Caché (2005)
As usual, I can count on Haneke to provide movie experiences that are both intriguing mystery, frustratingly with more questions than answers and deeply uncomfortable. But those are all elements that also makes him one of the most interesting directors, because he refuses to give the viewer a satisfying and recognizable story. It is disturbing and frustrating to be left with so many confusing conflicting emotions that you have to process yourself, because the movie doesn’t provide that.
The basic premise with mysterious tapes and drawings gets things going where ones wonders what the hell is going on, but also not quite terrified yet due to the almost nature of the low key harassment. As the plot moves (slowly) forward, we don’t actually gets much closer to solving the mystery. The added background information mostly raises more questions. What this achieves is to show the conflicting and complicated process of dealing with guilt, how dishonesty makes things worse - and hidden beneath it all is a subtle commentary on class privilege and the relationship between France and Algeria.
Haneke’s films is often about upper middle class people and not directly about class differences, but it always seems to be lying underneath everything. Here it is a bit more apparent, yet Haneke never fully explains his intent for what he shows, but I am sure it is there. Even though there are scenes that doesn’t seem to add much directly to the story, there is always a reason for everything. Always something more to explore with a Haneke film, and I am sure more will be revealed on a rewatch later.
Rating: 4.5