Cache

[rok]

I'm fairly certain that this movie was brought up a few times here and at the old site. It's from Michael Haneke, the director of Funny Games and The White Ribbon (current foreign film darling of the Academy). It is one of my favorites in recent years. It's a real head scratcher, and doesn't have a clean Hollywood ending, but it is one of those films that will make you ask tons of questions and stays with you for years. I could go on and on about possible explanations and needles in haystacks, just like Mulholland Drive, but it's best left up to the viewer to let his/her imagination take over.

Anyway, this wasn't at all intended to be a review of this film. I just read (link) that Scorsese currently has a project in development for a remake which should come out in 2011. I'm not sure I understand this at all from a creative standpoint. Why is he obsessed with remakes all of a sudden? In case anyone didn't know, The Departed was also a remake of Hong Kong film called Infernal Affairs, but that project made a lot of sense at the time and the end result was superior to the original. I can't imagine how the original could be improved with a Hollywood cast and snappy dialogue, not even slightly. The entire look and feel of the film just doesn't appear to be a good fit for Scorsese's style.

Anyway, judge for yourselves. Watch the original before it is forgotten, and Hollywood puts the story through the wringer and serves it up for a safe Oscar in 2 years.

[BT]

I guess I'm a dumb american, but Haneke's films leave me annoyed and angry, more than anything else, to the point I'm not going to watch "The White Ribbon", because it will probably piss me off. . I'm not saying that everything has to have a happy ending, but Funny Games cheated (I think I get the point he was trying to make with that, but still..), and Cache had NO ending. I rewatched the end credits, and I'm still not sure what it's supposed to mean.

The idea of the film is great, but I agree, I don't see how it would fit with Scorcese's style.

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=79924:date=Feb 18 2010, 03:11 PM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Feb 18 2010, 03:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I guess I'm a dumb american, but Haneke's films leave me annoyed and angry, more than anything else, to the point I'm not going to watch "The White Ribbon", because it will probably piss me off. . I'm not saying that everything has to have a happy ending, but Funny Games cheated (I think I get the point he was trying to make with that, but still..), and Cache had NO ending. I rewatched the end credits, and I'm still not sure what it's supposed to mean.

The idea of the film is great, but I agree, I don't see how it would fit with Scorcese's style.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I feel exactly the same way about Funny Games. I didn't see the point at the end. Though it was well made, it was just a nasty movie to sit through, and the ending felt like a slap in the face. Cache, on the other hand, was a confusing mystery, but I never felt cheated. I don't quite understand the ending either, but it didn't ruin the experience for me. In fact it made me want to watch the movie again, to see if there were more clues as to what it all meant.

[BT]

I think Funny Games was supposed to club us over the head by showing us the logical conclusion of what "entertains" us. "Cache" seemed to only be saying everyone has something to hide. The end credits may give you an idea as to who was responsible, but I'm not sure.

[Butcher]

I just watched Cache last night.

It's going to be a while before I completely process it.

You know what sucks? I didn't see what happened during the end credits -- I read about it when I looked it up on wikipedia. Somehow I didn't spot


***SPOILERS BELOW***



Majid's son talking with Leraunt's son. How did I miss that?

I loved the mechanism where what we're watching sometimes seamlessly blended with what the characters were watching. You didn't always know if you were watching the cassettes or if it's just part of the movie. I'm sure that sentence made no sense, but those who saw the film know what I'm talking about.

And then...the scene "I wanted you to be present." HOLY FUCK. That was a complete shocker to me -- didn't see that coming. I figured with Haneke, something really jarring was bound to happen, but I wasn't at all prepared for that scene.

Also, the scene where Majid's son gets into the elevator? Could that have possibly been more uncomfortable?

I'm not quite sure I understand the need to remake this one either. I guess if the concept of "knowing you're being watched fucks up your life" could just be lifted and it could go in a different direction, it might work. The whole European bourgeois guilt theme could easily be transported and Americanized.

There were a lot of very unsettling moments and loved the unconventional narrative and structure.

At the end of it, my wife and I looked at each other and we both said, "Alright, then." Of course...I'm still thinking about the movie today and I'm sure it will stick with me for a while.

Oh...and Funny Games fucked me up for about a month. I have no desire to see that one again or watch the American version. Just watching the trailer for the American version when it was being released made me feel sick.