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Hidden

Caché

France, Austria, Germany, Italy, United States

2005

117 Min
Color
1.78:1
French
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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DIR Michael Haneke

EXEC Michael Katz, Margaret Ménégoz

PROD Veit Heiduschka, Andrew Colton, Margaret Ménégoz, Valerio De Paolis

SCR Michael Haneke

DP Christian Berger

CAST Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou, Lester Makedonsky, Annie Girardot, Daniel Duval, Nathalie Richard, Denis Podalydès, Walid Afkir, Bernard Le Coq, Aïssa Maïga, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Marie Kremer

ED Michael Hudecek, Nadine Muse

PROD DES Emmanuel de Chauvigny, Christoph Kanter

SOUND Jean-Paul Mugel

Cannes (In Competition): Best Director, FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Telluride, Toronto (Masters), São Paulo, New York, Mar del Plata (Out of Competition), London (Gala), AFI FEST (European Showcase), Stockholm, Rotterdam (Kings & Aces), Melbourne (International Panorama)

Synopsis

The well-known host of a literary TV talk show, Georges (Daniel Auteuil) finds himself the target of an anonymous stalker who sends video tapes of his house as seen from across the street, in stationary shots that run as long as two hours. There’s no commentary, but the message is clear: You’re being watched. Accompanying the videos are child’s drawings full of obscure, crude, bloody images. Georges’ wife, Anne (Juliette Binoche), who works in the publishing business, is understandably rattled. At first, Georges has no idea who may be sending them. Gradually, the footage on the tapes becomes more personal, suggesting that the sender has known Georges for some time and Georges too comes to believe that he knows the perpetrator. Curiously and tellingly he refuses to share this knowledge with his wife, indeed he even tries to hide it. As the film progresses, the family’s personal drama begins almost imperceptibly to turn. However, the source of the vaguely accusatory videos ultimately matters less than the guilt they manifest.

Director

Original

Michael Haneke

Cheerfully wishing his audience a “disturbing evening” at a London retrospective of his films, director Michael Haneke insists that he is an optimist at heart, despite all of the relentlessly bleak carnage and deeply disturbing imagery so vividly painted and seared into the mind of anyone who has had the uncomfortable experience of viewing his work.

Practically born into show business, to an actress mother and director father, in Munich in March 1942, Haneke spent his early years in a working class suburb of Vienna before an early attempt at fame as an actor and pianist. Failing to achieve early success, Haneke attended the University of Vienna to study philosophy and psychology, and became a film critic and stage director before making his eventual debut as a television director with After Liverpool in 1973. Setting in motion a television career specializing in literary adaptations and small screen films, Haneke would work successfully in that medium until his feature debut… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 81 wall posts.
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Harry Rossi

23May12

Upon a second viewing I am even more impressed by this film which I consider Haneke's masterpiece. Absolutely brilliant on every level and in my opinion, one of the greatest movies ever made.

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House of Sober Second Thought

28Apr12

A careful shot-by-shot analysis of all the camera angles points to the only possible author of the tapes: it was the chicken.

  • Picture of House of Sober Second Thought

    House of Sober Second Thought

    29Apr12

    To be fair, there are fleeting moments when Haneke forgets about punishing the audience and his characters long enough to produce something humanly interesting -- like Georges' visit to his mother, or the shaggy dog story at the dinner party.

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Picture of Ross Patterson

Ross Patterson

26Apr12

How to make a successful foreign language indie film in the 2000s: a 101 1) Overlong establishing shots 2) Constant use of diegetic sound 3) Use static cameras as much as possible. Hey Presto! You're well on your way to being honoured at Cannes.

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Fans

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Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

The Auteurs Daily: Toronto and NYFF. The White Ribbon

By David Hudson on October 13, 2009

"As is the case with several films in this year's New York Film Festival, Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon exemplifies the pleasures and

read article

Lists

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Reviews

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Cache

By House of Leaves on January 26, 2010

Fantastic! I just finished this film and here were the thoughts I jotted down as I watched it. Having subsequently read this thread, I would only amend to include Joe’s excellent theory about collusion…  read review

Caché: Storytelling through Omission and the Long Take

By theextr​emegeek on January 3, 2010

This is an essay I wrote with a friend a couple weeks back. We weren’t able to give it the attention it needed, so thematically is more sporadic than I would like.

The editing in Michael Haneke’s…  read review

Caché

By Jon on December 28, 2009

Social apprehension and guilt captured in the bone-chilling guise of Haneke’s forever watching camera, the menace of a hidden past returning, from beyond the fourth wall, in occult snippets of voyeurism…  read review

french muttering

By KAIJA EIGHTY on November 21, 2009

drawn out scenes and far off voyeur angles are atmospheric— and tiresome in such excess. with just a little bit more, oh i don’t know, maybe more script. maybe a more INTERESTING script for that matter…  read review

Forum

Displaying 2 discussion topics.

(UN)HIDDEN CAMERA: THE "REAL" SENDER OF THE TAPES

45 posts by 26 people over 1 year ago

Hiding out in the open

89 posts by 16 people over 2 years ago