A Crumpled Piece of Paper: Scattered & Inconsequential Musings on Code Unknown

As a humble offering to today's Blog-a-thon, Filmbrain jots down his own Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys: The anti-Crash. Watching Code Unknown just days after suffering through Paul Haggis' Crash naturally invites comparison, yet there really is none. Nothing in Haggis' pedantic mess of a film comes even close to the complexity or sublimity of Haneke's meditation on racism and classism (amongst other things). The unimaginative contrivance of a car crash versus nine uninterrupted minutes on a boulevard -- take your pick. The Metro scene alone says more in a matter of minutes than Crash does in its two hours. Anne & Georges. Though there are thematic connections between Code Unknown and Caché (which no doubt some other participant in the blog-a-thon will delve into), something more obvious stands out -- Juliette Binoche's character is named Anne Laurent in both films. (And her partner in both is named Georges, for that matter.) While it's possible that it could be the same character, further investigation revealed that Haneke has used this name pairing several times before -- Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Duval play Anne and George Laurent in Le Temps du Loup, the tormented and tortured couple in Funny Games are Anna and Georg, as are the husband and wife in The Seventh Continent. Is this one of Haneke's own unknown codes, or does he just like those names? A download. Haneke tends to use music sparingly, but when he does, it's extremely effective (think of that Naked City track in Funny Games.) In the restaurant scene, which finds Anne once again crossing paths with Amadou, the swirling, hypnotic strains of All Seeing I's No Return can be heard -- loud enough for us to notice it, but not so much that it overpowers. It definitely adds something to a scene that is already bordering on the tense -- Amadou's near-accusation of racism towards the waiter, Anne's reaction at seeing him, and the visible discomfort of Amadou's girlfriend. Unable to clearly hear the lyrics, all we are left with is the repeated rising and falling background chorus that has an almost lamentation-like quality to it, and which does quite a bit for the mood. Listen for yourself: All Seeing I - No Return.mp3. Film within a film. It is only during the scenes of the thriller that Anne is acting in that Haneke employs the most basic of cinematic devices -- the cut. All other scenes are played out in a single take -- to perhaps draw a distinction between art and (faux) reality? (Filmbrain didn't take the time to think this one through.) On a related note -- the film Anne appears in -- a bourgeois woman held captive in a converted music room of a luxury apartment -- sounds like it could very well have been an abandoned early screenplay by Haneke, no? Analysis of the boulevard. Anne's door (pictured above) is in the dead center of all the action that takes place on the boulevard -- both literally and figuratively. It is the unknown code (48B13) to this door that sets a chain of events in motion that will affect the lives of a handful of people, all of whom have a connection to Anne. It is also the mid-point between the Metro station and the shop that will become one of Maria's final destinations. (More on that below.) A bit of background: Haneke realized the tremendous challenge of filming this lengthy scene in a single take. His greatest concern was Jean's tossing of the crumpled paper on Maria. Haneke needed to figure out a way to get Jean over to where Maria was sitting, for there was fear that he would miss, or that the effect would be lost, given the position of the camera. The alleyway (found only during location scouting) provided the answer -- the street musician attracts Jean's attention, and draws him down the alley, which then puts him in a perfect position next to Maria as he leaves. (A bonus feature on the French DVD has Haneke explaining this in great detail.) Like the final scene in Caché, Haneke here too positions his characters in places where you might not readily spot them, though the significance is nowhere as great. Check below the jump for more detailed analysis of the scene.

Establishing the alley as a key location. Anne has gone into the bakery, and for the first time in the sequence the camera advances ahead of the characters, whereas up until then it maintained a pace with them. Jean slows down and darts a glance at the musician.

The second stop. Anne and Jean discuss at the far right end of the boulevard. This location is where Maria will attempt to beg on her return to France (below).

A brief shot of Amadou looking down the alley, where he will witness Jean's inconsiderate act (below).

The end of the film, which finds Anne returning to the same door she emerged from in the beginning. We now witness the other half of the boulevard, which includes the perfume store where Georges will buy a gift for her, and a movie theater where Maria can be seen (below, right) begging.

Though there's much to admire about Code Unknown, it feels slight, especially when compared to Caché, which is far less formalistic and fragmented than these self-proclaimed incomplete tales.

Comments

[girish]

Oh this is great, Filmbrain. Mirroring the movie's structure with your post!
I've never seen the French DVD, so your breakdown of the scene is most helpful.
And thanks for the music.

[Flickhead]

Beautifully done.

Many thanks for the mp3.

[phyrephox]

Shoot, now I need to go see this again. How is the American DVD?

[Sleeper]

>>Shoot, now I need to go see this again. How is the American DVD?

It looks like shit, unfortunately. Washed-out and grainy with some of the worst artifacting I've ever seen. I'm kind of amazed it was even considered fit for commercial release.

[Michael]

Ah, great post, Filmbrain. It's funny -- I had the exact same thought: Code Unknown IS the anti-Crash, and after seeing Code Unknown I feel as if Crash doesn't even exist (which I felt anyway, but seeing Code Unknown only exacerbates the feeling). Also, that's a wonderfully nuanced reading of the restaurant scene; while watching it, I was more conscious of the technique, and not so much of the content, and therefore missed what you point out.

And, yes, the Kino DVD is terrible -- with burned-in subtitles, no less.

[Aaron Hillis]

Seriously, what was going on with Kino there? Just finding some decent screen captures without burned-in subs was a bitch.

[Alex]

I don't expect much from Kino. Those "Fallen Angels" subs were horrible. Hmmm...Brothers Quay DVD, kudos though. Anyway, Juliette Binoche is stunning.

[HarryTuttle]

Great insights Filmbrain! Thanks for the caps to refresh my memory.
"Slight" was also my (vague) feeling of the sum of its parts, even if the long takes are always interesting technically.