71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
Since the film literally starts with telling us the ending, the whole experience is framed by the inevitable mass murder in the end. While it is structurally similar with Code Unknown by following a group of seemingly unconnected people, there is more certainty to the fragments. Still, as a viewer we don’t know anything, on the why or the bigger picture. As Haneke says in an interview on the disc, we only know fragments. The Hollywood movie narrative where we are told what we need to about characters is an illusion, and with Haneke’s style we are forced to accept the uncertainty, confusion and lack of answers.
Haneke films almost always have news reports from ongoing war conflicts going on in the background, and here it is more directly integrated into the film. The recurring theme is acts of violence we don’t fully understand, but are just passively watching, which in the end also becomes the main event for this film.
Criterion Challenge - 9. 1990s
Rating: 4