their 12-year old son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). Then one day, Georges and Anne learn that they're being watched as they receive numerous videotapes of them being filmed in front of their house. At first, everything seems harmless until drawings featuring a face with blood dripping from its mouth. The tapes and drawings begin to appear more in Georges' office and at a dinner party with friends as Anne considers calling the police. With the tapes emerging more and more. Georges begins to have disturbing flashbacks of a young Algerian boy named Majid (Malik Nait Djoudi). Georges decides to visit his mother (Anne Giradot) as they talk about what's going on with him as they lead into a conversation about Majid, whom he had forgotten about after all these years.

Upon his return, another tape has arrived where it revealed a road and then a door. Georges suddenly becomes convinced that the person sending the tape is Majid (Maurice Benichou) but doesn't tell Anne who wants to know. Georges' lack of openness causes a rift as Georges decides to go to the apartment door he sees and learns it's Majid. Majid denies everything about what Georges is saying about videotapes as Georges is unsure whether to believe him or not. A tape of their conversation is shown where she talks to her friend Pierre (Daniel Duval) about what's happening. Then one day, Pierrot doesn’t return home from school as Anne and Georges become worried as he reports to the police where Majid and his son (Walid Afkir) had been arrested.

When Pierrot returns home revealing he spent the night at a friend's house, the close relationship between mother and son is becoming fractured. When Majid and his son are freed, Majid calls George for a meeting that becomes troubling. In its aftermath, Georges reveals to Anne what had happened many years ago as he later has a confrontation with Majid's son as he tries to figure out what has been going on.

The film is essentially about voyeurism. Take an image and you'll see something for what it is. Yet, when you look much closer, there are things that you never see. Michael Haneke is an auteur who is willing to challenge any audience into what they see. The film's first shot is instilled in everyone's mind as people just see the image of a house with the opening credits being typed in. Plus, it makes the audience aware that they're behind the camera watching all of this. With the exception of a close-up shot of the Laurents walking out in the front, that first image is still there and then suddenly, the audience is aware that they're watching a video tape.

The film's voyeuristic tone with a script that moves very deep into dark secrets doesn't stop, even after the film ends. While Haneke's script is more about characters and the sins that delve into their situations. It's Haneke's eerie direction that is mesmerizing where he keeps the audience guessing whether they're seeing a flashback or a videotape. Haneke allows the audience to bring a perspective and interpretation of what they're seeing. Yet, it doesn't stop, even in the film's last scene where it brings an openness to the ending. Credit is given to Haneke for creating a film that eerie and engrossing where it's all about an image or a scene as he reveals a close-knit family being fractured by the secrets and lies that surround them.

While the film's pacing might feel a bit slow for some, the fact that Haneke's direction really sucks the audience into believing in what they see. It should be also noted that the film has no music score. That's because it adds a level of suspense to the film as if it's being played in real life as the audience are sucked in into this world. It also reveals into why Haneke is one of cinema's finest auteurs. That's because Haneke is willing to confront the audience with the darkest truths while leaving things open right to the end.

Cinematographer Christian Berger brings a soothing yet intimate quality to the film's camera work where everything feels a bit claustrophobic from the first to last shot. With exteriors shot wonderfully, it's the interior scenes at the home of the Laurents that are really intriguing with very little light that conveys the film's eerie tone. The editing by Michael Hudecek and Nadine Muse is truly superb in how it maintains its eerie, elliptical pacing while acting like a video tape that shows true power to the skill of editing. Hudecek and Muse's editing is really powerful in playing to the film's suspense while knowing when not to cut or to keep the film moving without resorting to fast-cut techniques.

Production designers Emmanuel de Chauvigny and Christoph Kanter do a wonderful job in showing the contrasting world of the bourgeoisie world that the Laurents live in to the home that Majid lives in providing some tension into the film's characters. The costume design by Lisy Christl is excellent in creating that same tension in the contrast of class and culture as it emphasizes the idea of those characters. Sound editor Jean-Pierre Laforce and mixer Jean-Paul Mugel help create a unique sound that plays up to that difference of the Laurents world and the Algerian Majid as well as their own surroundings in Paris.

The casting of Kris Portier de Bellair is amazing for its choice in casting with young actors Malik Nait Djoudi as the young Majid and Hugo Flamigni as the young Georges. Other small roles including Nathalie Richard as Anne's friend Mathilde, Daniel Duval as Pierre, Bernard le Coq as Georges’ boss, and Dioucounda Korna as a cyclist Georges confronts.

Walid Afkir is good as Majid's son who confronts Georges after an arrest trying to claim he didn't do anything as he plays mind games with Georges. Lester Makedonsky is also good as Pierrot, the Laurents' son who is dealing with growing up while becoming convinced his mother is having an affair fueling his growing angst. Anne Giradot, who also starred in Haneke's La Pianiste, is excellent as Georges' mother who talks about Majid and how she cared for the boy that leads to one of the film's key plot-points.

Maurice Benichou is powerful in his role as Majid, a weary man who is caught by surprise in the appearance of Georges as he denies the idea of him taping. Whether he did it or not, the fact that is that here's a man, nearly destroyed by a lie being forced to be confronted by someone in his past. Benichou's understated performance is truly powerful in playing someone who might or might not be the villain. Juliette Binoche is great in her role as Anne Laurent, a woman whose own family life is falling apart as her husband is not being open and her son becoming more evasive as she tries to deal with everything that's happening to her. Binoche's subtle yet touching performance is amazing to watch as a woman being caught in a horrible web of lies as she is just trying to deal with everything thrown at her.

Daniel Auteuil is brilliant in his role as Georges Laurent, a man who seems to have everything only to be haunted by a video and the man who might be filming them. Auteuil's subtle yet haunting performance shows a man who is trying to hold himself together yet his body language will reveal something else. Auteuil's performance is very mesmerizing as he tries to figure out what's going on only to reveal that he might be at fault while denying his actions at the same time. It's that complexity in his performance that makes his character sympathetic but also a bit evil at the same time because of his actions.

The film premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival where it was the frontrunner for the Palme d'Or. Yet at the ceremony, it lost the Dardenne Brothers' L'Enfant while Michael Haneke did win the Best Director prize. When it was released in the U.S. in late 2005 and early 2006 for a shot at an Oscar nomination, it didn't receive a nomination though did get a lot of critical attention as well as being seen by art house audiences. While several critics did praise the film, others hated it for its lack of resolution.

Cache` is a harrowing, provocative, and eerie film from Michael Haneke that includes brilliant performances from Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche. Fans of Haneke will no doubt consider this film one of his best while those new to the director after discovering his recent shot-by-shot remake of Funny Games should check out this film. While it's the kind of film mainstream audiences might not enjoy for its lack of resolution and action, those who like suspense films and art-house/foreign films will no doubt consider this a true masterpiece. In the end, Cache` is a powerful and engrossing film from Michael Haneke.

Michael Haneke Films: (The Seventh Continent) - (Benny's Video) - (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) - Funny Games (1997) - Code Unknown - The Piano Teacher - (Time of the Wolf) - Funny Games (2007 film) - The White Ribbon - Amour - Happy End

© thevoid99 2011

The Piano Teacher

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 8/6/04 w/ Additional Edits.

One of France’s most gifted and premier actresses, Isabelle Huppert is an actress whose versatility and fearlessness has won her awards and acclaim from peers worldwide. Since her breakthrough in the 1977 film La Dentelliere (The Lacemaker) where a year later, she won her first Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Violette Noziere, Huppert has been an actress that has played many type of film roles with great directors that included Jean-Luc Godard and notably, Claude Charbol whose been her frequent collaborator. Despite being a known figure in Europe and the world, Huppert struggled with gaining fame in the U.S. where she appeared in the notorious 1980 film Heaven’s Gate. Though she would do two more American films including Hal Hartley’s Amateur in 1994, Huppert remained in France. In 2001, Huppert would prove herself once again in playing a troubled piano teacher in Michael Haneke’s La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher).

Directed by Michael Haneke that he wrote based on the novel by Elfriede Jelinek, La Pianiste is a harrowing, intense sexual drama about a gifted piano teacher in Vienna, whose combative relationship with her mother takes a toll on her as she lashes out on her students. Then a young, brash student comes to her who is intrigued by her cold demeanor only to learn about her broken view on love. Playing the title role of Erika Kohut is Huppert in a role that isn’t just demanding but also an eerie, frustrating view on character study. Also starring Benoit Magimel and Annie Girardot, La Pianiste is an ominous, scary film of sadomasochism and dominance through the mind of a woman on the verge of collapse.

For the 40-something Erika Kohut, her devotion to teach students in a Vienna music conservatory about the joy of music has been a frustrating one. Her devotion to the likes of Franz Schubert and the way she plays his music shows her brilliance, even when she wants her students to feel the coldness and pain of what he’s playing, even the same way towards Beethoven. In the daytime, she works to guide her students into playing right but as a harsh taskmaster who uses words in a restrained way to torture them, notably her most demanding student Anna Schober (Anna Sigalevitch). Whenever she comes home, Erika is forced to endure the criticism and cruelty of her mother (Annie Girardot). Especially one night when Erika returns three hours late where the two fight and Erika is forced to tears after her mother tells her about the hole in her head. At night, Erika is forced to sleep in the same bed with her mother who often asks about her day.

Then one night during a dinner party, Erika meets a young engineering student named Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel) who plays Schubert for her. Erika is somewhat intrigued though she’s put off by Walter’s cocky attitude. Then during a class with Anna, Walter comes who wants to join her class. Erika isn’t keen on it since she doesn’t want to be upstaged or seduced by Walter while she’s tending more time to her other students. One day after criticizing another who she saw earlier at a magazine store when he was looking at porno, she becomes more and more sinister towards Anna whose mother (Susanne Lothar) is frustrated at her lack of confidence. Then when Walter does an audition for the music conservatory, he impresses most of the teachers but to Erika’s reluctance, she officially puts him in her class.

Then one night, Erika decides to go to a porno shop where she watches a film and goes through odd moments and then on another night at a drive-in, she watches a couple having sex where her repressed sexual feelings come to place. Unfortunately, her mother doesn’t enjoy the fact that Erika comes home late where one night, she tells Erika that her father, who has been in an asylum for most of her life, has died leaving her more and more desperate. Then one day during a rehearsal with Anna and a baritone singer (Thomas Weinhappel) for an upcoming recital, she finds Anna in a nervous state and her criticism isn’t even helping. Coming to Anna’s aid was Walter that leaves Erika furious where she responds to her cruelness and later, locks herself in a bathroom where Walter finds her and begins to kiss her. She is put off only then to have her sexual feelings to come out more when she asks that he expose himself.

Eventually, the two would have a strange, sadomasochistic relationship where the role of submissive and masochist becomes confusing with Walter’s cocky charm and Erika’s cold, disciplined tone. Then one night when Walter follows her home, he wants to talk to her but Erika isn’t sure, especially in front of her mother where the two would lock themselves in Erika’s room. Erika demands for Walter to read her letter and as he read it, he is repulsed by what she wants from him in their relationship. Erika then becomes more and more desperate as she tries to engage him sexually only to feel sick and the mind games she plays on him finally takes his toll where he would engage her to his own sick ways. The result would force Erika to see the damage she has suffered from herself and from her own mother along with an exploration of her own madness.

The film’s restrained, melancholic tone led by Michael Haneke’s mesmerizing direction gives the film a dramatic tone where the intensity and climax of the film is only used from an emotional standpoint and not in the way it would be approached in American films. The film’s European sense shows how stilted the film’s tone is where there’s no real sense of action, only words. This approach would create a slow pace for the film but its deliberate to examine Erika's behavior. In its screenplay, Haneke really examines the mind of a broken woman who is likely to fall apart as we see her really searching for the one thing she really needed. The film is a very intense drama but without any kind of over-the-top theatrics or any heightened emotions.

Complementing Haneke’s stilted; ominous direction is cinematographer Christian Berger whose evocative look of Vienna in its day, exterior scenes are captured beautifully while in night scenes, interior and exterior, there’s a darkness to it. With Christian Kanter’s wonderful production design detailing a wonderful look to the apartments of Vienna and the conservatory, the film has a wonderful look. Another wonderful element of the film is the music with most of the compositions comes from Franz Schubert with all the piano performances coming from its actors as the music plays to give the idea of what Erika Kohut is thinking. It’s one of the best pieces of music used.

While the film has a nice, small supporting cast with wonderful performances from Udo Samel as Dr. Blonskji, who annoys Erika’s mother with his collection of instruments while Anna Sigalevitch and Susanne Lothar are brilliant in their small roles. Annie Girardot gives a chilling performance as Erika’s mother with her mean, domineering tone as she abuses her daughter mentally and emotionally. Girardot also does well in being a manipulative woman who is trying to make her daughter break down, notably in that first scene, as she wants her to be better than everyone. Benoit Magimel brings an amazing performance as the brash, charming Walter with his vibrant energy that would later develop into something much darker. Magimel, who would win the Best Actor prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for his performance, brings a complex role of a man who gets into more than he’s bargained for as he tries to see into his own dark side through this broken woman who he felt manipulated by.

The film’s most intriguing performance goes to Isabelle Huppert who brings out her best performance to date. With a restrained, cold presentation, Huppert brings a complex performance as a woman who is mean by day but at night, she is desperate. In her scenes with Girardot, we see Huppert trying to stand up to herself only to be defeated mentally by her mother and being controlled in every way. With Magimel, we see Huppert trying to explore herself sexually while acting in some ways like a child. In that role, Erika Kohut is a woman barely growing out of her childhood who is only damaged more where in the film’s ending, we’re left wondering what just happened and where will she go. Particularly in her sexual exploration where she doesn’t seem to fit in, including to onlookers at the porno shop scene and her behavior towards Walter and mother on a sexual matter is very strange yet there’s sadness to it.

In the 2002 DVD release, Huppert gives an interview where she explains Erika’s behavior and the film itself where she sees that Erika is a woman who just wants to be loved, pure and simple. From watching it, we can see what she wants but then, there comes that sadomasochistic side of her that is impossible for her to love her. Huppert brings in a performance that is powerful and at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, she would win her second Best Actress prize along with several awards internationally.

La Pianiste is a wonderful yet daring film from Michael Haneke with a tour-de-force performance from Isabelle Huppert. While it’s not exactly an S&M film, especially in comparison to the more playful 2002 film Secretary, it’s a film that really looks at sadomasochism in a very dark way. La Pianiste isn’t a film for everyone, especially those unfamiliar with the way Europeans approach drama since the film’s pacing will annoy some along with its questionable ending. Still, it’s a wonderfully harrowing film that relies on character study and emotionally intense melancholia. In the end, La Pianiste succeeds through Haneke’s subtle direction and Huppert’s engaging performance.

Michael Haneke Films:  (The Seventh Continent) - (Benny's Video) - (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) - Funny Games (1997) - Code Unknown - (Time of the Wolf) - Cache` - Funny Games (2007 film) - The White Ribbon - Amour - Happy End

© thevoid99 2011