Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (2000)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 2000 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Love has a language all its own

Plot:

Jean, a farm lad, wants to escape his silent father; he runs to Paris to his older brother, Georges...

Plot Keywords:

Beggar | Play | Farm | Police | Gypsy

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Juliette Binoche	...	Anne Laurent
Thierry Neuvic	...	Georges
Josef Bierbichler	...	The Farmer (as Sepp Bierbichler)
Alexandre Hamidi	...	Jean
Maimouna Hélène Diarra	...	Aminate
Ona Lu Yenke	...	Amadou
Djibril Kouyaté	...	The Father
Luminita Gheorghiu	...	Maria
Crenguta Hariton	...	Irina (as Crenguta Hariton Stoica)
Bob Nicolescu	...	Dragos
Bruno Todeschini	...	Pierre
Paulus Manker	...	Perrin
Didier Flamand	...	The Director
Walid Afkir	...	The Young Arab (as Walide Afkir)
Maurice Bénichou	...	The Old Arab

Also Known As:

Cod Necunoscut (Romania)
Code - Unbekannt (Germany)
Code Unknown (Canada: English title)
Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys (International: English title)
Code inconnu (France) (short title)
Projet inconnu (France) (working title)
Agnostos kodikas (Greece) [el]
Bilinmeyen kod (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Código desconocido (Spain) [es]
Code inconnu (Canada: French title) (short title) [fr]
Codice sconosciuto (Italy) [it]
Ismeretlen kód (Hungary) [hu]
Kod nieznany (Poland) [pl]
Kod okänd (Sweden) [sv]
Kode ukendt (Denmark) [da]
Storie (Italy) [it]
Tuntematon koodi (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

France:118 min | Netherlands:117 min

Country:

France | Germany | Romania

Language:

Malinka | Romanian | French | German | English | Arabic | French Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Italy:T | Norway:11 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Mali

Company:

Bavaria Film

Trivia:

All the long take sequences were filmed in real-time without using edits.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Femme Fatale (2002)

A film for the end of days and, seemingly, every day before

Strange. I saw within 24 hours one of the biggest frauds I've seen (the despicable 'Crash') and one of the best films, 'Code Unknown'. Both pictures examine preconception (be it racism, xenophobia, or like societal concerns) but only 'Code Unknown' allows characters to live in the rhythm and cadence of ordinary life as so many of us recognize it.

The picture concerns the being of about 7 characters, typically catching those involved at times that aren't necessarily, at least apparently, advancing to a conventional plot. Scenes often begin in their ostensible middle, characters are caught mid-sentence; this technique breathes a sense of organic freedom into the people we are watching, a technique that director Michael Haneke frequently uses to capture the reality of people as they simply exist. Here, the nature of connection is examined through the complex means of allowing the audience's preconceptions, as well as some (certainly not all) of the characters, to add meaning and gravity to what we see.

I loved this movie; seldom do I feel privileged to be able to engage in the lives of those on screen. The experience of watching 'Code Unknown' is akin to putting in earplugs and watching random people interact: after some time, the interactions of those we see become our own personal narrative, meaningful to us alone. While this film has its meaning, it also understands that the viewer's thoughts and feelings are just as relevant to the process as the film crew's. To put it another way, 'Crash' would have been a miserable failure of a movie even if I hadn't seen it. 'Code Unknown' seems to come into being as its being watched, an experience between the filmmakers and the viewers. Michael Haneke could make 10,000 more movies and it wouldn't seem enough.