Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (2000)

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)

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:

When the film was shot in August 1999, Juliette Binoche was pregnant. To disguise her condition she wore loose "unkept" clothes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Absolument cinéma: Juliette Binoche (2000) (TV)

Do you speak celluloid?

Haneke's film is about communication - its importance but also its difficulty. It is a string of episodes, rather like the formal arrangement of a musical suite, in which the dramatic momentum comes from the tension that interaction between characters causes.

I have not seen Juliette Binoche act better. She is at the centre of this film, her character in the self-referential sequences which necessarily examine the medium itself (the ritornello of a suite analogy). Gradually, in Altman/Short Cuts or, on a larger scale, Kieslowski/Three Colours formal style, characters are introduced that play out their own dramas. A whole range of wires get crossed - language, culture, class, religion, and of course love. A violent sequence on the metro is represented as if without blinking - very frightening indeed.

I'm glad of the ironic final sequence - deaf musicians performing to an audience unfettered by misunderstanding the fun they're having. It's a bouyant end to a 7.5/10, poetic film.