Hidden (Caché)

[John Simkin]

Has anyone seen Michael Haneke's Caché?

... aka Hidden (International: English title) (UK)

... aka Versteckt (Austria) (Germany)

... aka Niente da nascondere (Italy)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387898/

If not, I highly recommend it. It is the best film I have ever seen on the subject of guilt.

Michael Haneke had this to say of the film: "Films that are entertainments give simple answers but I think that's ultimately more cynical, as it denies the viewer room to think. If there are more answers at the end, then surely it is a richer experience. I like the multiplicity of books, because each book is different in the mind of each reader. It's the same with this film - if 300 people are in a cinema watching it, they will all see a different film, so in a way there are thousands of different versions of Hidden. The point being that, despite what TV shows us, and what the news stories tell us, there is never just one truth, there is only personal truth."

[Jean Walker]

Yes, I've seen it and agree with you - it was the sort of film you go home thinking about and wake up thinking about. And you're right - my partner and I had very different views of it due to our different life experiences.

[John Simkin]

Yes, I've seen it and agree with you - it was the sort of film you go home thinking about and wake up thinking about. And you're right - my partner and I had very different views of it due to our different life experiences.

It is also a film about revenge. Whereas films from the United States always place the emphasis on physical violence as a form of revenge, European cinema is much more interested in exploring other ways of obtaining satisfaction.

In this film Majid gets revenge by forcing Georges Laurent to consider his actions as a child. What is interesting about the film is that it shows the way that intellectuals deal with the concept of guilt. Even after Majid’s suicide and his son’s intervention, Laurent is still unable to accept his guilt.