2008 Woodie Awards
"Cache" and the nonexistent observer
Christopher Wood
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
A foreign film makes the typical American moviegoer uneasy. We generally keep our distance, unprepared for an alien way of seeing and understanding the world. If these films can even force their way into our national distribution circuit, they still largely go unnoticed, hidden in the intimidating shadow of the Hollywood blockbuster.
Not only does Austrian writer/director Michael Haneke's new film "Caché" contain subtitles, but its ambiguous ending, complete lack of a music score, and predilection for long takes also threaten to severely limit the film's domestic popularity. Despite these deviations from classical narrative traditions (or maybe because of them), this absorbing French drama nonetheless exerts a spellbinding power. "Caché"'s self-conscious play with the cinematic image forces viewers to appreciate every shot.
Haneke's script focuses on a married couple, Georges and Anne (played by French stars Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche), and their attempts to identify the person leaving mysterious videotapes at their front door. Someone secretly plants cameras in front of the couple's home and in other places, recording Georges's and Anne's movements.
One tape in particular leads the husband on a solitary journey of self-examination, forcing him to confront the buried secrets of his dark childhood. The director paces his story, allowing time for Georges's past sins to bubble to the surface gradually, and to immerse his viewers in the film's mysteries. The alluring rhythm of "Caché," however, deceives our senses. Abrupt ends to lengthy scenes and horrifying images forever shatter our complacency.
This film ponders the dual nature of an image - how it simultaneously aids and distorts or limits a viewer's perception. Similarly, some have hailed film since its inception as a useful tool for recording reality objectively. Meanwhile, other critics object to cinema's limitations; its verisimilitude merely provides viewers with a picture or visual approximation of reality, a manufactured world, and not reality in its pure form.
Not only does Austrian writer/director Michael Haneke's new film "Caché" contain subtitles, but its ambiguous ending, complete lack of a music score, and predilection for long takes also threaten to severely limit the film's domestic popularity. Despite these deviations from classical narrative traditions (or maybe because of them), this absorbing French drama nonetheless exerts a spellbinding power. "Caché"'s self-conscious play with the cinematic image forces viewers to appreciate every shot.
Haneke's script focuses on a married couple, Georges and Anne (played by French stars Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche), and their attempts to identify the person leaving mysterious videotapes at their front door. Someone secretly plants cameras in front of the couple's home and in other places, recording Georges's and Anne's movements.
One tape in particular leads the husband on a solitary journey of self-examination, forcing him to confront the buried secrets of his dark childhood. The director paces his story, allowing time for Georges's past sins to bubble to the surface gradually, and to immerse his viewers in the film's mysteries. The alluring rhythm of "Caché," however, deceives our senses. Abrupt ends to lengthy scenes and horrifying images forever shatter our complacency.
This film ponders the dual nature of an image - how it simultaneously aids and distorts or limits a viewer's perception. Similarly, some have hailed film since its inception as a useful tool for recording reality objectively. Meanwhile, other critics object to cinema's limitations; its verisimilitude merely provides viewers with a picture or visual approximation of reality, a manufactured world, and not reality in its pure form.