Caché (film)

Caché
Directed by	Michael Haneke
Produced by	Veit Heiduschka
Written by	Michael Haneke
Starring	Juliette Binoche Daniel Auteuil Maurice Bénichou
Cinematography	Christian Berger
Editing by	Michael Hudecek Nadine Muse
Distributed by	Artificial Eye Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	5 October 2005 (2005-10-05)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	France Austria
Language	French
Budget	€8,000,000 (estimated)

Caché (distributed as Hidden in the UK and Ireland) is a 2005 Austrian-French film written and directed by Michael Haneke. It stars Daniel Auteuil as Georges and Juliette Binoche as his wife Anne.

Plot

The quiet life of a Paris family is disturbed when they receive a series of surveillance tapes of their own residence from an anonymous source. Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) is the successful host of a French literary TV programme, living with his wife Anne (Juliette Binoche), a book publisher, and their school-age son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). Unmarked videocassettes arrive on their doorstep, tapes that show extended observation of their home's exterior from a static street camera that is never noticed. At first passive and harmless, but later accompanied by crude, disturbing crayon drawings, the tapes lead to questions about Georges' early life that disrupt both his work and marriage. But because the tapes do not contain an open threat, the police refuse to help the family.

One videotape leads Georges to the modest HLM apartment of Majid (Maurice Bénichou), an Algerian man whose parents worked for Georges' family before they were killed in the Paris massacre of 1961. The orphaned Majid remained in the Laurent home, and the parents at one time intended to adopt him. Georges confronts Majid about the tapes, but he denies involvement. However, the encounter intensifies his guilty flashbacks and recurring nightmares of a young Majid spitting blood, cutting off a rooster's head, and menacing him.

One day Pierrot does not come home from school and Anne cannot locate him. Georges and Anne suspect that Majid has kidnapped him. They go to the police, who accompany Georges to Majid's apartment. There they find Majid's son (Walid Afkir), and father and son both deny knowledge of the kidnapping. The police arrest them but they are released the next morning. On the same morning, Pierrot returns. He had spent the night at a friend's house without telling anyone. When Anne scolds Pierrot, he accuses her of committing adultery. In an earlier scene, we saw a distressed Anne permitting a few romantic caresses from Pierre, a family friend.

Georges returns to Majid's apartment at his invitation, and, after stating that he had nothing to do with the surveillance, Majid says he wanted Georges to be present for what follows: he kills himself by slashing his own throat. Now Anne insists Georges explain the whole story with Majid, and he tells her of the time they spent living in the same household so many years ago. He was six years old when he tricked Majid into cutting off the head of a rooster, then told his parents that Majid did this to scare him. This sufficiently disturbed his parents that they sent Majid to an orphanage.

Majid's son confronts Georges next. He denies involvement with the tapes, while Georges denies responsibility for his father's unhappiness and death. Majid's son says he only wanted to know how Georges felt about being the cause of his father's death, and Georges angrily leaves. Georges goes home, takes two sleeping pills, and goes to bed.

A man and woman arrive at Georges' childhood home in a 1960s-model car. They enter the house, returning momentarily with an Arab boy who protests, resists getting in the car, and runs away before he's finally caught and overcome by the man. He's forced into the back seat with the woman and the man drives the car away.

Under the credits, Pierrot and Majid's son meet in front of Pierrot's school, though their conversation cannot be heard. Majid's son leaves, as does Pierrot with a couple of his friends soon after.

Cast

• Daniel Auteuil as Georges Laurent
• Juliette Binoche as Anne Laurent
• Lester Makedonsky as Pierrot Laurent, Georges and Anne's 12 year old son
• Maurice Bénichou as Majid
• Walid Afkir as Majid's son
• Annie Girardot as Georges' mother
• Daniel Duval as Pierre, a friend of Georges and Anne's
• Bernard Le Coq as Georges' boss

Production

House at 49 rue Brillat-Savarin, Paris, where the Laurent family lives

Filming took place in Paris and Vienna. It is the first film in which Haneke used high-definition video cameras. It has no film score.

Reception

Caché premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. The film won numerous awards during its successful run at the festival, including the prize for Best Director, and the FIPRESCI prize. Caché also won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film won several awards at the 2005 European Film Awards, including Best European Film, Best European Director, Best European Actor (Daniel Auteuil), and Best European Editor.

Deborah Young from Variety stated, "The tight pacing of Michael Hudecek and Nadine Muse's editing keeps the story fluid and focused but very concise, commanding audience attention from start to finish." Kirk Honeycutt at the The Hollywood Reporter stated, "In unraveling a nearly forgotten secret in the life of a self-satisfied and smug French intellectual, Haneke probes deeply into issues involving guilt, communication and willful amnesia." Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "...a perplexing and disturbing film of great effect, showing how comfortable lives are disrupted by the simple fact that someone is watching." Ebert later revisited the film as an entry in his "Great Movies" series, discussing nuances of the plot and direction (and the implications they might have) in more detail. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film five out of five stars, describing it as "one of the great films of this decade" and "Haneke's masterpiece".

Andrew Sarris from The New York Observer stated, "Too much of the plot's machinery turns out to be a metaphorical mechanism by which to pin the tail of colonial guilt on Georges and the rest of us smug bourgeois donkeys." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle found the film fraudulent "in its style, technique and ultimate message," and that the director does "everything he can to bore the audience, and the audience tries not to fall asleep or flee the theater," making the film an "exercise in pain".

Hidden was listed 1st in The Times 'best 100 films of the decade' feature, 44th in The Daily Telegraph's equivalent list, and 36th in The Guardian's.

The film was ranked #73 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.

Awards and nominations

Festival	Category	Winner/Nominee	Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association (USA)	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	No
Cannes Film Festival (France)	Best Director	Michael Haneke	Yes
	FIPRESCI Prize	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Prize of the Ecumenical Jury	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Golden Palm	Michael Haneke	No
César Awards (France)	Best Actor – Supporting Role	Maurice Bénichou	No
	Best Director	Michael Haneke	No
	Best Writing – Original	Michael Haneke	No
	Most Promising Actor	Walid Afkir	No
Chicago Film Critics (USA)	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	Yes
Chlotrudis Awards (USA)	Best Movie	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Best Director	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Best Actor	Daniel Auteuil	No
	Best Original Screenplay	Michael Haneke	No
David di Donatello Awards (Italy)	Best European Film	Michael Haneke	No
Empire Awards (UK)	Best Thriller	Michael Haneke	No
European Film Awards	Best Actor	Daniel Auteuil	Yes
	Best Director	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Best Editor	Michael Hudecek and Nadine Muse	Yes
	Best Film	Michael Haneke	Yes
	FIPRESCI Prize	Michael Haneke	Yes
	Best Actress	Juliette Binoche	No
	Best Cinematographer	Christian Berger	No
	Best Screenwriter	Michael Haneke	No
Los Angeles Film Critics (USA)	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	Yes
Online Film Critics (USA)	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	No
San Francisco Film Critics (USA)	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	Yes
Southeastern Film Critics	Best Foreign Language Film	Michael Haneke	Yes

Connections

The plot device of amateur surveillance videotapes left anonymously at their subject's door was used previously in Lost Highway.

External links

• Official US site
• Caché at the Internet Movie Database
• Caché at AllRovi
• Caché at Rotten Tomatoes
• Caché and the secret image