Caché (2005)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on its front porch that may be the direct result from an event from years ago.

Plot Keywords:

Father Son Relationship | Class Differences | Ambiguous Ending | Haunted By Past | Middle Class

Awards:

21 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Daniel Auteuil	...	Georges Laurent
Juliette Binoche	...	Anne Laurent
Maurice Bénichou	...	Majid
Annie Girardot	...	Georges's Mom
Bernard Le Coq	...	Georges's Editor-In-Chief
Walid Afkir	...	Majid's Son
Lester Makedonsky	...	Pierrot Laurent
Daniel Duval	...	Pierre
Nathalie Richard	...	Mathilde
Denis Podalydès	...	Yvon
Aïssa Maïga	...	Chantal
Caroline Baehr	...	Nurse
Christian Benedetti	...	Georges's Father
Philippe Besson	...	TV Guest
Loic Brabant	...	Police Officer No. 2 (as Loïc Brabant)

Also Known As:

Hidden (International: English title) (UK)
Versteckt (Austria) (Germany)
Niente da nascondere (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief strong violence.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

France | Austria | Germany | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:15 | Brazil:16 | UK:15 | Czech Republic:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA | Hungary:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Les Films du Losange

Trivia:

There is no music save for the theme on George's show.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene we see the Laurent residence from a stationary camera. Three roses are visible in a window box on the left. In the same setting late in the film after much passage of time, the roses are unchanged and in the same positions.

Movie Connections:

References The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Seek out the hidden

Perhaps you will attend Caché to see what all the buzz is about. You will be disappointed. This is not a film to be enjoyed. It is not meant to entertain you. You should at some point in the film be confused, even angered, by what is happening. But you will think about it. A lot. Maybe, you'll start by thinking about the puzzling plot. You'll float a few theories about whodunit, may be even with the caveat, "not that it matters with such unlikeable characters." Then, in your search for answers, you might read comments like the one you're reading right now. You might read a review or two. You probably won't find the answer you're looking for, or maybe you'll find many answers. The point is that in searching for a resolution to complete the narrative, you will have gone over the clues over and over, replaying each scene in your head for meaning. You might even go back and watch the film again in the theatre. Now ask yourself honestly, whether you say you loved the film or hated it, how many films have had this kind of effect on you? It might irritate you that a film seemingly so simple has more effect on your memory than even your favourite films. For this, Caché deserves credit. Because in forcing you to question every frame, it has advanced its themes far more effectively than more traditional narratives. You will never forget that France and Algeria have a dark past. You will never forget how the terror the couple feels tears at the root of what they hold dear, and in doing so changes them into unsympathetic characters. That may not make for two hours of thrills, but it should get people to think about these issues. The real point the movie seems to be making is that in our rush to find clues to complete a narrative, we sometimes lose sight of what's going on. The director here turns us all into sleuths, scanning the foregrounds and backgrounds, by locking off the camera and not guiding us as to what to look at. (In this way, he makes us watch in the same way an autistic person would watch the film.) We're so wrapped up in this alleged mystery that we hardly question the motives of the alleged heroes. Is videotaping a home really terrorizing? After all, people videotape the kids' swim race. Where do these videotapes cross the line? No one is ever threatened or harmed by them. Rather it is the paranoia of the TV host, a person who deals in the editing and manipulation of images for a living, which lead him into following these leads. It is in his nature to mistrust the images. It is in his psyche to follow these tapes and the places they lead him. The farther he follows them, the farther his subconscious burdens him. His mother says she hardly remembers these incidents, but Georges has nightmares about them and constructs grand conspiracy theories about them. Yet when he confronts his childhood nemesis, Majid seems not to know anything of these tapes and is seen crying after Georges leaves. Georges is the one terrorizing him instead of telling him how guilty he feels, which would make him a lot happier. Majid subsequently does something even more shocking. So who's terrorizing whom? As hard as it may be, try to think outside the post-9/11 paradigm and just analyze the facts. The more you do this you will see that Georges is the architect of his own demise. He is not responsible for Majid's horrible actions, but he is responsible for not communicating his guilt with anyone, which might have prevented many of the events.