Review of Caché (2005) by Brian C — 06 Jul 2009

This is a film that requires everything that its audience can give it. and I dont mean the benefit of the doubt. it requires that you be as engaged, not only in the story, but in the way that the story is told.

many characterize it as exhausting and infuriatingly vague. on the first count, it certainly is. it is a thriller of the highest order. it is supremely unsympathetic. it is excellent. and this is coming from a guy that hates the entire idea behind michael hanekes remake film from last year, funny games.

I think that haneke is more a psychologist than an artist though. this happens to qualify as a sort of psychological art, but other of his films have seemed too clinical and unable to connect with emotion.

perhaps the emotion in this film was not because of his directing but perhaps sprung from the excellent performances of binoche and auteuil. perhaps it is the thematic material. how does a guilty person react if he cannot accept that he feels guilty about something? thus the haunting conclusion to this film.