Review of Caché (2005) by Denise B — 30 Mar 2008

I was at the Preston/Royal library the other day when this film caught my eye. The director was what sold me- the famous Michael Haneke. So, I checked it out, brought it home and popped in the DVD. There was a good reason why this film won him the Best Director at the 2005 Cannes Festival.

As with most of Haneke's films, there winds up being more to this film then what one would first expect. It begins as sort of a surrealistic, voyeuristic, journey into a seemingly normal talk show host's life, and slowly rolls into a black comedy that only the French underground could produce.

After Haneke relaxes us, we are soon slammed with dark and mysterious undertones and a social commentary that end up being anything but subtle.

A prominent TV talk show host,played by the outstanding Daniel Auteuil, begins to recieve anonymous tapes of the outside of his residence; of his family's comings and goings, seemingly to inform him that he is udner survelence. Then his wife, played by Juliette Binoche from the English Patient, recieves a xseries of harmless, but distrubing telephone calls. Since there is no violence associated with the harrassment, the localpolice offer no assistance. Then a tape appears whcih depicts a low rent tenement on the outskirts of Paris. The POV video ends at an apartment door. Outraged with all the emotional disstress and conflict the recent harrasment has caused inside his family, Auteuil visits the apartment on the tape. The resident turns out to a man from his childhood. A man, whom as a boy, Auteuil had harrassed and tormented. The resident claimsno knowledge of the tapes, and Auteuil leaves him with a stern warning to stay away from his family.

Auteuil receieves another tape. This time it is a hidden camera recording of his conversation with the man, from the night before. As past indescrinpcies and suppressed memories are brought into light, the trust between husband and wife is streched thin. Haneke provides us with allusions to an unfaithful wife, and a disseffected son. The film peaks with a phone call from the Tenement resident, asking Auteuil to come over. He arrives, is greeted and enters. Before he can the resident abruptly pulls a razor from his pocket and slashes his own throat-- right before Auteuil. This is the only true violence in the entire film, but it is shocking and distrubing, nonetheless.

The dead man's son confronts Auteuil about his ruining of the dead man's childhood. Auteuil just brushes him off and goes about his buisness. Later that day, in a wide angle, we see the dead man's son, confront Autueil's son at the school. There is no audible dialouge, and shortly thereafter,the credits roll.

Now, the first time I saw this, I was pissed. I was pissed off and frustrated. I'm a huge fan of open-ended films, but most cult frech films do have the stereotypical book-end openings and closings. This was what I had expected. Upon a second viewing however, I got it. Life, reality, is not always perfect. Sometimes, certain situations are not wrapped up. There are things in which are a privy to which are left undone. After thinking hard and long about it, it all made sense. I thought it was an outstanding film and would deffinatly reccomend it.