Cache (Hidden)
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Movie Reviews of Cache (Hidden)
Movie Review: Watched
Summary: 5 Stars
Georges and Anne Laurent have a great life: Georges is a successful television host of a book discussion and review program and Ann does book and author p.r. They have a beautiful home and a smart and caring, 12 year old son, Pierrot. Then one day a package arrives containing a vhs tape wrapped in a drawing of a blood spattered man. The tape is of Georges and Ann's house, taken from across the street: they are being watched. But by whom and why? The packages continue to arrive, the tapes become more confrontational and the drawings more graphic.
Director and Screenwriter, Michael Haneke (the controversial and blatantly sexual "The Piano Teacher") is operating on several levels and his motives are almost entirely implicit though "Cache'" on a very basic level is very tightly wound, suspenseful and operates on the very highest level of intelligence: as in the very best films, Haneke shows rather than tells us.
As the movie progresses and the tapes become more personal, Georges is forced to confront the sins of his past and that of his family towards an Algerian orphan, Majid who once lived with Georges family.
Haneke is on a first name basis with Obsession and the obsessive personality: the wheres, the whys and the hows. "The Piano Teacher" is nothing if not a treatise on the big "O." Deeply hidden in the bowels of his psyche, Georges guilt also becomes an obsession: is he a participant in his own victimization? Is he sending himself the tapes and the gruesome pictures as a way of expiating his guilt?
"Cache'" addresses the French Algerians ongoing conflict with the French government both socially and morally, issues of personal and collective Guilt as well as the complicated morass of wife/husband relationships... particularly those dealing with communication or lack thereof.
The films ambiguous final scene shot at Pierrot's school at the end of the school day with students mingling, talking, joking with each other,just being young...is troubling and infuriating in its dense obtuseness; particularly when Majid's son shows up: there are at least four ways of interpreting this scene and each one can be supported by what is up on the screen: masterful.
"Cache'" is a refined, intelligent and difficult film. Haneke does not offer any easy answers and absolutely no solutions nor does he allow his characters any absolution. The road here is jammed with moral pot holes and danger signs. Proceed with caution: "Cache's" journey may be difficult but the destination is rife with relevant and well observed lives in turmoil.
Movie Review: Incredibly Ominous, Unsettling, and Yes, Thrilling
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Haneke is a director whose work is hard to like because of his habitually difficult style and harsh chosen subject matter. But this time with "Cache" he has made a masterful, nearly-mainstream thriller/mystery that will have you squirming in your seat even as you don't dare look away. Daniel Auteuil, the always adorable Juliette Binoche, and their young son live a very fortunate life in Paris until someone begins bombarding them with intrusive, shocking videotapes, mail, and phone calls. It soon becomes apparent that Auteuil is hiding a secret from his past that is threatening to tear their formerly charmed lives apart.
I actively disliked two of Haneke's previous films, the grueling "The Piano Teacher" and the sadistic "Funny Games" even as I admired the skill with which he made them. With "Cache" he seems to want to emulate more conventional, commercial movies (specifically Hitchcock), and it makes the film more absorbing and entertaining. It is certainly a more accessible film than usual for him, although it is another one of his dark, pessimistic fables about human guilt. The plot is intricately structured so you have to pay attention. Even so, you get the feeling than Haneke's is only revealing some parts of the story and you, the viewer, will have to continue to tease out of the film after it ends what Haneke merely implies. (What is the true nature of the relationship between Binoche and her friend Pierre, for example? And why does it so upset Binoche's son?) If I'm not mistaken Haneke is also paying tribute to David Lynch, specifically the surveillance tapes of "Lost Highway" and the character's name of "Laurent." Plus the film positively reeks of Lynch's paranoia, rotting apartments, sudden eruption of disturbing encounters, and all-around general terror.
Haneke turns the screws, as he likes to do, and the tension in "Cache" gets high indeed. And, yes, there is one scene in particular (at least) that will catch you off guard and send chills down your spine. There is also the already famous last shot that will have some viewers scratching their heads in befuddlement. In an interview on the "Special Features" part of the DVD, Haneke explains the action of what happens, although he won't say what it means. There are several possible interpretations, although it seems to me all of them are incredibly ominous and mean that the story is far from over even if the movie is. "Cache" is a surprising gem that thriller fans and admirers of foreign movies will not want to miss.
Movie Review: Cache
Summary: 5 Stars
Midday. The camera is focused on an alleyway and the apartment building adjacent to it. The screen remains fixed on this position, motionless. Pan back, and a husband and wife stare on in horror at the taped surveillance of their home from an unknown source. Who is behind these mysterious tapes, what do they mean, and what secrets might be revealed when their lives are exposed to the world? With this, Michael Haneke delivers another riveting thriller that leaves the audience guessing from beginning to end.
CACHE is often criticized for its overt social and political subtext, and while these themes are often apparent, they never become the driving force of the plot. Haneke's emotionless filming only serves to alienate the viewer, drawing a line of separation between them and the characters. The audience is only invited to observe but never to interact or invest themselves in the events as they unfold, a barrier that was visited first in Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM. The camera then becomes the only character with whom the audience can relate, but in keeping with the central theme of lies and deceit, the camera lies just as much as the characters themselves. It is impossible to tell which events are unfolding in actuality on screen, and which are pre-recordings that are playing back on a taped recording.
At times, CACHE also appears to be Haneke's reflection on the Italian Giallo, as it mirrors the structure and revelation of past events that was popularized by Dario Argento in the 70s. Another nod to Argento can be found in a single shocking moment of gore that closely resembles the brutal death of Jane in TENEBRE. Completely unlike the Italian mysteries, however, CACHE does not allow for any form of satisfying end, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers in its closing scenes. Just as he has done countless times before, Haneke also robs the viewer of a soundtrack to accompany the film, which builds on the sense of tension and unease that has already been established with each new package left on Georges and Anne's doorstep.
While Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche each provide powerful and convincing performances, it is Michael Haneke's signature style that wins in the end. Paranoia, fear, and suspense are each measured out in equal doses, keeping audiences on the knife's edge at every turn. CACHE will not be received well by all audiences, but it stands as both a thought provoking and engaging piece of film art.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
Movie Review: Eerie and stunning: Cache works on many levels
Summary: 5 Stars
The latest film by Michael Haneke is also, I believe, his most assured and accomplished work yet. The film works on several levels. One of the effects of the "surveillance" theme -- and Haneke's brilliant choice to integrates scenes of surveillance seamlessly into the "regular" footage -- was to compel me to pay more attention to the screen than I think I have for any film in a long time. Given that I could not be sure a particular scene was "part of the film" or surveillance footage, I watched closely (and tensely) even during scenes in which apparently nothing was happening. As a meditation on filmmaking and its voyeuristic elements, Cache rivals even Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (of course here the main characters are being watched rather than doing the watching). Cache also matches many of Hitchcock's best films for its raw suspense, and its compelling narrative (of course, the film probably cannot rival Hitchcock's ability to be both profound and popular -- this film will never be as widely loved as Hitchcock's films, even if it is critically admired; while Hitchcock's films reward patience and attention, Haneke's films demand it). Beyond that, the film raises in powerful ways questions relevant to the current world situation, and at the same time shows such questions to be not only timely but universal and prevalent. What is terrorism? Who is the aggressor? What does it mean to be an agressor? What is guilt? Who is guilty? If my actions have unintended consequences, am I guilty? If I refuse to face up to those consequences, am I guilty? Are we responsible for the choices of our parents or of ourselves as children? Are we responsible for aggressive actions of our governments? The film aims to reveal the extent to which we hide from ourselves the possibility of our own culpability in actions we did not choose but did not refuse either. The film also raises, subtly but unmistakably, questions about the continued existence of racism, about the possibility of forgiveness, about the nature of trust, about the function of marriage and the nature of the family. A really brilliant film that I would recommend highly to anyone who likes to be provoked into thinking by the cinema.
In addition to the movie, the dvd contains an excellent and revealing interview with the director and a very interesting and well made documentary about the making of Cache.
Movie Review: The film is a mirror
Summary: 5 Stars
Reviewer reactions to this film seem to say more about the reviewer than they do about the film, especially the negative ones. I too watched the film expecting "merely" a good thriller. I, however, was captivated by the slow long shots and the building tension. Like many, I initally found the ending sudden, unsatisfying, and unsettling. What! It's over now?!? But knowing that the film was highly acclaimed led me to immediately question that reaction. I scanned backwards and watched the final 5 minutes or so several times. I also THOUGHT about what I had seen, carefully. I went to bed convinced that I had seen a very good, possibly great film, but not sure that I had understood it yet. The next morning I couldn't stop thinking about the film. That is one definition of a great film.
Rather than complain about the way the movie was put together, one could decide to investigate why it is done that way, why so many others speak of this as an amazing film. For example, one reviewer below claims that the wife character (Juliette Binoche) is "not guilty of anything". I wouldn'tnecessarily say that. The film suggests very strongly that she is, or at least could be. Why does the son accuse her of having an affair? Where did he get that idea, and does it have anything to do with who he meets in the final shot? There is much much more going on in this film then the negative reviewers have bothered to see. This is the sort of movie that whole books will be written about, the kind of film studied shot by shot in university classes. The film is simultaneously about national/international politics, racism, marriage, and the socio-psychology of trust, guilt, and denial at many levels.
It's true that there are no easy "solutions" to the mystery, and that's part of the point of the film. And of course that is also often the case for Hitchcock (e.g. The Birds). If you are looking for a more conventional mystery with neatly explained "answers" then this is not for you, but if you are looking for an inellectual adventure that will move you subtly, deeply this is a good choice.
And oh yes, you will gasp at one scene. I'm not easily taken by surprise and see the "plot twists" such as they are in most Hollywood movies long before they happen, but this film managed to puzzle me and shock me.