The Decade List: Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages (2000)

Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages [Code Unknown] - dir. Michael Haneke

I've run into this problem before, and I'm sure to run into it again. But what does one do when everything they have to say about a given film (or whatever you happen to be writing about) has been said before? Revisiting Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love presented a similar challenge, one which I haven't even begun to tackle, as what benefit would it do to regurgitate the same adjectives ("stunning" and "beautiful" are the most common) in describing a film that's already so sealed in the canon of great cinema? Michael Haneke's Code Unknown may not be the first thing to come to mind when you think of films that have been fervently dissected to the point where it's difficult to have anything fresh to say about it, but Girish's blog-a-thon from February of 2006 covered the film extensively, in which I found most of my own thoughts being said by others.

Andrew Grant's proclamation of Code Unknown as the anti-Crash was one of my first thoughts about the film upon re-watching, and it's a more-than-fair claim. Code Unknown uses its Altman-y structure of multi-character exposition to its fullest potential, examining race, class, culture and more in its greatest attempt: a search for truth. All of the film's characters stem from the second scene in the film (another improvement upon these contrived films: typically they tie their stories together at the end), in which teenage Jean (Alexandre Hamidi) throws his trash on a Romanian beggar-woman (Luminiţa Gheorghiu) and is called out for being an asshole by Amadou (Ona Lu Yenke), after Jean's brother's girlfriend Anne (Juliette Binoche) tells him that his brother Georges (Thierry Neuvic) is out of town on business. Code Unknown branches from this moment, in mostly single-take scenes, cut off often mid-conversation, mid-scene.

So what is it about Code Unknown that places it above the middling garbage that utilizes the same narrative structure? It's not just Haneke's rawness and his formidable talent with actors (Binoche, as well as most of the others, are incredible), but the way in which he, and his subjects, approach the impossible truths of our and their world. In the policier film Anne auditions for, the killer wishes to her see "true face." Amadou's father (Djibril Kouyaté) tries to get the truth from his young son (or it grandson?) in regards to his teacher's claim that he had been smoking marijuana. Georges uses a not-so-hidden camera to photograph unwilling subjects on a subway train, after his friend Francine (Arsinée Khanjian) makes some critical remarks about his profession of photographing war. And, as nearly every entry on Girish' blog-a-thon mentioned, there's a striking resemblance to Haneke's later Caché when Anne receives a note under her door which may confirm her suspicions that a young girl is being abused in an adjacent apartment (and the girl may or may not be the deaf girl we see open the film).

What we're left with then is a singular understanding, that truth is what lies in between. This refers to what Haneke doesn't show us, between these récits incomplets de divers voyages, as well as in a broader narrative critique of expected cause-and-effect. Through clichéd narrative structure, reality becomes lost, and in a certain way, Haneke admits defeat in the similar searching his characters do but finds beauty in its endless pursuit. Forgive the images, as they were taken from Kino's subpar disc, with its burned-in subtitles and hideous PAL-to-NTSC transfer. (Also, does anyone know what the tagline, "Love Has a Language All Its Own," has to do with the film? I suspect nothing.)

With: Juliette Binoche, Luminiţa Gheorghiu, Thierry Neuvic, Ona Lu Yenke, Maimouna Hélène Diarra, Sepp Bierbichler, Alexandre Hamidi, Djibril Kouyaté, Crenguta Hariton Stoica, Bob Nicolescu, Bruno Todeschini, Arsinée Khanjian, Florence Loiret, Nathalie Richard, Andrée Tainsy, Carlo Brandt, Philippe Demarle, Maurice Bénichou, Walid Afkir
Screenplay: Michael Haneke
Cinematography: Jürgen Jürges
Music: Giba Gonçalves
Country of Origin: France/Germany/Romania
US Distributor: Kino

Premiere: 19 May 2000 (Cannes Film Festival)
US Premiere: 30 November 2001 (New York City)

Awards: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (Cannes Film Festival)

The Decade List: Femme Fatale (2002)

Femme Fatale - dir. Brian De Palma

Losing faith in a director you once held so dear is a difficult enterprise. Woody Allen sure has taken us through plenty of ups and downs in the past fifteen years. Even Wim Wenders' biggest fans have found little to like in the director's post-Wings of Desire narratives. And I don't even recognize Dario Argento or George A. Romero any more. So when a director like De Palma makes a film like Femme Fatale, the bias sets in, and while certainly less than the films that made you fall in love with him in the first place, it takes you back to the good ol' days. Femme Fatale is not a good film, but more than the offensively misfired The Black Dahlia, Snake Eyes and Mission to Mars, it's a pleasant reminder of what kind of a filmmaker De Palma once was.

With signature bravado, Femme Fatale opens at the Cannes Film Festival where a jewel heist is underway. Thankfully, since it's De Palma, the heist isn't without its share of naked women and lesbian bathroom hook-ups. Elite con artist Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) takes off with the loot and changes her identity in order to hide from her former partners she double-crossed. It doesn't really matter what happens in Femme Fatale, but how it happens. It's loaded with your typical De Palma/Hitchcock allusions, so many I lost count. And it's awfully sleazy.

Donning an occasional French accent that's more effective than any of the various ones Angelina Jolie has delivered, Romijn-Stamos is game for De Palma's lurid erotica. Very few actresses have given themselves so fully to a director for such low pursuits, and bless her heart for doing so. Whether tossing clothes, performing lap dances, feeling up busty women or getting raped on pool tables, Romijn-Stamos is thoroughly unself-conscious, which elevates De Palma's technically skilled, perfumed trash to a level of guilt-free dissoluteness. I probably won't ever rank Femme Fatale alongside Carrie, Body Double, Blow Out or The Untouchables, but it's the closest thing to a "return to form" that we'll hope to see from him.

With: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute, Rie Rasmussen, Thierry Frémont, Régis Wargnier, Sandrine Bonnaire, Eva Darlan, Jean-Marie Frin
Screenplay: Brian De Palma
Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Country of Origin: France
US Distributor: Warner Bros.

Premiere: 30 April 2002 (France)
US Premiere: 4 November 2002

Pussy-footin'

Thanks to Karina Longworth from SpoutBlog for this. In a photo shoot for The New York Times Magazine, Quentin Tarantino gets "intimate' with his Inglourious Basterds star Diane Kruger, and as no surprise, we can see the director fondling the actress' feet. This continues Tarantino's long-standing obsession with lower extensions of the female, as it goes beyond feet to include legs as well. While I once found his fetish to be amusing coincidental, it's reached a level of parody, whether intended or not. From Mia Wallace's (Uma Thurman) rumored foot massage, The Bride's (Thurman, again) toe-wiggling, Jungle Julia's (Sydney Poitier) decapitated leg to his From Dusk Till Dawn character's preoccupation with Juliette Lewis' little piggies (I believe the clip was followed by a fantasy of Lewis politely asking Tarantino to eat her pussy), the picture is pretty clear, and I, for one, didn't need to see Tarantino, looking a bit like Richard Nixon, "erotically" clasping Diane Kruger's heel to reiterate this.

MayDay: Help Needed

Despite my plans, I didn't end up writing about any of the 2000 films I missed in April, and honestly 'R Xmas was the only first-time viewing that I've written about so far (shame). But with May comes 2002, and at least three of my all-time favorite films will show up, one from Spain, one from Scotland, the other from France. 2002 will also show the first film from my favorite American filmmaker to debut in the '00s. So, as I've been pretty bad about watching films from 2000-2001 that I hadn't seen prior (I promise Yi-yi and Werckmeister Harmonies are coming, though I seem to have nothing enlightening to say about In the Mood for Love... hmmm), I'm enlisting your help to give me the extra push toward, or away from, these 2002 films I have yet to catch. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Aime ton père - dir. Jacob Berger
All or Nothing - dir. Mike Leigh
Amen. - dir. Costa-Gavras
Une part du ciel - dir. Bénédicte Liénard
Heaven - dir. Tom Tykwer
Angel on the Right - dir. Jamshed Usmonov
Twilight Samurai - dir. Yoji Yamada
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - dir. Dai Sijie
Senso '45 - dir. Tinto Brass
El bonaerense - dir. Pablo Trapero
Deux - dir. Werner Schroeter
Marie-Jo et ses deux amours - dir. Robert Guédiguian
Solino - dir. Fatih Akin
Respiro - dir. Emanuele Crialese
Oasis - dir. Lee Chang-dong
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate - dir. Hong Sang-soo
Une femme de ménage - dir. Claude Berri
Salomé - dir. Carlos Saura
Tycoon - dir. Pavel Lungin
Los lunes al sol [Mondays in the Sun] - dir. Fernando León de Aranoa
O Princípio da Incerteza - dir. Manoel de Oliveira
The Good Thief - dir. Neil Jordan
Au plus près du paradis - dir. Tonie Marshall
Springtime in a Small Town - dir. Tian Zhuangzhuang
Waiting for Happiness - dir. Abderrahmane Sissako

Of course, any other suggestions for 2002 films (check the IMDb if you're not sure of the year, though I'm aware they are definitely not fail proof). I'd like to say the first 2002 film will roll out tonight, but we'll see where the day takes me.

Motivational Thoughts

I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it.
Gale Sayers

Where there's a will there's a way.
English Proverb

Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.
Denis Waitley

The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.
Richard B. Sheridan

If you really want something, you can figure out how to make it happen.
Cher

A determined person will do more with a pen and paper, than a lazy person will accomplish with a personal computer.
Catherine Pulsifer

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.
Tommy Lasorda

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.
Rosalyn Carter

What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.
Alexander Graham Bell

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Don't let go of your dreams. If you have determination and belief in your dreams, you will succeed in spite of your desire to let go.
Catherine Pulsifer

A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.
Vince Lombardi

It was courage, faith, endurance and a dogged determination to surmount all obstacles that built this bridge.
John J. Watson

So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win.
Og Mandino

Within each of us is a hidden store of determination. Determination to keep us in the race when all seems lost.
Roger Dawson

Determination is the wake-up call to the human will.
Anthony Robbins

Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.
Charles De Gaulle

An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men.
Dr. Thomas Fuller

Never go backward. Attempt, and do it with all your might. Determination is power.
Charles Simmons

Those who don't understand determination call determination stubbornness or too driven. To be determined is to see it through!
Catherine Pulsifer

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
Og Mandino

You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction.
George Lorimer

We will either find a way, or make one!
Hannibal

Never stop. One stops as soon as something is about to happen.
Peter Brock

Famous Motivational Quotes

• "Perfect Practice Makes Perfect"
• If you feel like bragging, remember: the whistle doesn´t pull the train.
• Going the extra mile is easier - there´s no traffic jams.
• Remember: a turtle only makes progress when it sticks its neck out.
• Everybody does better when EVERYBODY does better.
• Don´t mistake activity for achievement ... they aren´t the same thing.
• "You can´t have a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."
• "Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out."
• "Don´t let what you can´t do interfere with what you can do."
• "A true athlete should have character, not be a character."
• "First get ready - then your chance will come."
• "It´s what you learn when you know it all that really counts."
• Don´t shy away from challenges ... facing them is the only way you can improve.
• Look inside for your strength, then share that strength with others.
• Always maintain your sense of humor, share it with others when things get too intense.
• Make the play first, then decide if it was impossible.
• Admit your mistakes. It shows character and inner strength.
• Remember, loyalty is a two-way street.
• Keep all things in perspective.

Motivational Quotes

"Little people talk about people. Medium size people talk about things. And big people talk about ideals and principles." – Unknown

"Beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances; pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control. " — James Allen

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves— to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today." — Stewart B. Johnson

"Life is like a book we can either study it or let it gather dust on the shelves of the world." — Rene Godefroy

"It isn’t your position that makes you happy or unhappy, it’s your disposition." — O. S. Marden

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, To everyone you can."
— Ancient Advice

"It a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." — W. Sommerset Morgan

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult." — Seneca

"Some men see things as they are, and ask, “why?” I dare to dream of things that never were, and ask—”Why not?” -- George Bernard Shaw

"Big shots are little shots that keep shooting." — Christopher Morley

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
— Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.

"The pain you feel is the breaking of shell that encloses your understanding." — Cahil Gibran

"Success is not measure by the position one has reached in life, rather by the obstacles one overcomes while trying to succeed."
— Booker T. Washington

"A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." — Winston Churchill

"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what to do. Attitude determines how well you do it." — Aldous Huxley

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." — Proverb 17:22

"Life is just a minute only sixty seconds in it, forced upon you, can‘t refuse it. Didn‘t seek it, didn‘t choose it, but It‘s up to you to use it. You must suffer if you lose it, give an account if you abuse it, just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it." — Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

"It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow." — Robert J. Hasting

"People do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Everything you remember, I forgot, and everything you forgot, I remember." — God

"People do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

"If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams, and endeavor to live the life has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." — Henry David Thoreau