Film Reviews

Cache (Hidden)

• Rating:
• Director: Mikael Haneke
• Starring: Daniel Auteuil
• Details: France, 118mins, 16s.

Georges Laurent (Auteuil), a TV book critic, and his wife Anne (Binoche) are constantly harassed by an unknown assailant who leaves disturbing drawings of children with blood pouring from their mouths, and video tapes of the couple coming and going, on the doorstep of their posh Parisian apartment. Puzzled as to what it all means, Georges goes to the police, who are impotent as no physical threat has being made. When the videotapes get more intimate - that of George's childhood home - George is forced to confront long-forgotten memories of Majid (Benichou), an Algerian child his parents once almost adopted. With a hunch that Majid harbours a grudge, George hunts him down to seek out answers.
Cache, three times a winner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival (including for Best Director) is magnificent example of suspenseful storytelling as its slow pace quickens and quickens to a crescendo before anyone notices. Haneke, who unselfishly leaves the clever shots and cool tricks at home, hardly ever moving the camera unless absolutely necessary, allows his actors room to do their thing. And with actors like Auteuil and Binoche, you're in good hands as the drama is played out in the faces of protagonists who come apart at the seams. Auteuil and Binoche, two of the finest actors in French history, are on form here as they fill Haneke's static frames with reserved, realistic acting; Auteuil especially, as his calm, reserved George slowly comes a tightly wound neurotic while never threatening to go overboard. Its open-ended climax may infuriate some who like everything tied up, but in Cache, Haneke poses the questions and it's up to the viewer to come up with the answers. Hitchcock is alive and well and directing French films.

Review by Gavin Burke