“Cache,” now showing at Boardman's Art Theatre, proves that a simple approach to filmmaking can be the most powerful

By Matthew Freeman
Gargoyle senior editor
Posted Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006, The OG, arts

Movie: “Cache,” starring Daniel Auteuil & Juliette Binoche
Playing: Boardman's Art Theatre, 126 W. Church St., Champaign, through March 2

Take a quick glance at the official movie poster for the latest French film in Champaign, and it may occur to the onlooker that “Cache” is a dangerously close word to “cliche.” That is to say that as far as thrillers go, the intriguingly simple name, the not-so-vague splattering of red, the overall enticing simplicity — it's all been done before. But not long into viewing this film, it's clear to see that with an unconventional writer/director like Michael Haneke at the wheel, all the rules will be broken.

“Hidden,” as the film's title is translated from French, is the first non-Hollywood film to hit Boardman's Art Theatre this year, and it shows. As the first scene opens with the credits appearing slowly over one stationary camera shot of a Parisian alleyway, it's made known that this film is not for the attention-deficit crowd. But as the credits disappear and a man and a woman begin to discuss the shot in voiceover with tentative fear in their voices, the viewer is already inside a frame of the movie. Someone has videotaped the outside of the home of this couple and given it to them. They are being watched and being made to know it.

As the story progresses, the thriller scenario takes shape in a very recognizable form. The voices belong to a successful, middle-aged married couple, Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne (Juliette Binoche), with a pubescent son, Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). To them, the tapes could be a harmless prank by one of Pierrot's friends or a stalking as the result of Georges' flourishing career on television.

Successive tapes, now accompanied by childish drawings with simplistic, disturbing themes, continue to appear on the family's doorstep. As they begin to receive anonymous calls and the tapes become as personal as to include Georges' childhood home, true fear begins to set in. The police are completely indifferent unless physical damage has already occurred, but Georges begins to piece together and follow the information the voyeur has given him, setting up a fateful confrontation involving a hidden childhood history and France's colonial past.

The simplicity of this film works flawlessly with the plot. Camerawork is completely organic, never panning quickly or transitioning much from angle to angle. The viewer gets a fearful what's-around-the-corner feel at times, and shots mimic the hidden cameras within the film at others. There is no soundtrack, no music, and lighting varies from almost blindingly harsh to barely illuminating. The extremely well-crafted realism this creates makes the movie engaging despite its slow pace and long still-frames, despite the fact that such realism means that dialogue is often utterly banal.

Where this film fails as a thriller it picks up as a meaningful drama. While tension isn't held nearly enough to make the whole movie as anxious as the beginning scenes, the destructive force the developments have on the family allow us to see through their exterior success. The relationship between Georges and Anne is trite and passionless, and Pierrot suspects his mother of having an affair. Furthermore, interactions between Georges and the accused voyeur reveal a disgusting side to the protagonist and show a lack of understanding in the midst of his fear.

But perhaps the least formulaic aspect of the film is the structure of its plot. Hollywood would never let a film out to the box office with anything but an exciting, violent ending and satisfying resolution. Haneke lets this story slowly build to its climax. The hard realism combined with action that moves at a barely visible pace makes for a surprise more breathtaking then any car chase and more horrifying than even the goriest of slasher flicks have to offer. The film will allow slow entry into its world, and then shock its viewer to the core.

This movie will leave most viewers with a sense of loss as it transitions from thriller to drama to tragedy. The story begs questions of redemption and forgiveness and makes great subtle commentary on the treatment of disadvantaged minorities by the elite. The once seemingly contrived poster now makes sense in its simplicity, as the film follows that simple model from the camerawork and action to the English subtitles that look like a child's handwriting. As the film's credits roll in a highly surprising ending, even for a thriller, its true meaning will still remain hidden.