February 2010, cine-fils.com
"He's among the most radical and consistent social critics in contemporary international cinema," writes Michael Wenk in today's Neue Zürcher Zeitung (via Film-Zeit). "Like no other filmmaker, Michael Haneke knows how to make visible the looming insanity behind the facade of bourgeois civility." The occasion for this laudatory appraisal: Haneke turns 70 today.
We haven't had a film from Haneke since The White Ribbon, which premiered at Cannes in 2009, so for now, let me refer to you "Debating Haneke (and Brecht)," a roundup from November of that year focusing on Hari Kunzru's assessment of the oeuvre for the Guardian, a debate between Ekkehard Knörer and Wolfram Schütte in Perlentaucher and Stuart Klawans's piece on The White Ribbon for the New York Times.
Haneke's next film, Amour (Love), is all wrapped up and, according to most, awaits its premiere in Cannes in May. It features Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva as Georges and Anne, retired music teachers whose lives are shaken when Anne suffers a debilitating stroke. Isabelle Huppert plays the daughter who lives abroad.
For news and tips throughout the day every day, follow @thedailyMUBI on Twitter and/or the RSS feed.