Hidden (2005; French) A disturbing, psychological mystery from director Michael Haneke's vision of "contradictory reality." What we personally experience in life can be contradicted by what we see outside ourselves. Completely alien to us, other realities of perception are cognizant of us, though we are incapable of recognizing or imagining their existence.

Over two hours of a mostly static surveillance of the front of a residence, on a mysterious videotape, which arrived on the porch in plastic bag, is the first of several anonymous parcels, postcards, and phone calls. A man with a secret past, Georges Laurents (Daniel Auteuil) hosts a popular French television program in which he interviews authors. He and his wife Anne (Juliette Binoche), who's in the employ of a book publisher, are busy with work and entertaining friends; their twelve-year-old son Pierrot has entered puberty. "It's dumb," admits Anne, "but it scares me."

After the first tape, additional tapes and mailings feature either a crude drawing of a child or a rooster disgorging blood. Nearly getting struck by a black man on a bicycle in the street - Georges wasn't looking and the bicyclist was coming from the wrong direction on a one-way street - they come close to blows but for Anne's intervention.

The drawings and a video of the house where he grew up resurrect flashbacks from childhood of an Arab child, Majid, whom his parents briefly adopted. On a visit to his infirm mother, Georges mentions his having dreamed about Majid after all these years; she only speaks of her memories of the time as unpleasant.

Yet another videotape taken from inside a vehicle shows a street leading to a low-rent building and a corridor leading to a specific door. When Anne suggests they hire a private detective, Georges disagrees, saying he has a hunch as to who might be behind the tapes. But he refuses to say more: "It's not your concern." Upset with his secretive attitude, she says all of this has been very worrisome to her as well and questions his lacking trust in her.

Locating the address, Georges finds Majid, some 40 years older, impoverished. Astonished by Georges's sudden appearance, Majid says: "Mind telling me why you're here?" Assuming Majid wants blackmail or revenge, Georges makes threats should anything bad happen to him or his family; but Majid denies any involvement. Upon his return home, after lying to Anne that no one was at the address, Georges watches with Anne a video of his meeting with Majid in the flat.

"I wanted to spare you," he apologizes before explaining his relationship to Majid. In Algeria Majid's parents, who had worked for Georges's family, had been killed in October 1961 during the FLN uprising. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Georges's parents decided to adopt Majid; Georges was only six years old. Jealous of someone else receiving his parents' attentions and affection, Georges told his parents lies about Majid, resulting in his being sent away.

Another videotape demonstrates how others might be made aware of his past and possibly ruin his career; then Pierrot disappears. Majid also has a son, older than Pierrot, who must have used a hidden camera to record his conversation with Georges. How else could the videotape have been created?

A European's comprehension of an Arab's sense of humiliation cannot fathom the depths of despair or the desperation of the final act he is willing to take. There are other realities than our individual experiences. This film presents a chilling reminder that how others see us is not how we think of ourselves and vice versa. For example, a Westerner, who believes that everyone's life is precious, cannot begin to accept values that allow someone to strap on a bomb belt in order to become a suicide bomber, blowing himself up along with other victims.

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Copyright © 2008 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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