A Scene

There is this scene in "Code Unknown" that stuck with me.  There is this couple swimming in a pool.  They are having fun and kissing each other and stuff.  The pool is on a rooftop of a tall building.  They are the only ones there.  It seems to be directly connected to their apartment of condominium unit.  So it is a private pool.  They seem to be well to do.  Affluent.  They seem to be in love and rich and have everything they want.

We watch them in the water having the time of their lives.  And then it is revealed there is a young child in their home.  It is a boy of about maybe five years old.  He wanders off and climbs on top of the wall of the side of the tall building.  It is a short wall, about five feet hight.  As he kind of lies down on the border there, he seems unaware of the danger.  One wrong move or slip and that would of course be the end of him.

The couple finally spots the boy.  They run out of the pool and rush over to him.  They pull him off the wall, rescuing him.  They are emotional, panicked, scared.  They yell at the boy for what he has done, putting himself in such danger.  The mother then slaps the child.  The child then runs off and goes inside.  The couple stay there and console each other, making each other feel better after that traumatic situation.

This makes me feel a lot of different feelings, of course.  I'm a bit outraged about how the couple are more concerned about themselves.  They were unaware of the unsupervised child.  After the scary situation, they then console themselves while the child is again left alone.  The child did not even know he was in danger.  They only made the situation worse by scolding him and then physically assaulting him.  Would you blame me for feeling judgmental at this point?

And then this is what director Michael Haneke does.  He reveals that this is just a scene in a movie within the movie.  The actors are in a studio watching the scene, dubbing additional dialogue recording.  It is of course a very powerful serious scene, but as they flub their lines, they laugh at their mistakes.  So you're going from one emotion, something like being outraged, and then he switches it up and makes you wonder what you were so upset about.

In any case, I do feel like there are some people who are not very good at parenting.  Although they may have the financial means to provide for them, they are not necessarily there emotionally.  And they might even mean well sometimes, but they might be a bit misguided.

Sometimes, I think I recognize a situation like this, and I would feel all concerned about it.  But then just like in the film, something about the people pulls me out of it and makes me wonder if there is really something to be worried about.  It's hard when it comes to emotional neglect.  It's not something you can easily prove.  You just kind of have to pray and hope for the best.