A very good movie

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, once again, I wasn't disappointed. The interesting thing was that, as I was much older when I rewatched it (the first time I saw it was almost 20 years ago), I went much deeper and I was much more able to analyze this movie. The first time around, I thought it was a great thriller but totally different from what you would get from a typical commercial feature. There were no shootings, chases, explosions or anything, it was all about the characters and what they are going through and I thought it was quite fascinating to watch. I remember it very well, I got this DVD from a colleague who didn't like it at all but that didn't surprise me. Indeed, Haneke is the specialist of the enigmatic thriller and even though he always create a fascinating and unsettling set-up, he never gives some simple explanations or answers, as a matter of fact, usually he doesn't explain anything at all which can be frustrating for the casual viewers who are used to the dumbed down commercial features produced by Hollywood. Personally, I love this approach, it creates a mesmerizing atmosphere and you have to make up on your own what is actually going on. Well, with this rewatch, I actually didn’t experience it as a thriller, at least, not really. This time around, I thought it was a fascinating character study focusing on Daniel Auteuil’s character. Sure, not everything was explained but it wasn’t actually the point at all. For example, when the 2nd video showed up with some footage of his parents’ home, right then, he actually knew exactly what was (directly or indirectly) the source of this harassment. Eventually, it was never about the outcome, it was always about how he handled his past and this current situation. Basically, through the whole duration, he was never honest about it, not with Majid, not with Majid’s son (who was not even named), not with his wife and not even with himself. Eventually, no matter what was going on in the present time, something really awful happened back in the 60’s, something that scarred both men for life and it seemed that Georges Laurent would rather tell a complete lie instead of telling anyone, even his own wife. There was also the fact that, when Majid killed himself, Georges didn’t think for a second about the agony this man must have been through to take such a drastic decision or what his son must have felt after his father took his life. Seriously, the guy was a borderline sociopath. I could also talk about the social background  of the characters, intellectual, rather wealthy, your typical French upper-middle class, while Majid was from Algeria, a country which was for a very long time a French colony and how citizens from both backgrounds are treated completely differently in France. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might be an acquired taste, I really loved this flick, I actually enjoyed it even more the 2nd time around and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Haneke's work.

8/10