02.02.2006

Revisiting colonial horrors

Louise Whittle reviews Michael Haneke's stunning new film Hidden

The latest film by Michael Haneke, Hidden (Caché), is an impressive thriller and highly recommended. The story revolves around a middle class couple, Georges and Anne, and their son, Pierrot. The start of the film focuses on a quiet, suburban scene - a house with people coming and going. You are not quite sure what is happening and then you discover that the scene is from a cassette being played by Georges and Anne.

It becomes apparent that Georges has been receiving anonymous tapes (surveillance is an ongoing theme in Haneke's previous films), displaying mundane footage of his home and his family's movements. They go to the police, but get no real response. Georges works in the media presenting his own TV show, while Anne works in publishing. Their bourgeois existence is reinforced by the regular shots of their extensive book collection and the spaciousness of their house. Their life begins to unravel when these tapes start being left on their doorstep, especially when the sender ups the ante by including shots of Georges's childhood home, together with childlike pictures wrapped around the tapes.

The pace of the film increases in line with Georges's anguish and paranoia. He firstly blames his son and his friends for playing a joke. But, when pictures start appearing of what looks like a child's drawing of a head spewing blood and also a decapitated cockerel, Georges knows that the person responsible is not only deadly serious, but has some intimate knowledge of his life.

Following a hunch, Georges tracks down Majid, an Algerian, who stayed as a boy with Georges and his parents when they were both six. Police killed Majid's parents on October 17 1961 - the date when the FLN called on Algerians to demonstrate against the French-imposed curfew. Hundreds (though nobody really knows the true figure) of Algerians died that day.

Halfway through the film there is a scene which caused collective gasps from the audience - it was unexpected, shocking and brutal. I suspect Haneke knows the audience may be flagging by now and so forces the viewer to sit up and take notice once again. The film becomes more and more tense, with Georges ever convinced that Majid or Majid's son is to blame for the tapes. If Majid is indeed sending them, you do feel that his reason for wanting revenge is understandable.

The flashbacks we see of Georges and Majid's childhood are images based on the lies Georges told his parents about Majid. The way Georges recounts the events of October 17 1961 is with utter disdain and dispassion and it is in the same coldness that he describes Majid, who he thinks is playing some "twisted kind of joke". He never once apologies to Majid for the lies he told. Even towards the end Georges never takes any responsibility for his behaviour, but his denial speaks volumes about his own state of mind. One of the final images we have of Georges is of him going to bed in the afternoon with a headache. You watch him close the curtains as if he is shutting out reality before huddling under the blankets.

Hidden avoids any hint of preaching, allowing the viewer to make up their own mind. The lack of soundtrack means there is no crashing crescendo when something dramatic is going to happen, and the use of photography is powerful. The lighting on Georges's face reflects his coldness and hostile attitude and the spacious house seems to become smaller, as attention is focused more and more on the video recorder. Linking the events of 1961 with today, images of war in Iraq are playing in the background in one scene.

Haneke stated in a recent interview that Hidden is about the French occupation of Algeria on a broad level, but, more personally, it is a story of guilt and denial of guilt. There are other films, such as Nuit noire - 17 Octobre 1961, which have also featured French colonialism in Algeria, but the events of October 17 1961 remain largely taboo.

The release of these films will serve as a way of breaking free of the suppression and censorship which shrouds the shameful, racist, colonial past of France.