This is from an assignment from my Art Philosophy class, hence why I mostly talk about the opening shot. I got an A.

I often argue for the importance of context in art, and this is one of the ultimate uses of it in film. The opening shot of Michael Haneke’s brilliant film Caché is at first mundane, then terrifying as it recurs throughout the film. It didn’t need to be artfully framed to serve its purpose perfectly and at first glance it isn’t, but, as is always the case with Haneke, there are myriad subtle things that add further to the disturbance.
The opening shot in question is of a domestic city street in France. It lingers for quite…

Michael Haneke's no-nonsense take on the drama genre is an admirable entry into his repertoire. By essentially employing a pared-down vantage point and doing away with the usual ostensibly cinematic amenities (such as a more pronounced colour grading and/or garish editing/camerawork), the result is very much a mirrored reality. Haneke's vision is eminently objective -- all things considered, there's nothing to obfuscate the clear scope of this film -- and thus, what might seem like an anticlimactic venture to some, is a very heady exercise in focused, lucid and properly streamlined storytelling. Who's the culprit? A man and his guilty conscience, his ostracized brother, or his very child? There's no clear answer to that, and it seems as though Caché…

At this point, I should just tattoo Michael Haneke's name across my ass because he fucking owns it. 

Caché is a tricky, tricky film, and Haneke is a tricky, tricky director. He loves to play games with his audience, much like a cat with a mouse. He relishes revealing the part we play as viewers, and consequently calling into question the act of viewership itself. Wheras Funny Games forces us to engage with our participation in film violence (specifically films of the tortue porn variety), Caché poses a question for the audience: is it possible that we are the stalker?

There's much to debate about who, exactly, is filming the tapes that terrorize the Laurent family. The brilliant final shot…