(CODE INCONNU : RÉCIT INCOMPLET DE DIVERS VOYAGES)

Ambitious and complex, Code Unknown is a fascinating study of the subtle connections and barriers between people and the difficulty of communicating in the modern world. Composed almost entirely of brilliantly shot, single-take vignettes focusing on characters linked to one seemingly minor incident on a Paris street – a youth scornfully tosses a crumpled paper bag into the outstretched hands of a Romanian beggar – Haneke’s film, with an outstanding international cast headlined by Juliette Binoche, is a revelatory examination of racial inequality and the failure of communication between individuals, cultures, and social classes in an increasingly diverse modern landscape.

Notes by David O’Mahony.

Screening as part of Complicit: The Films of Michael Haneke.