The cinema of Michael Haneke

The cinema of Michael Haneke

This Austrian filmmaker is fascinated by the calm and the silence that prevails before the storm. He declares that he is interested “in what happens before and after the violent act.” He develops once again this same topic in his latest movie: ‘The White Ribbon‘ (’Das Weisse Band’), awarded as the Golden Globe for best foreign film at the Cannes Festival in May 2009. This is the perfect occasion to talk about this filmmaker who became famous in 1997 with the movie Funny Games. Discover his disturbing style and his talent to reveal the human contradictions.

Michael Haneke’s movies usually touch on topics of the obscure human essence such as childhood, the sadomasochistic behaviour, violence and guilt. Originally from Munich, he was a former student of philosophy, psychology and drama and soon became passionate about the dark side of Mankind. His cinema has the reputation of asking questions without giving an explicit answer, putting in the viewer in an uncomfortable situation with the aim of provoking vivid and emotional reactions. “I think that art should deal with all subject matters. I suppose I did just think that we needed a sense of proportion”, revealed the filmmaker in January. The silences, the laughter, the movements, the events, the behaviours… all tend to be disturbing.

In ‘The White Ribbon’, a black and white film on which he worked for ten years, the protagonists are the children of a Protestant Village of Germany during the years 1913 and 1914. Why? Haneke wanted to show a group of children in this context to illustrate how values are transmitted via Nazism and Fascism, and how these children assimilate them. It has a social, political and religious message because he wants to demonstrate how it can turn innocence into something inhuman, even into terrorism. According to Haneke, The White Ribbon interrogates “the universal problem of the perverted ideal”. One should come to their own conclusions and find their own answers.

Other films by Haneke that received international admiration were Hidden (2005) which won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Prize for best film and best Director in the European Film Awards (2005). In 2001, The Pianist won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This cinematographic work was developed in France and the United States, with actors like Juliette Binoche, Naomi Watts, Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel.

We are not going to reveal all the talent of this Austrian filmmaker as you can see.There is no one similar to Haneke. We can compare him to the greatness of Madrid – there is nothing like it. Rent the best Apartments in Madrid and let yourself be dazzled by this amazing city.

via madridapartments.me

Posted via web from barcedona's posterous