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Hidden (cache) [2005]


RRP: £19.99
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

A tense, taut and unsettling thriller, Hidden is a film that expertly follows television presenter Georges, whose seemingly perfect life is shattered when he receives a videotape. On it is a lengthy stream of surveillance footage of his home, shot from just across the street. And it’s just the first of many. Further tapes, accompanied by strange and disturbing drawings, start to arrive, leaving Georges, his wife and his teenage son unsettled.

The film slowly builds from there, as Georges starts looking to his past to try and find the answer to who is sending the tapes, only to find himself increasingly disturbed by the memories he recalls.

Grounded by excellent performances from Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche, Hidden is a masterclass in slow-burning cinema. It has no easy answers, boasts some quite superb direction, and it’s also distinctly unconventional in how it goes about its business (right from the opening titles). Director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher) cleverly works his story across several levels, and while, come the end credits, some may initially find themselves underwhelmed, here’s a film that stays in the brain long after the stop button has been pressed. Granted, it won’t be to all tastes, but those that do find themselves engrossed are likely to agree that this is one of the finest French films in many years.--Jon Foster


the truth is obscure
Review date: 2008-11-24 Rating: 6 out of 10

A thought-provoking, subtly directed thriller which leaves you with more questions than answers. Daniel auteuil and Juliette binoche are excellent as the couple caught up in a deeply unsettling scenario of surveillance and deep-buried guilt. Trust is abused by autueil's character, binoche becomes an innocent victim of her husband's past behaviour, never explicitly revealed, except in a repeated nightmare. Her own descent into paranoia is expertly observed, the confrontations with her husband depressingly real.

This film is multi-layered in its approach to revealing the different characters and their relationships to one another.The lack of any soundtrack serves to heighten the tension. The violence - one short, searing moment, is completely unexpected and all the more shocking.

By the end, the viewer is left stunned and still questioning, still confused as to everyone's motives - mother, son, father,who is to blame, who is telling the truth?

This is artful cinema, requiring concentration from the viewer beyond normal levels. Haunting, haunted and gripping, it will stay with you for a long while after the final reel.


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Reviews


Like watching paint dry ...
Review date: 2008-09-06 Rating: 2 out of 10

This film does not answer any of the questions that it sets up in the initial 15 minutes, i.e. who was making the videos, who was sending the videos and drawings, and why did no-one try to pinpoint where the camera was situated for each of the scenes?

Having watched the interview with the director, I don't believe even he knows. So what WAS the point of it all? I can get all of the guilt, uncertainty, lack of closure, and lack of resolution (but not perhaps the throat-cutting) in real life, without having to waste my time and money watching this pretentious twaddle.

Haneke admits in interview that the Americans would never have made this film because of its lack of resolution. This film shows you what you get when no effort is made to resolve anything.

BOOOORRRRING .... zzzzzz
Review date: 2008-08-28 Rating: 2 out of 10

After reading a lot of positive reviews about this film I had been dying to see it for months so when I finally got my hands on a reasonably priced DVD of it I was thrilled and couldn't wait to watch it. To my major disappointment, however, I found that it was one of the most tedious, dull and lazy films I've ever seen. There's almost no storyline to speak of, the scenes are long and drawn out and the ending fizzled out into absolutely nothing so there were no answers to any questions a viewer might have. Usually I enjoy Juliette Binoche's acting but even she couldn't lift this film out of its dullness. I've never seen Daniel Auteuil before and I did think he was probably the most interesting person in the film overall, but generally it's just a lame film which totally lacked direction, dragged on for way too long and I felt cheated viewers even of a decent ending. I found it so tedious that I could barely stay awake while watching it and, to be honest, it would have been a better idea to just have gone to bed and got a couple of extra hours sleep! I'm puzzled by the glowing reviews I've read of this film. It's as if the people who've written them have either seen an entirely different film or maybe they feel compelled to rave about it just because it's French, a bit arty, etc. How could anyone say this is the best film they've ever seen??! Very strange. I know a lot of Hollywood films are very formulaic and predictable but just about anything would have been better than wasting almost two hours watching this drivel. It's a very, very disappointing film.

the hidden crimes of humanity
Review date: 2008-07-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

papon ,a nazi collaborator ordered the massacre of at least 200-1000 peaceful demonstrators during the algerian war,drowned or shot in the heart of paris.

this movie is a socio-political hidden innuendo in the form of a refined and re-invented revisitation of the event and its reverbrating consequences,its victims are actually the guilt-ridden french conscience that tolerated a state sponsored concentration camp and brutal police killings intentionally,the satire or observation works in the form of a modern couple who are receiving violent messages ,the reaction of the spouses to each other is natural as the wife rebels against the husband's guilt ridden belated confessions to the root cause of their persecution,

haneke is a master and he deploys images to explain and suggests rather then talk about both the horrific event which rendered an 8 year old boy an orphan and then the NORMAL jealousy of a 6 year old which led to ruining the life of the orphan in a state orphanage.

but the optimisim is about the next generation that the last shot so skilfully devises as two polar cultures come together in the compound of a school,and you understand the character of pierrot,laurents son and his possible liaision in the event itself of terrorising his own family.

This is simply genius-the orphan majid and his reactions are overwhelming ,while you cannot judge the laurent family or george -so who is to blame-PAPON,WHO WAS CONVICTED OF WAR CRIMES IN 1998,for deportation of jews and then the algerian massacre in the heart of paris over pontsaint-michel-this is a masterpiece,a modern classic attired as a slick thriller but it will haunt you as the imaginary nightmare that charles laurent undergoes as his guilty conscience perturbs him -death is no punishment but a liberation ,it is a tortured soul that suffers eternally and the hidden becomes an overt tribute to the politically and racially massacred victims of france from st.Bart's day massacre to the recent police conflicts with africans in parisian suburbs ,

mr .haneke's hidden is the most important socio-political thriller ever made as it talks of a mass national guilt in the context of individuals ,but hits it's nail right on the head just like haneke meant it to be -the movie is titled hidden but it's message is a noble ,humane ,liberating truth which makes a true parody of the trashy last few decades .

this is a modern day great classic which is possibly only comparable to pan's labyrinth in it's context of teror on children's minds but psycholigically it's far superior to that as it indulges in not judging the french or laurents but looking at the future in it's finale great moments .

en core .

usman khawaja


Not an American thriller
Review date: 2008-06-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

Many of the reviewers of this film do not appreciate the difference between the "European" approach to film-making and the American. Why do people want a closed, resolved ending to everything? Why do they have to have everything spelled out to them? What is wrong with the film-maker leaving explanations ambiguous?

This film isn't just about guilt, but also about the denial of guilt, about the denial of responsibility, about the need to shift responsibility onto someone else. This film asks questions about whether and when should you hold yourself responsible. There are class, intellectual, racial and gender attitudes which all lead to the Daniel Auteil character into denying to himself, his wife, his tv boss and his son his part in the current situation of someone with whom he shared a part of his family childhood.

The film leaves you to wonder whether you are like the main character. Are you a "me, me, me" type of person or, when confronted with painful evidence of your responsibility, do you own up, apologise, try to make good, or just absolve yourself of any blame if you can, because you think others are just worth less than you?

The film leaves you asking yourself real questions about yourself, makes you keep thinking about who was to blame; should he, and would you, have acted differently?

Don't watch the film if you want to be spoon-fed all the answers Hollywood-style. If you want to have your comfort-zone challenged, then this is an excellent film.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Bernard Le Coq
Juliette Binoche
Maurice Benichou
Annie Girardot
Daniel Auteuil

Creators:
Daniel Auteuil (Primary Contributor)
Juliette Binoche (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Artificial Eye
Manufacturer: Artificial Eye
EAN: 5021866312309
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-19
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 113 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Original Language)

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