Caché (original
title) or Hidden is an excruciating
drama written and directed by Michael Haneke about a wealthy Parisian family
that gets torn apart when videotapes routinely appear at their doorstep. These
tapes contain what seems to be some sort of surveillance recordings taken
outside their own house. At first they are harmless but then the tension builds
up as enigmatic childish drawings come along with the tapes. Since the police
refuses to help as the tapes do not show any kind of threat, Georges Laurent starts to think about who
might be doing such a thing and that leads him to long gone infancy memories. That’s
when one tape leads him to his suspect, Majid, who is the son of an Algerian couple
who used to work for Georges’ parents before they’ve been murdered in the Paris
massacre of 1961. After that Georges’ parents attempted to adopt Majid with no
success.
The only reason why Georges sees Majid as a suspect his because of his
own guilt and conscience.
The plot is complex as it raises a lot of questions which will not get
an answer. Michael Haneke said: “I'm not going to give anyone this answer. If
you think it's Majid, Pierrot, Georges, the malevolent director, God himself,
the human conscience - all these answers are correct. But if you come out
wanting to know who sent the tapes, you didn't understand the film. To ask this
question is to avoid asking the real question the film raises, which is more:
how do we treat our conscience and our guilt and reconcile ourselves to living
with our actions?
The film has been awarded with Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award,
European Film Awards Best Film and several others.
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