Code inconnu (2000)

Code inconnu is a French film first released in 2000, directed by Michael Haneke.  The film stars Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler, Alexandre Hamidi and Maimouna Hélène Diarra.  It has also been released under the title: Code Unknown.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Anne is a young actress living in Paris with her boyfriend, Georges, a photo-journalist who spends most of his time abroad recording the horrors of war.  One day, Anne receives an unexpected visit from Georges’ younger brother, Jean, who has decided he can no longer live and work on his father’s farm.  When Jean throws a paper bag at a begging Rumanian, Maria, he is assaulted by Amadou, a young black man who works in a school for the deaf.  As their lives continue along separate paths, Anne, Maria, Amadou and Jean each have problems to surmount, in a world that is increasingly interconnected but which is growing more and more fragmented...

Code inconnu is the first film to be made in France by German director Michael Haneke and follows the form of his earlier acclaimed film 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance.  It makes no sense to look for a coherent narrative in either film.  Both use the medium of film in an innovative and daring way to make a very personal expression of the way in which Haneke views the world.

In Code inconnu, a number of totally separate individuals are briefly linked at the start of the film, before going off to pursue their totally unconnected lives.  The fragmented style of the film reflects, very effectively, the fragmented nature of the world we live in – and it is quite a shock to realise how such different worlds can exist side-by-side when the geographical separation has become (thanks to modern communication and transport) virtually non-existent.  The film also demonstrates how difficult it is for human beings to communicate with one another.  Not only is there an almost unbridgeable gap between different ethnic groupings, but even members of the family find it difficult to talk to one another.

Whilst the film is a worthy effort, making some valid statements of how we now live, its message is perhaps weakened by its fragmented structure, some rambling sequences and an over-abundance of characters.  Some of the segments (such as Juliette Binoche fooling around with a colleague whilst dubbing a film) add little to the film other than provide an irritating diversion.  Also, the lack of anything approaching a tidy resolution of the film’s multiple strands is unsatisfying and suggests a dearth of inspiration on the part of the film-maker.  What the film certainly appears to lack is a punch-line, a clear concluding statement to either reinforce or challenge the audience’s understanding of the film.  Instead, it all ends in enigmatic silence, leaving the spectator to ponder: so what?

© James Travers 2002

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