Cinema - Hidden/Caché

Caché begins with a long take - a shot of a flat in suburban Paris. It becomes a very long take. You start wondering what is going on. There is no reason for the camera to focus for so long on such a seemingly bland subject. Then you realise that the picture is taken through a surveillance camera. That, in effect, you are spying on the house. Afterwards you meet the couple who live in the house, played by Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche. They have been sent the tape anonymously in the post. You put yourself in their position. It’s a creepy feeling. You learn a bit more about their lives. He’s the TV host of a literary review; she’s in publishing. They have a 12-year-old son. They seem to have a comfortable, enviable life. But the tapes keep coming in, with childish pictures of bleeding stick men attached. And their relationship starts to become strained as it becomes clear that the Auteuil character has been burying a secret from his past.

Director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf) has specialised for years in making cold, sometimes sadistic movies, but this isn’t one of them. It is, however, an extremely disturbing film. Make sure, if you want to understand what happens, that you carefully watch the last long lingering take. And go with a group of people - you will be discussing what happened for some time afterwards. DL