Caché (2005)

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on its front porch that may be the direct result from an event from years ago.

Plot Keywords:

Drawing | Police | Friend | Videotape | Dinner

Awards:

21 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Daniel Auteuil	...	Georges Laurent
Juliette Binoche	...	Anne Laurent
Maurice Bénichou	...	Majid
Annie Girardot	...	Georges's Mom
Bernard Le Coq	...	Georges's Editor-In-Chief
Walid Afkir	...	Majid's Son
Lester Makedonsky	...	Pierrot Laurent
Daniel Duval	...	Pierre
Nathalie Richard	...	Mathilde
Denis Podalydès	...	Yvon
Aïssa Maïga	...	Chantal
Caroline Baehr	...	Nurse
Christian Benedetti	...	Georges's Father
Philippe Besson	...	TV Guest
Loic Brabant	...	Police Officer No. 2 (as Loïc Brabant)
Jean-Jacques Brochier	...	TV Guest
Paule Daré	...	The Orphanage Attendant
Louis-Do de Lencquesaing	...	Bookstore Owner
Annette Faure	...	Georges's Mother, Young
Hugo Flamigni	...	Georges as a Child
Peter Stephan Jungk	...	Writer
Dioucounda Koma	...	Cyclist (as Diouc Koma)
Marie Kremer	...	Jeannette
Nicky Marbot	...	The Orphanage Driver
Malik Nait Djoudi	...	Majid as a Child
Marie-Christine Orry	...	Housekeeper
Mazarine Pingeot	...	TV Guest
Julie Recoing	...	Georges's Assistant
Karla Suarez	...	Novelist
Laurent Suire	...	Police Officer No. 1
Jean Teulé	...	TV Guest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi	...	Himself (archive footage)
Barbara Contini	...	Herself (archive footage)
François Négret	...	Man in elevator (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Haneke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Haneke		screenplay

Produced by
Michael André	....	associate producer
Andrew Colton	....	producer
Valerio De Paolis	....	co-producer
Veit Heiduschka	....	producer
Michael Katz	....	executive producer
Margaret Ménégoz	....	executive producer
Michael Weber	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Christian Berger

Film Editing by
Michael Hudecek
Nadine Muse

Casting by
Kris Portier de Bellair

Production Design by
Emmanuel de Chauvigny
Christoph Kanter

Costume Design by
Lisy Christl

Makeup Department
Laurent Bozzi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Gregory Bruneau	....	assistant unit manager
Sébastien Delepine	....	unit manager trainee
Brigitte Faure	....	production manager
Emmanuelle Jacobson-Roques	....	unit manager trainee
Grégory Valais	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alain Olivieri	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Carine Demongueres	....	assistant art director
Peter Ecker	....	property master: Austria
Yannick Heuveline	....	assistant decorator
Katrin Huber	....	props: Austria
Christoph Kanter	....	production designer: Austria
Thomas Pitre	....	property master
Teresa Prothmann	....	art department assistant
Arnaud Roth	....	first assistant decorator
Hans Wagner	....	set decorator: Austria
Wouter Zoon	....	property master

Sound Department
Frank Ceven	....	assistant foley artist (as Franck Ceven)
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound editor
Mathias Maydl	....	sound re-recordist
Antoine Mercier	....	daily boom operator
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	production sound mixer
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound
Yves-Marie Omnes	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Emmanuel Aubry	....	lighting grip
Gabriele Buti	....	assistant camera: HDTV camera
Xavier Embry	....	best boy grip
Gerald Helf	....	first assistant camera
Natascha Neulinger	....	lighting technician
Marion Stalens	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tess Hammami	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Alarich Lenz	....	assistant editor
Soazic Veillon	....	assistant editor
Willi Willinger	....	colorist

Other crew
Richard Lormand	....	publicist: international
Lina Martins	....	assistant: Juliette Binoche
Tosé Riesser	....	production assistant
Kristy Ryan	....	promotions manager: Australia

Production Companies

• Les Films du Losange
• Wega Film
• Bavaria Film (co-production)
• BIM Distribuzione (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (participation)
• arte France Cinéma (participation)
• Eurimages (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen (participation)
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) (participation)
• Studio Canal (participation)
• Östereichisches Filminstitut (participation)
• Filmfonds Wien (participation)
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (participation)
• Uphill Pictures

Distributors

• First Distributors (2005) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• 1More Film (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• BIM Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Buenavista Columbia Tri Star Films de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V.' (2006) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2005-2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Intersonic (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Les Films du Losange (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2005) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Amazonia Films (2005-2012) (Venezuela) (all media)
• California Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (all media)
• Canvas (2009) (Belgium) (TV)
• EuroVideo (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO) (2009) (Netherlands) (TV)

Other Companies

• Falco Ink.  publicity
• LISTO Videofilm  post-production

Also Known As:

Hidden (International: English title) (UK)
Niente da nascondere (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief strong violence.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

France | Austria | Germany | Italy | USA

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:15 | Brazil:16 | UK:15 | Czech Republic:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA | Hungary:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Les Films du Losange

Trivia:

In the scene right after the main character leaves Hajid's apartment and hides in a movie theater we can see posters of several European successful films. One of them is "La mala educación" by Pedro Almodóvar, another one is "Les choristes" (2004) directed by Christophe Barratier.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene we see the Laurent residence from a stationary camera. Three roses are visible in a window box on the left. In the same setting late in the film after much passage of time, the roses are unchanged and in the same positions.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Seed (2007)

Seek out the hidden

Perhaps you will attend Caché to see what all the buzz is about. You will be disappointed. This is not a film to be enjoyed. It is not meant to entertain you. You should at some point in the film be confused, even angered, by what is happening. But you will think about it. A lot. Maybe, you'll start by thinking about the puzzling plot. You'll float a few theories about whodunit, may be even with the caveat, "not that it matters with such unlikeable characters." Then, in your search for answers, you might read comments like the one you're reading right now. You might read a review or two. You probably won't find the answer you're looking for, or maybe you'll find many answers. The point is that in searching for a resolution to complete the narrative, you will have gone over the clues over and over, replaying each scene in your head for meaning. You might even go back and watch the film again in the theatre. Now ask yourself honestly, whether you say you loved the film or hated it, how many films have had this kind of effect on you? It might irritate you that a film seemingly so simple has more effect on your memory than even your favourite films. For this, Caché deserves credit. Because in forcing you to question every frame, it has advanced its themes far more effectively than more traditional narratives. You will never forget that France and Algeria have a dark past. You will never forget how the terror the couple feels tears at the root of what they hold dear, and in doing so changes them into unsympathetic characters. That may not make for two hours of thrills, but it should get people to think about these issues. The real point the movie seems to be making is that in our rush to find clues to complete a narrative, we sometimes lose sight of what's going on. The director here turns us all into sleuths, scanning the foregrounds and backgrounds, by locking off the camera and not guiding us as to what to look at. (In this way, he makes us watch in the same way an autistic person would watch the film.) We're so wrapped up in this alleged mystery that we hardly question the motives of the alleged heroes. Is videotaping a home really terrorizing? After all, people videotape the kids' swim race. Where do these videotapes cross the line? No one is ever threatened or harmed by them. Rather it is the paranoia of the TV host, a person who deals in the editing and manipulation of images for a living, which lead him into following these leads. It is in his nature to mistrust the images. It is in his psyche to follow these tapes and the places they lead him. The farther he follows them, the farther his subconscious burdens him. His mother says she hardly remembers these incidents, but Georges has nightmares about them and constructs grand conspiracy theories about them. Yet when he confronts his childhood nemesis, Majid seems not to know anything of these tapes and is seen crying after Georges leaves. Georges is the one terrorizing him instead of telling him how guilty he feels, which would make him a lot happier. Majid subsequently does something even more shocking. So who's terrorizing whom? As hard as it may be, try to think outside the post-9/11 paradigm and just analyze the facts. The more you do this you will see that Georges is the architect of his own demise. He is not responsible for Majid's horrible actions, but he is responsible for not communicating his guilt with anyone, which might have prevented many of the events.