Hidden (Caché)

Love this movie! Looks absolutely fantastic on blu! Be aware, only the movie will play- the special features won't play on USA blu Ray players. Kind of a drag- after watching the movie I really wanted to watch the special features.

Very good blu-ray of a chilling, unsettling (and admittedly frustrating) film about a couple under surveillance by a mysterious observer. Outstanding performances, crisp cool direction. One of the best films in recent years.

The movie is superb and rates 5 stars. Amazon is remiss however in not telling potential U.S. buyers that, although the Blu Ray of the movie is region free, the extras are all on a PAL compatible disc that will not play on U.S. Region 1 Blu Ray players. Hopefully a U.S. Blu Ray edition is in the works.

Georges and Anne Laurent have a great life: Georges is a successful television host of a book discussion and review program and Ann does book and author p.r. They have a beautiful home and a smart and caring, 12 year old son, Pierrot. Then one day a package arrives containing a vhs tape wrapped in a drawing of a blood spattered man. The tape is of Georges and Ann's house, taken from across the street: they are being watched. But by whom and why? The packages continue to arrive, the tapes become more confrontational and the drawings more graphic. Director and Screenwriter, Michael Haneke (the controversial and blatantly sexual "The Piano Teacher") is operating on several levels and his motives are almost entirely implicit though "Cache'" on a very basic level is very tightly wound, suspenseful and operates on the very highest level of intelligence: as in the very best films, Haneke shows rather than tells us. As the movie progresses and the tapes become more personal, Georges is forced to confront the sins of his past and that of his family towards an Algerian orphan, Majid who once lived with Georges family. Haneke is on a first name basis with Obsession and the obsessive personality: the wheres, the whys and the hows. "The Piano Teacher" is nothing if not a treatise on the big "O." Deeply hidden in the bowels of his psyche, Georges guilt also becomes an obsession: is he a participant in his own victimization? Is he sending himself the tapes and the gruesome pictures as a way of expiating his guilt? "Cache'" addresses the French Algerians ongoing conflict with the French government both socially and morally, issues of personal and collective Guilt as well as the complicated morass of wife/husband relationships... particularly those dealing with communication or lack thereof. The films ambiguous final scene shot at Pierrot's school at the end of the school day with students mingling, talking, joking with each other,just being young...is troubling and infuriating in its dense obtuseness; particularly when Majid's son shows up: there are at least four ways of interpreting this scene and each one can be supported by what is up on the screen: masterful. "Cache'" is a refined, intelligent and difficult film. Haneke does not offer any easy answers and absolutely no solutions nor does he allow his characters any absolution. The road here is jammed with moral pot holes and danger signs. Proceed with caution: "Cache's" journey may be difficult but the destination is rife with relevant and well observed lives in turmoil.

A brilliant film made by genius perfectionist filmmaker Michael Haneke. His style is very different - don't expect a conventional film.

A psychological thriller with a unique direction.

I found this French film directed by Michael Haneke rather dull, boring and confusing. I'm not aware of having seen anything else of his but I certainly wouldn't rush to watch anything else under his direction. The story-line, such as it is, is about a couple, Georges and Anne Laurent (Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche), who start receiving video tapes of themselves coming and going to and from their apartment. Georges is an anchor-man for a TV book review show and Anne is a literary editor. The mystery is, who would make and send these tapes and why? The problem is never satisfactorily answered. Suspicion falls on a lad who was adopted into Georges' family, and then onto his son, but both deny the accusation. The Laurents' teenage son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky) goes missing for a while, presumed abducted, and this adds a frisson of excitement. Juliette Binoche is lovely, and her and Auteuil's acting make the film watchable but this is certainly not one of my top ten thrillers.

This has to be the most intriguing and interesting film I have seen in a long time. As the hours and days pass since I first watched it, I continue to see new angles and dimensions to this film. It operates on many levels. Everything is not what it seems. It is a film of the unconscious. The viewer gets a clue to what the film is about in the form of what seems an amusing little anecdote told over a smart dinner party. On the face of it, all is comfortable, intriguing, successful, attractive, even enviable, from a bourgeoise perspective. But scratch the surface of anything and something uncomfortable lurks beneath. The film is often considered frustrating because, like our own shadow, all is not knowable. The unconscious is not available for scrutiny, analysis and clear-cut answers. Hidden takes the viewer unwittingly down a scenic route of their own selfish assumptions. Haneke very cleverly uses the viewers own 'greed' to know, to unravel, to make sense and have tidy answers of the obvious story line. He also plays with our fears and opinions to test our self-honesty in terms of where we deny our own shadow self. The viewer is taken through a series of value systems that scream out man's inhumanity to man. We skim along the edges of our dark sides. Where we truly dare to dip in and allow the experience of dischord, there is, at least, some honesty and integration of self. In our quest to quickly find solutions, we must make snap judgements, entertain suspicions, all without really seeing much more than the facade. We have hints and clues that something incongruous pulses through each dynamic but we are consistently frustrated to discover the full 'that which is hidden'. How quickly did we sweep away all that was uncomfortable? Majid's removal from the family home was so shocking by virtue of its starkness. And, yet, it symbolised how the psyche treats its own troubled thoughts. Instead of nurturing them into wellness, they are swept away to suffer, abandoned and neglected. The more their presence is denied, the more empowered they become to haunt and disturb, even the innocence. How long, one must ask, did we dare to really feel and investigate the darkness? Or did we prefer to grasp at a neat get-out and pretend all was not so bad. However, in the quest to have our own mind satisfied and made tidy again, the viewer makes judgements and treats the instances of other people's suffering as fodder for our own selfish quest of knowledge and answers. It is a film that is essentially self-reflective of our own darkness. It gives huge scope to ponder where, in each scene, the psyche dared to look beneath, at what point that became too uncomfortable to stay with, which issues did we drop and reassure ourselves that it was not so bad and what values we were willing to slide along with to assuage ambiguity. The thriller aspect was a very clever vehicle with which to deliver the hidden film beneath.

Sometimes movies insult us an sometimes movies are intellectually sound of our mind that we do understand clearly. and sometimes movies left us at a turnstile that when you look around you see nothing but empty spaces. But this one “Hidden” is the type of movie that makes you wonder what was those two talking about at the end. was he telling the kid the true story of his father past that was the most devastating thing the kid could hear. or was it nothing at all. because you see no emotion from the kid or was it just a fool plan to hurt this person from the games they used to play as kids. this is one movie that has a treasure-trove of guilt to it that I’ve never seen in any other movie in my like. make no doubt about it it is a very psychological thriller that could leave you starching your head for more an more. this is why you have to pay attention to the nightmares an decipher your self-incriminating brain..figure that out.. this movie fast-forward on you so don’t think you’re doing it. And it has long takes which is director Michael Haneke signature move. have to something about the bluray its so clear in every frame the best I’ve ever seen. Juliette Binoche was outstanding in this. Very Good Thriller Of A Movie.. 1.85:1 Runtime 109 Min. French with English Subtitles 5.1 DTS-HD.

An amazing film, you have no clue where it is going as it unfolds. Some questions are answered but I had a lot of questions at the end. Juliette Binoche is fantastic in this. Creepy and insightful about the secrets we hide from others. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent and this is playable in Region A on North American Blu-ray players despite what the product information may say.

'Hidden' stars Daniel Auteuil as a Parisian TV intellectual who enjoys a pleasant metropolitan existence with his wife (Juliette Binoche) and their son. One day, odd videotapes and strange drawings start to arrive anonymously in the post. These are perplexing to all concerned but only Daniel Auteuil's character seems to be particularly disturbed by them from the start. Is this the re-surfacing of a dark episode in his life that he thought had been buried long ago? His quest to track down the sender leads to further unravellings until a conclusion of a sort is achieved. This film is about two things: one is the concealment of awkward truths within families and larger social groups in order for them to function. The other is the different memories and interpretations that people can hold of the same sequence of events, and the differing consequences of these events for the people concerned. I understand that 'cache' means not just 'hidden' but also 'put away' (as in a mental institution or prison) in French. The film demonstrates that 'reaching closure' (to use the social worker's favourite phrase) of an 'issue' is totally subjective - the problem may only be hidden... As in many French films the director does not make it easy for the viewer to follow the plot and some things are left deliberately vague, in keeping with the general theme of the movie. The interview with the director in the extras menu is worth watching after the first viewing to understand what is going on. Then the film is worth a second sitting to catch the rococo flourishes attached to the main plot. This film is definitely worth seeing, if only to see which camp you fall into, and is worth buying if you are into French cinema, but gets four out of five stars from me because, for the general viewer, it is not as good as the blurb claims. Cinematic masterpiece or pretentious Gallic twaddle? There's only one way to find out....FIGHT!!!!!!!

This film is in the same mould as Mulholland Drive. Most people who have hated it here, want to be entertained, want a simple plot (or at least a well defined complex plot) and a closed ending. Cache (Hidden) is what I term an interactive film. It presents to you, the viewer, a story, and expects you to engage with the story to determine what it means. This is something that most of us have been conditioned to dislike, as you cannot escape from it. It requires that you engage deeply, to understand the emotions, the subtle threads, and then work with the acting to determine why things are happening. Admittedly, I found the final scene confusing, but a hint to those who have seen it and want further understanding, check out imdb's message boards. For those of you who want to rent or buy this, without knowing what it is about - I say this to you. Do not expect a flash artistic film with great cinematography etc. Instead, expect a silent score, emotion, tension, suspence, some real shocks, and the need to engage with the story to understand just what it all means. In the same vein as Mulholland Drive and The Vanishing, this is a tension film that requires no gore or sfx, just your imagination and involvement in the plot. Well worth it, and once you figure out (via imdb) the subtle undertones, you realise its really great storytelling and mind-opening. Watch it if you like to expand horizons.