71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) (1994)

Director: Michael Haneke
Writer:    Michael Haneke
Cast:       Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko, Otto Grunmandl
Language: German

71 scenes revolving around a Romanian kid who entered into Austria illegally, a couple that adopted a daughter recently, a college student and an old man who watches a lot of TV and news. The film starts with the news that a student gunned down three people for no reason and then it goes to show activities of these people prior to the incident. In between we are shown TV news covering civil war in Somali, Balkan Wars, Middle East problems, Michael Jackson's trail etc.

This is the final film in Heneke's Glaciation trilogy which also includes 'The Seventh Continent' and 'Benny's Video'. All these films have alienation as its central theme. The 71 fragments is a difficult watch because it is hard to follow the characters for much of the film with the shortness of scenes. I think it is deliberate from his part because the final scene kind of shows that even violence doesn't get you noticed in this world as news reel again goes back to popular stories like Michael Jackson's trail after a token mention of three people getting killed. There is one great long take of a person practicing Table Tennis with a machine which was kind of the highlight for me. 

I think it is the most inferior film in Haneke's filmography with Benny's Video coming a second. That said Benny's Video is still better than many other director's best films.

Rating: 2.5/5

Amour (2012)

Director:  Michael Haneke

Writer:     Michael Haneke

Cast:       Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert

Language: French

Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.

Unlike other Haneke films, Amour is very accessible for the audience. But that doesn't make it any less depressing. Like in his other films it deals with alienation and helplessness. It will make you think about many things including assisted suicide.

Rating: 5/5

Funny Games (1997)

Director:    Michael Haneke
Writer:      Michael Haneke
Cast:         Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch
Language: German
Two psychotic young men take a mother, father and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic games with one another for their own amusement.

Its a spoof on horror films in the sense that what you expect from an horror film does not happen in this films and the conventions are broken. Brilliant film from Haneke.

Rating: 5/5

Benny's Video (1992)

Director:   Michael Haneke
Writer:      Michael Haneke
Language: German

Its Michael Haneke's second feature film after "The Seventh Continent'. Its about a teenage boy Benny who likes to watch violent videos and filming with his video camera. His parents are well off and his sister lives in a different part of the town. As with most Haneke films its a modern Bourgeoisie family. Benny inadvertently(?) kills a girl he picks up from the video store and later on he lets his parents know about it. The rest of the film shows how they deal with the situation. I thought the ending was slightly a let down but despite that its a brilliant but depressing film.

Rating: 4/5

Le temps du loup (Time of the Wolf) (2003)

Director:   Michael Haneke
Writer:      Michael Haneke
Language: French
This is Haneke's effort it depicting travails of a mother (Isabelle Huppert) and her two children in a post apocalyptic world. In the beginning of the film her husband is murdered and their belongings stolen by a stranger in their weekend home. They are left to their own with a bi cycle to find a means to get to the city. They encounter a group of strangers in a railway station where they plan to stop a train which may or may not come. We see Haneke's take on how people would behave in such a situation where their education and upbringing does not matter.

I was reminded of Cormac McCarthy's novel 'Road' (haven't seen the film) and Cuaron's 'Children of Men' while watching the film. Time of the Wolf is very minimalist and depressing and won't be everyone's cup of tea. Isabelle Huppert had earlier collaborated with Haneke in 'The Piano teacher'.

Rating: 4.5/5

Der siebente Kontinent (The Seventh Continent) (1989)

Director:   Michael Haneke
Writer:      Michael Haneke
Language: German
I saw the film without knowing anything other than its Michael Haneke's debut one and was completely blown away by it. I am not giving out any details about the film as its worth watching without any prior idea about the film. It deals with alienation felt by a bourgeoisie family which is evidently Haneke's favorite theme. The title of film refers to Australia, to where the family plan to emigrate to.

There was a very good interview with Haneke about this film available and there is one very interesting bit where he says he warned the producer that there are couple of scenes where the audience would get upset-aquarium one and money flushed down the toilet. The producer told him that the latter won't upset many and guess what, Haneke was right as many walked out after the money scene.

Haneke has gone up fast in my favorite Directors list and I reckon he will be in the top 5 along with Tarantino, Kubrick, Coens and Lynch

Rating: 5/5

Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (Code Unknown: Incomplete tales of several journeys) (2000)

Director:   Michael Haneke
Writer:      Michael Haneke
Language: French
The film set in Paris shows the lives of three chief protagonists after they are linked by a single event  in the film's beginning. Many films have been made this way lately but Haneke's effort is the best I have seen so far. Amores Perros is another one which came out the same year as this film in 2000. Juliette Bincohe is excellent in her role as an actress in the film.

The film deals with city life anger, immigrant issues, racial issues etc. There are three main protagonists and film consists of several long takes with hardly any music used. The last 30 or so minutes of the film is particularly excellent. Another great thing about the film is at its 110 minutes running time Haneke has managed to tell so much while other films like Babel and Amores Perros have running times close to 150 minutes. I think it will be even better on my next watch as I suspect that there will be many things I missed.

Rating: 5/5

Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon) (2009)

Director:   Michael Haneke
Wrietr:      Michael Haneke
Language: German
Mysterious violent incidents happen in a small German village just before the first world war. The events are narrated to us by a school teacher. The film is in black and white though it was shot in color. The one gripe I have is this, having the film in black and white just because its a period film. Overall Haneke has described the film as an allegory on rise of Terrorism

Rating: 4/5