1206. Cache

Cache
Hidden
2005
Directed by Michael Haneke

This is the last Michael Haneke on the List, and probably his most accessible movie. I think I accidentally started with his hardest works. I also think there are more men named Michael on this List than there are women present. 

Anne and Georges Laurent, an affluent married couple, discover a videotape left on their property that shows hours of footage of their residence. At first they believe it is a practical joke, possibly involving their young son Pierrot. But then a second tape arrives, this time with a childlike drawing that would make me immediately pee my pants. Georges has a theory about who might be behind it all, but he's not willing to share his hunch with Anne, causing further strain in an already tense situation. 

I always avoid spoilers, but I don't mind saying the ending is ambiguous, which I really liked. I think there's an answer in there if you can find it, but if you're left as mystified as the characters, that's not such a bad thing either. I thought Georges was a fairly fascinating character. It was interesting watching when he was obstinate and when he crumbled.

I very much prefer this to White Ribbon, and I think Haneke would be disappointed in me for that.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

There is no music, except for the theme on George's show and the background music at Anne's publishing party.

Included in Roger Ebert's Great Movies List.

1202. Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte

Das weiße Band, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte
The White Ribbon
2009

Directed by Michael Haneke

I didn't realize that we would be diving into Michael Haneke's work to this extent, but I'm glad we are. Even if I haven't always liked the result, he's a director with remarkable range, and each of his movies has been unique from the others. If I wasn't striving for 100% completion of the List, I would only have associated him with Funny Games. What a fool I would have been!

The story is set in Eichwald, a fictional German town that is hovering on the brink of World War I. The town is pretty much ruled by the pastor, the doctor, and the baron, each of whom inflict their own brand of evil on the townspeople. Terrible, unexplained things begin to happen in town. This actually sounds like a summary for the M. Night Shyamalan, but I promise it's better than that.

So of course patriarchal oppression gets me down, but this film goes even deeper than that, to the very heart of how Nazism can take over a group of people. Sort of like that scene in Lord of Rings when the orcs are being born from the mud.

It's definitely my favorite Haneke film so far, although the more I think about Amour, the more I like it.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

More than 7000 children were interviewed during the six month long casting period.

The scenes were altered in post production to be black and white.

1190. Amour

Amour
2012
Directed by Michael Haneke 

And we're back. If you could call the previous two entries a reprieve for the constant barrage of sadness (could you?), we are fully back on the saddle with this one. Most of us dream of finding a soulmate and growing old with someone...well, this is what happens after that.

The film starts with firefighters finding the corpse of a woman in bed after her neighbors complain about the smell. We then flashback to several months before the opening scene. Elderly couple Anne and Georges enjoy a piano performance from one of Anne's former students, Alexandre. Shortly after that, Anne suffers a debilitating stroke and Georges becomes her slightly reluctant caretaker. Naturally, this causes a strain to their relationship.

I am sure this is triggering for many people, whether you are or have been in the care of somebody else, or whether you have had to watch a loved one suffer. I am currently recovering from surgery and depending on my loved one's to take care of me. And, of course, your worst fear when you're completely dependent on somebody else is that they secretly resent it. 

So thanks Amour, for sharing your story with me.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Michael Haneke told his cast to avoid sentimentality at all costs.

The pigeon scene was shot 12 times.

1165. La Pianiste

La Pianiste
The Piano Teacher
2001
Directed by Michael Haneke

I read the book The Piano Teacher a couple of years ago. I plucked it off the shelf at a library because I thought it was going to be the novel version of The Piano. Oops.

Erika Kohut is a piano professor at a Vienna music conservatory. She lives with her domineering elderly mother, and is about as repressed as the day is long. She meets Walter Klemmer, a new student of the conservatory who is clearly attracted to her. However, her terms for having a sexual relationship with him are a little...unconventional.

The book was even stranger, but the director does a good job of capturing Erika's repression. This is not an easy novel to adapt to a movie, and Haneke, psycho that he is, does a good job of it. Of course, the characters are hardly what you would call relatable, so I have a little trouble connecting with the thing. Still, it never gets boring.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Isabelle Huppert played all her piano scenes herself.

Huppert's last scene required 52 takes.

922. Funny Games

Funny Games
1997
Directed by Michael Haneke

I get the impression that you pass the test Haneke has created by turning off the film or walking out of the theater.  Unfortunately, I couldn't do that as I want to complete the List.  I still hated it; does that count for anything?

A wealthy Austrian family (Georg, his wife Anna, their son Georgie and their dog Rolfi) vacation on a house on the lake.  I suppose we were supposed to cheer for this family's demise because they have so much money and apparently this is the French Revolution.  Anyway,  two men from Vienna torture and terrorize them, often breaking the fourth wall.

So yes, I hated this as I hate all home invasion films.  I suppose Haneke was attempting to hold up a mirror to fans of the genre.  I didn't need a reminder that the film was sick and will happily forget about this as soon as possible.

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

Michael Haneke has said that if the film is a success it means the audience didn't understand it.  Way to cover your ass, Haneke.