I absolutely love his work, The Seventh Continent, Funny Games and The Piano Teacher are all amazing works which display the darkest sides of human life/behavior, making his movies endlessly interesting, thought-provoking and psychologically affecting, not to mention a little disturbing.

He is definitely the best director working today, I haven't been able to see the rest of his films (Benny's Video, Code Unknown, The Times of the Wolf) but I'm working on it.


Whats everyone's opinion on him?

Hey, bleakstk, you responded to mine, so I'm returning the favor, albeit much less eloquently. I'm pretty sure I can rent "The Piano Teacher" this weekend, so I'm checking that out. This guy's apparently been making interesting films for nigh on 20 years, and I don't even know who the hell he is. I will attempt to remedy the situation. Later, Gator.

I did have a chance to watch "The Piano Teacher", but since it was from Blockbuster (R-rated), it was only 118 minutes, as opposed to the 130 it was supposed to be. After watching it, I did some research to find out what I missed.

As far as the actual movie that I saw goes, it does make me want to check out his other stuff. My first thought was that his style is influenced by Fassbinder, not just the storytelling, the camerawork and the way he throws change-ups into what you expect, but also the ending seems pure-Fassbinder.

Later, I started thinking that maybe Haneke influenced Todd Solondz in his depiction of how sexuality expresses itself in unorthodox, if shall we say, intellectual, artistic or perhaps immature ways.

You have to remember that I just finished watching this a few hours ago, but finally, have you seen the film "Secretary."? It's not exactly the same thing, but I would consider it something that anyone who enjoyed "The Piano Teacher" should watch. I'll chime in later if I see any more Haneke films.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

Nice...it's good to see some other Haneke fans. Even when I go on hardcored foreign-film buff message boards and the like, either people don't know Haneke's work or have only seen "The Piano Teacher". "Time of the Wolf" was one of my top 10 movies from 2004 and I absolutely love his older work. I have seen most except for "Seventh Continent", which I have been looking for forever. It it any good?

See his CODE UNKNOWN you guys.

It's a sort of collage work with random scenes from real life: 2 of them rather noteworthy: a very "real" street fight and an audition for (what could be) a snuff movie (featuring Juliette Binoche).

I like Michael Haneke quite a bit. The first film of his I caught was BENNY'S VIDEO when it screened at the New York Film Festival. I haven't seen his early films and he's ripe for a NYC retrospective.

There is buzz on his new film, HIDDEN, which opens later this month. It played at this year's NYFF, but I skipped it because it was I believe the Opening Night film and they jacked up the prices.

I caught CACHE (HIDDEN) Haneke's latest film in current release and liked it quite a bit. It is a film that leads to post screening discussion and is basically about how Daniel Autieul & Juliet Binoche are under surveillance, but not it is not clear who or why they are being watched. A real confusing film and thankfully I saved the reviews (which I didn't read prior to seeing the film) to explain some plot developments. An interesting film.

I had never heard if Haneke but just saw CACHE and was utterly astonished--one of the greatest films I ever saw.

PLEASE--if someone is willing to discuss their interpretation of the unresolved ending, I would love to get into it (w/the "spoiler alert" of course for anyone who hasn't seen it).

I have heard some people say there is no definitive resolution/conclusion to be drawn--that the film works only as metaphor; yet i've also had inferences that there IS an answer to the chilling mystery contained in the final scene as credits roll...would love to hear thoughts on what that is or MAY be.

Thanks!

******SPOILER ALERT******

The last scene does contain the answer to the mystery as you can see the Binoche's son Pierrot( in the top right hand corner) with a bunch of his friends when all of a sudden the Algerian's son (sorry I forgot his name) pulls him to the side and starts talking to him with what appears to be a definite familiarity. This seems to certainly suggest that they (the two sons) were responsible for the tapes. Even though this answers the "who" question, the "why" question is definately left open. In my opinion it was to perhaps inspire a bit of concience in Autieul for his action. He simply justifies it by saying that he was young and that he has nothing to be ashamed of but certainly there is plenty to feel guilty about and the way that he handles it, with bullying and threats, shows how threatened and insecure the whole situation strikes him. He claims to not feel any guilt over the whole incident and yet he is reluctant to tell his wife about it, he has dreams that haunt him over what he had done, and he refuses to disclose any information to his wife over his "investigation" into the matter. For all of his civilized mannerisms, his actions are petty, idiotic, and cruel, showing how quickly our civilized pretensions fall away when we are threatentd. The film also works as an allegory to the French-Algerian situation, with the older generation( Autiel's mother) having already forgotten about it, the current generation waving it off and saying that they were young and inexperienced and therefore devoid of responsibility, and the next generation trying to inspire some sympathy in the current generations disaffected hearts. Ultimately the film shows how easily that which is Hidden can be revealed, how desperately we hold on to our privacy, and how cruelly we as human beings can simply disavow all responsibility for the concequences of our actions.

quote:

Originally posted by brighteyes215:


( in the top right hand corner) .

Sorry I meant top left.

***SPOILER ALERT****

Thanks, BrightEyes....

I saw the film a 2nd time (before reading your post) and this time DID notice Pierrot talking w/the Algerian's son at the end and I agree w.your assesment that based on their seeming familiarity w/each other it is at least reasonable to assume that they conspired to send the tapes and creepy pictures...but there are still many "whys" including why Majid felt it necessary to kill himself, and why the Algerian's son seems so believable when he says he had nothing to do w/the tapes (maybe he techincally didn't if Pierrot weas sending them)...and why Pierrot would agree to terrorize his parents based solely on the story Majid's son must have provided him about his father's own past. There is the interesting connection between the two sons of two men whose pasts are so closely linked.

In the end you're right that the film is more about the social inequalities represented by the differing paths (one manufactured and forced) taken by the two men, and the haunting questions about guilt and responsibility. Terrific movie, and one I think everyone should see.

Thanks for your input...

I've only seen three of Haneke's films (Code Unkown, The Piano Teacher, and Cache), but I would have to say that I think he addresses the theme of vulnerability in a way that few directors have done before him -- as demonstarted with Juliette Binoche in the audition scene; Isabelle Huppert in the hockey supply room; and Daniel Auteuil as he watches the videos.

I'm look forward to catching up on some of his older films if I can track them down.

Anthology Film Archives is currently running a complete Haneke retrospective in NYC and I caught four films last weekend.

I got a chance to see his first feature, SEVENTH CONTINENT, which as far as I know did not receive a commercial theatrical release in the U.S. It is an interesting movie in that Haneke kind of shows how the mundane day-to-day existence drives people to extreme behavior. I won't give the film away, but this one is worth seeking out. It was recently released on DVD.

Then I caught up again with BENNY'S VIDEO, which I hadn't seen since '92 when I caught it at the New York Film Festival. I don't think this one ever found a U.S. distributor either. I didn't remember much about the film other than I found it deeply disturbing and liked it quite a bit. Again, a movie about ordinary people doing extraordinary -- and nasty -- things to each other. It is still a film that is deeply disturbing and there is one scene in particular that is really powerful.

I also got a chance to see SEVENTY ONE FRAGMENTS OF A CHRONOLOGY OF CHANCE, which again did not receive a U.S. commercial release and which has its US debut at AFA's Haneke retro. I also liked this one quite a bit and it reminded me of CRASH where random people all find themselves in one place at the end.

As far as I'm concerned Haneke's masterpiece is FUNNY GAMES, which received a very limited release in the U.S. back in '97 or '98 (it showed in one non-profit theatre for two weeks in NYC) and a friend was so impressed with the film he bought the DVD and didn't even own a DVD player at the time. Fortunately for me, he loaned the DVD to me (I missed its theatrical run) and I liked it a quite a bit. I was completely blown away to see it on the big screen. A terrific film, and again very disturbing. It is basically about a home invasion. Arno Frisch, who was the "Benny" in BENNY'S VIDEO, is now grown up and gives a riveting and chilling performance as one of the psychopaths. This one is a must see.