Programme

Among arthouse cinephiles, the name Michael Haneke has become a shortcut of sorts to describe a subgenre of bleak, disturbing arthouse films that take certain courage to tackle. As grim, pessimistic and even demanding Haneke’s films may be, anyone who follows current events on a regular basis will find it hard to call the filmmaker’s criticisms of modern civilisation in decline unfounded.

Starting with the Glaciation Trilogy that launched his filmmaking career – The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance – Haneke has used films not only to address his own anxieties, but to also make us question the ways our worldviews are shaped. More of an inquisitor than a moralist, Haneke prefers to confront us with questions rather than try to answer them, to show us the world as it is, as opposed to suggesting how it should be. In Haneke’s world, there is no imaginary hero who will swoop in and save the world, nor are there easy answers to his characters’ actions that would absolve us of our complicity in the current state of the world. Haneke doesn’t reject films as entertainment in the same way people listen to music or dance for fun, but he prefers to use his films to confront reality rather than escaping it.

Haneke’s method of presenting his concerns as unflinching truths free of embellishments or sentimentality can lead to the misconception that his films are cold and distant. His films may be harrowing or distressing in the way they deal with serious issues like the media’s trivialisation of violence (with his Glaciation Trilogy and Funny Games), how xenophobia feeds into our refusal to communicate with each other (with Code Unknown), or how blind devotion and hypocritical puritanism feed into the growth of authoritarianism (with The White Ribbon), but his storytelling style stems from his belief that the urgency of these issues make them too serious to be taken lightly. Like the titular character of The Piano Teacher, Haneke’s films may seem to have ice-cold blood running through their veins, but the anger and discontent that drive them are evidence of his humanity, and they are powerful enough to set the world on fire.

 

Film Course: Conducted in Cantonese. Approximately 50-minute lecture
Audience who attends the course is eligible for a complimentary copy of Anatomy of Violence: Michael Haneke (Chinese only)

Hide