Post F.I.T. Part 2: Caché (2005)

Caché
Dir. Michael Haneke
Star. Daniel Autuil, Juliette Binoche

I think it's safe to say that no single scene in a film has caught me off guard and shocked me as much as the singular act of violence that arises in Michael Haneke's Caché. Haneke is a master of on-screen violence, not the glorifying of it for pure shock value, but rather showing how violence effects people in a very real and unnerving, unsettling light. His 1997 film Funny Games, feels a bit dated to me when I watched it last, but with Caché Haneke ups the ante not with more violence, but artfully packing a hay-maker with one single scene.

The uneasiness of the build to the scene is what makes it so effective. Georges and Anne receive countless eerie video tapes on their door step, the tapes contain footage from a camera that is fixated on the exterior of their home. The film is very quiet, very dialogue driven, and almost voyeuristic. As the tapes keep arriving, sometimes accompanied by strange drawings, tensions build, and the events begin to put a strain on the family's life. That's about as far as i'll go, as I don't want to ruin anything. But as I said, "the scene" made me cringe, reach for a pillow and plant it firmly over my face. The fact that it happens about half way through the film, and aftermath unfolds before you makes it that much more of a trip.

I'm a horror film fan, I occasionally enjoy rather morbid shit, and am rarely weirded or gross out by much. So when something comes along that can truly give me chills, I hold it in fairly high regard. The only thing that might come close to this is Gaspar Noé's Irreversible, and it's initial club scene, and absurdly graphic rape scene, both of which made me turn my head in disgust. While Noé's film is yes, boldy graphic, I feel like its borderline done solely for pure shock. Haneke takes violence, gets under your skin, and makes you feel, very effectively, what witnessing such as shocking act would feel like and how deeply leave an imprint on your life. Its one of those movies that I have a hard time recommending to people for these reasons, but I think its an important film that addresses how we oft use violence in film as a thing of entertainment, and how oh so wrong that notion is.