Director: Michael Haneke, 15, 118min
Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou
On general release
This Austrian director is never a comfortable film-maker to watch, and this picture, arguably the masterpiece of his career so far, is one of the most alienating. Yet, it is a remarkable achievement — a rigorously intellectual film that also works as a chilling thriller.
Haneke has experimented with the use of film within films before, but the idea is explored more fully in this story of a Parisian couple (Auteuil and Binoche) who receive surveillance tapes from a stalker. Auteuil’s character, a highbrow TV host, thinks a figure from his past is responsible, but the suspect denies all knowledge.
Haneke toys with the audience by using long, static shots — it can be difficult to work out whether we are looking through Haneke’s camera or that of the stalker. Then he blows our minds with the most shocking scene you’ll see this year.
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WENDY IDE