We watch a family arriving at a cottage in the country. We are not given any idea of what is going on. Are these people here for a leisurely week-end, or do they live in this house? Nothing seems to be wrong until they enter the house and find it occupied by a man wielding a rifle, his wife, and children. We are taken aback because nothing had prepared us for the violence about to happen. When the arriving man questions the invaders about what are they doing in his house, the other answers by shooting him. The exploding violence is too much as we look to the wife's who gets her face splattered with her husband's blood, as he is killed.
Next thing we see is the mother, Anne, and the two distraught children, Eva, and Ben, walking aimlessly through a devastated land with only a bicycle and the clothes on their backs. Every place they turn asking for help turns them down. Along the way they encounter a teen ager, that like them, is trying to find a safe haven. He tells them of the possibility of a train that passes nearby. When the train arrives, it goes by without stopping, adding to the group's anxiety. The other thing the young man tells them is to go to a railway depot in that area where they might find help.
At the depot, more chaos is encountered as things are completely out of control. The place is run by Koslowski, a man who runs everything with an iron fist. Sexual favors are expected in order to get to the little provisions that come by. Anne and her children face an uncertain future among these people that might also die. The oppressive atmosphere weighs heavily on the children. Ben, the young boy disappears toward the fire over the rail tracks in the distance. We watch, in horror, as he takes off his clothes and appears to be considering jumping into the flames, but he is saved by one of the men from the depot. That last vision seems to be key to the puzzle one has watched throughout the film in that the fire will cleanse and it can be seen as a ray of hope.
Michael Haneke, an Austrian director who works in France, is a man that doesn't like to adorn his films with frivolous distractions. Take this film, for example, there is no music in the background. The bleak atmosphere is never explained. Could it be war? Could it be a catastrophic event that makes people run away from the cities looking for peace in the country? Mr. Haneke doesn't explain anything, and yet, there are different hints what all we seeing is a man made nightmare.
In spite of all the tragedy one sees in the film, the viewer stays glued to the screen as he tries to understand and grasp all what is going on and to make sense of this puzzle by analyzing all the parts before making an intelligent decision as to what really happened.
Isabelle Huppert, is seen in one of the most difficult roles she has done in her career. Her Anne is a confused woman who has never done anything for herself and has to face a reality she can't escape from. Anais Demoustier plays Eva, the teen aged daughter and Lucas Biscombe is Ben, the young son. Hakim Taleb appears as the young man who guides Anne and her children to the railway depot. Olivier Gourmet, an excellent actor, doesn't have much to do in the film.
Michael Haneke created a disturbing film that serves as a warning call for tragedies beyond all human control.
Next thing we see is the mother, Anne, and the two distraught children, Eva, and Ben, walking aimlessly through a devastated land with only a bicycle and the clothes on their backs. Every place they turn asking for help turns them down. Along the way they encounter a teen ager, that like them, is trying to find a safe haven. He tells them of the possibility of a train that passes nearby. When the train arrives, it goes by without stopping, adding to the group's anxiety. The other thing the young man tells them is to go to a railway depot in that area where they might find help.
At the depot, more chaos is encountered as things are completely out of control. The place is run by Koslowski, a man who runs everything with an iron fist. Sexual favors are expected in order to get to the little provisions that come by. Anne and her children face an uncertain future among these people that might also die. The oppressive atmosphere weighs heavily on the children. Ben, the young boy disappears toward the fire over the rail tracks in the distance. We watch, in horror, as he takes off his clothes and appears to be considering jumping into the flames, but he is saved by one of the men from the depot. That last vision seems to be key to the puzzle one has watched throughout the film in that the fire will cleanse and it can be seen as a ray of hope.
Michael Haneke, an Austrian director who works in France, is a man that doesn't like to adorn his films with frivolous distractions. Take this film, for example, there is no music in the background. The bleak atmosphere is never explained. Could it be war? Could it be a catastrophic event that makes people run away from the cities looking for peace in the country? Mr. Haneke doesn't explain anything, and yet, there are different hints what all we seeing is a man made nightmare.
In spite of all the tragedy one sees in the film, the viewer stays glued to the screen as he tries to understand and grasp all what is going on and to make sense of this puzzle by analyzing all the parts before making an intelligent decision as to what really happened.
Isabelle Huppert, is seen in one of the most difficult roles she has done in her career. Her Anne is a confused woman who has never done anything for herself and has to face a reality she can't escape from. Anais Demoustier plays Eva, the teen aged daughter and Lucas Biscombe is Ben, the young son. Hakim Taleb appears as the young man who guides Anne and her children to the railway depot. Olivier Gourmet, an excellent actor, doesn't have much to do in the film.
Michael Haneke created a disturbing film that serves as a warning call for tragedies beyond all human control.