
Jean, a farm lad, wants to escape his silent father; he runs to Paris to his older brother, Georges, who's away covering the war in Kosovo. Angry, he throws a bag of half-eaten pastry into a beggar's lap. Amadou, a young Franco-African, berates him. The police arrive, arrest Amadou and deport the beggar. Georges's girlfriend Anne is upset; it colors her relationship with Georges when he returns from the war. Separate lives intersect for the one moment, around the pastry bag, ... (Full plot summary below)
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Jean, a farm lad, wants to escape his silent father; he runs to Paris to his older brother, Georges, who's away covering the war in Kosovo. Angry, he throws a bag of half-eaten pastry into a beggar's lap. Amadou, a young Franco-African, berates him. The police arrive, arrest Amadou and deport the beggar. Georges's girlfriend Anne is upset; it colors her relationship with Georges when he returns from the war. Separate lives intersect for the one moment, around the pastry bag, and all are altered. We follow each as repercussions of the incident play out. Deaf children bookend the film pantomiming words, feelings, and situations: what they are expressing?
Leave your thoughts about Code Unknown.
| Dallas Morning NewsChris VognarBeautifully shot and acted, particularly by Juliette Binoche. |
| Sight and SoundRichard FalconThe most intellectually stimulating and emotionally provocative piece of European cinema of recent times. |
| Time OutGeoff AndrewDespite the film's Bressonian rigours, its emotional force should finally give the lie to Haneke's reputation as a coldly academic film-maker. |
| TV GuideKen FoxWith virtually no music and very little expository dialogue, this is one of the rare films with enough faith in moviegoers to let them figure things out for themselves. |
| OregonianKim MorganManages to disturb, getting under your skin whether you want it to or not. |
| Filmcritic.comJeremiah KippThough it's difficult to call the film a success, it's certainly beguiling. |
| London Evening StandardAlexander WalkerThe emotional landscape is observed with detachment; you have to connect the almost hidden dots to empathise with the characters or form the message, and it's hard. |
| Houston ChronicleEric HarrisonThe wonderful Binoche ... hot-wires what could have been a coldly intellectual film. |
| PopMattersValeriy KolyadychIt's a great entry point to his filmography, serving as a good example of Haneke's visual and thematic style. |
| ColeSmithey.comCole SmitheyMichael Haneke's only attempt to be emotionally salient. |