Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
Caché is a thriller/whodunnit/allegory for France's treatment of immigrants/not really a whodunnit/more so just the allegory part directed by Michael Haneke. The movie is best seen with little-to-no prior knowledge of the plot, so proceed cautiously, as the rest of this review is discussion and speculation on the movie and its meaning, which could dampen the suspense.
The movie centers around a Frenchman Georges who hosts a TV show for literary criticism. The movie starts on a still frame of a narrow Parisian alleyway. Eventually Georges and his wife, Anne, begin talking over the shot - it is a videotape that has been left on their doorstep by an unknown stalker. The whodunnit aspect of the movie centers on Georges trying to find out who is sending these tapes and what they want from him. He has a high profile, hosting a TV show, but the leading culprit is someone from his past.
When Georges was growing up on a farm, a married Algerian couple worked for his family as farmhands. In 1961, many Algerians were called to Paris and drowned in the Seine - a part of French history that the country evidently has had a hard time coming to terms with. The death of the two farmhands left a young boy, Majid, as an orphan. Feeling sympathy, Georges' parents adopted the boy. This means 6-year-old Georges now had a roommate and a competiton for attention, and he rebelled.
In flashbacks, Georges' lies about Majid lead his parents to send Majid to an orphanage. So as the videotapes the stalker sends Georges become more personal, next showing a rainy drive to Georges' boyhood home, Georges becomes convinced Majid is behind the tapes. Through the next series of tapes, Georges learns of Majid's residence, and he goes to confront Majid.
The several confrontations between Georges and Majid are one-sided. Georges reacts with anger. He wishes to protect his family, his life, his standing in the community. He wishes to keep his past hidden (as the title of the movie translates). Majid reacts with sadness. He is a broken man. He has continued on, had a son of his own, but he harbors resentment and depression over his lack of opportunity, largely due to Georges' selfishness as a child.
Throughout it all, Majid denies he is behind the tapes, but through most of the movie, he still seems like a menace. In a climatic moment, Majid invites Georges over. After Georges enters, Majid again confirms he is not behind the recordings, then - as foreshadowed by one of Georges' lies about Majid - slits his throat. At this point, the audiences' impression of Majid begins to change. Before this point, Majid has a Cape Fear-like presence; he is the lower class citizen whose jealousy is threatening Georges' posh lifestyle. After the suicide, the audience feels more sympathy for Majid; we begin to believe him; we begin to feel sad for him.
The ultimate question - who sends the tapes - is never answered; Haneke himself might not have an answer. Many will still believe Majid did it. They will see his suicide plan as a devilish way of entrapping Georges, framing him for murder. Many will blame Majid's son. After Majid's death, his son confronts Georges. While he is insistent, following Georges into his office building and up the elevator, he makes no verbal threats. He says he is there to see how ruining a life affects a man - and he can see Georges is broken.
I do not believe Majid's son filmed anything. Otherwise, his guilt would be much greater, as if he had commited patricide, and he would not have been able to approach Georges as he did (his words would apply to himself as well). Instead he is much calmer - as if the suicide was the end result of his father's long bout with depression and anger, feuled by Georges' wrongdoings both present and past.
My reading is that the tapes came from Georges' subconscious. Or, alternatively, from Haneke, the director. The tapes - much like Mulholland Drive - are memories that have haunted Georges, slowly rising to the surface. Just as the movie itself is forcing France to remember drowning Algerian immigrants 40 years ago, the director is forcing Georges to remember kicking an innocent Algerian boy out of his parent's house in the distant past.
While Caché is filmed in stark realism, there are still supernatural aspects that make this explanation plausible. In the beginning, as the memories of Majid begin to surface, Georges sees flashes of images of him as a little boy, reenacting the lies Georges once told about him.
Also, in a separate thread of the movie, Georges and Anne's son, Pierrot, learns his mother may be having an affair. The audience only naturally believes this too came from a videotape. Perhaps this is Anne's suppressed secret, revealing her unhappiness with her marriage and her affections for the boss she is accused of being with.
The movie ends with another still shot, this time of Pierrot, just after being let out of school. As you follow Pierrot, you soon see another familiar figure. It is Majid's son. The two meet. They seem familiar. They seem friendly. While Haneke reportedly wrote dialog for them, the audience is not privy to this dialog. Thus, there are many possible interpretations and conclusions.
One could believe Majid's son is corrupting Pierrot and ultimately will be a threat to him just as Majid was a threat to Georges. Perhaps he did make the tapes. Perhaps he filmed an innocent meeting between Anne and her boss and used it to further Pierrot's rebellion against his parents. Perhaps he is not as well adjusted as he seemed when confronting Georges, and his hatred from his father's death will cause him to punish Pierrot the way the audience once believed Majid punished Georges.
However, I see the ending as hopeful. This meeting between the sons is peaceful. They seem like friends. Perhaps it is the director's last forced revelation - the last stalker footage - for Georges and all of France. While the previous generation downs pills and closes the curtains - as we last see Georges, trying to shut out the world and endure the pain he has brought on himself - the next generation has a clean slate and can overcome the anger, hostility, and inequality.
| Cache at Amazon |
