A selection of films spanning the director's entire career
Austrian director Michael Haneke, who recently won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival, is being celebrated by the BFI with a season of films. It's a representative collection, ranging from his shocking early work, Benny's Video, to the globally successful Hidden (Caché) and his latest feature, The White Ribbon. The BFI Michael Haneke season kicks off tomorrow, and runs until 17 December.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that the screenings include both versions of Funny Games directed by Haneke: the original German theatrical release, and its shot-for-shot American remake. While Haneke's The Castle is also scheduled to be shown on two dates in mid-November, 'remarkable and rewarding for its extreme fidelity to Kafka's novel'. The jewel in the season's crown is an interview with Haneke himself on 22 November, which is open to the public (although, perhaps not surprisingly, this event is already fully-booked).
Geoff Andrew summarizes Haneke's relevance in his introduction on the BFI website:
[...] Haneke is now widely regarded as one of the world's most important auteurs. He's not only won a host of major awards - his many Cannes prizes culminating this year in the Palme d'or for The White Ribbon - but he's seen several films (most notably The Piano Teacher and Hidden) attain 'crossover' box-office success. These achievements have not been the result of any compromise, artistic or philosophical; indeed, Haneke's artistry has with the passing of time become even more rigorous in its precision, subtle in its complexity, and significant in its relevance to today's world. [Read More]The following setlist has been taken from the BFI website:
British Film Institute
November-December: Michael Haneke
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
Fri 20 Nov 18:20
Mon 23 Nov 20:30
Haneke paints a mordant and painfully plausible fresco of contemporary urban life.
Benny's Video
Fri 13 Nov 20:45
Haneke explores simplistic ideas about the relationship between images and violence.
The Castle
Fri 20 Nov 20:30
Tue 24 Nov 18:00
Remarkable and rewarding for its extreme fidelity to Kafka's novel about a land surveyor.
Code Unknown
Sun 15 Nov 15:40
Haneke's masterly film raises profound questions about contemporary urban existence.
Funny Games
Mon 16 Nov 20:45
Sat 21 Nov 18:10
A masterly and unsettling variation on the murder thriller.
Funny Games US
Sun 29 Nov 20:30
Mon 30 Nov 18:30
A shot-for-shot English-language remake of the dark masterpiece Haneke made a decade earlier.
Hidden
Sun 22 Nov 20:30
Sun 29 Nov 18:20
A taut, tense thriller exploring social and individual guilt and paranoia.
Michael Haneke in Conversation
Sun 22 Nov 18:30
The director will be discussing his Palme d'Or winning film The White Ribbon and his career to date.
The Piano Teacher
Sat 14 Nov 20:30
Sun 22 Nov 17:50
Haneke's brilliant, almost Bergman-esque adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek's novel.
The Seventh Continent
Sat 21 Nov 15:50
Thu 26 Nov 18:00
The first part of Haneke's trilogy about the 'emotional glaciation' of Austria charts.
Time of the Wolf
Sun 15 Nov 18:00
Sat 28 Nov 20:30
An uncommonly realistic variation on the apocalyptic movie, set somewhere in Europe.
The White Ribbon
13 - 30 November
1 - 17 December
Haneke's Cannes Palme d'or-winner explores how a community is shaken by a series of events.
For booking or further information: BFI website: Michael Haneke Season
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