Michael Haneke, The Films of.

This week I complete my viewing of all of Michael Haneke's theatrical work, excluding The Castle (originally made for TV) with Benny's Video (1992) and the original Funny Games (1997). I first came to Michael Haneke through Cache  (2005), after the film recieved such glowing reviews, and starred Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil. The film, about one man's guilt over the post colonialism of French Algeria, relating to a choice he made as a child, and resurfacing after he recieves a number of video tapes of his apartment, and a series of childish drawings. This was followed by a unique cinematic experience watching his American remake of Funny Games. Its rare for me to experience a film in which most of the audience has left by the end; it happened with Southland Tales (because it was dire), it happened with Antichrist (because it was dire and shocking) and it happened with Funny Games U.S. because it forced the audience to be complicit in what occured on screen, but was no less brilliant, if hardly entertaining.
Finally, last year I saw The White Ribbon, one of the best films of the past ten years. I sat in awe of the genius on display in the film, my mind overwhelmed by the genius on display, and my heart leaping at every moment of cinematic wonder. Having seen these films I decided to seek out his entire oeurve and have since seen all his films, except the previously mention The Castle.
The Seven Continent (Der Siebente Kontinet) was Haneke's first featue film, having worked within TV for years, and it told the true life tale of a family in Austria who decided one day to through off the shackles of life, overwhelmed by the feelings of alienation of distanciation prevelant in modern society, and destroy all their possessions before finally commiting suicide. The film is close the unwatchable, with Haneke obsessed with the rituals of modern living, and we barely even see the faces of the family throughout the story. Of all of Haneke's films it felt the weakest, and it wasn't until the final images, as it was revealed to be based on a true story that the weight of the film hit me.
His follow up, Benny's Video, which forms the 2nd part of a trilogy (though content and characters don't carry over, it being more a thematic triumvirate) is similar in many ways to The Seven Continent. Haneke seems less concerned with emotion engagement, but rather distancing the audience and forcing them to become aware of themselves in the act of watching the story unfold. In this case, about a teenage boy who murders a young girl, and then recieves aid from his parents in covering up the murder. The impact of the film is lasting, but again, with a lack of emotional engagement you are as disturbed as you are engrossed.
Following this Haneke made 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance. Looking past the ever so slightly pretensious title, the film is actually an excellent multi-stranded narrative about a group of alienation individuals, both in relation to each other, and themselves, whose stories culminate in a shocking and unexpected act of violence (somewhat unsurprising for Haneke). The film itself, in my opinion sees a step up in quality from Haneke, and begins to hint at the genius to come.
The original Funny Games, made 10 years before its American remake, takes some of Haneke's trademarks - violence, audience complicity, distanciation over emotional engagment to an extreme, and works so brilliantly as an essay on audience enjoyment of screen violence which Haneke subverts.
Haneke moved away from his early obsession with placing the audience in a position of self awareness for his next few films, although the concept never left his work. Code Unknown, marked his first collobaration with Juliette Binoche, and the film is another multi-stranded narrative which focuses of a group of people who come together in the opening scene and then spiral off in their disparate lives. Haneke here is commetning on the lack of communication and alienation felt between differing ethic and cultural backgrounds. The film is framed by scenes in a school for the deaf, as they try to communicate through actions. For me this is one of Haneke's most engaging and thought provoking films, and I still find myself pondering its brillance.
The Piano Teacher is possibly Haneke's most disturbing film as it deals with Issabella Huppert's piano tutor and her sado-masochistic tendencies which comes out when a student develops a crush on her, add to this some blatant Freudianism as Huppert's character tries to seduce her overbearing mother and you have a film which is equal parts brilliant and gross.
The next three films of Haneke were those which introduced me to his work, the highlight of which for me is The White Ribbon, an astonishing brilliant film about the seeds of facism, which like his other work are set in a specific location, in this instance Germany just before the outbreak of WW1, but the themes and ideas are universal.
Haneke is one of the most impressive, interesting and acclaimed directors working today and his clarity of vision across his entire filmography which is almost unparralled in modern cinema. I for one will be anticipating his next feature with baited breath. If he can surpass Cache and The White Ribbon, who knows just how good a film it could be.