Queue Tips: Code Unknown

I've seen "Code Unknown" before.  I remember really enjoying.  The first time I saw it was back in college, around the year 2000.  I may have seen it in the theatre but probably not.  I was really into these kinds of films back then, and I did use to go to theaters to watch them.  Places like the Angelika or Film Forum or something.  I was also into Michael Haneke films, but I probably wasn't that aware of him at the time this came out.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure now that I saw this in a college class around 2001 or 2002.  I was a film major so I had many classes where we would watch movies.  I can't remember the name of the specific class, but I'm sure I still have my notebook.  It was a class that really got me thinking about films and their meaning.  I think the course was called Film and Humanities, or something like that.

My favorite filmmaking instrument is the tripod.  I love films that actually set up the camera and put thought into composition.  That is what I like about Michael Haneke films.  I like what the camera shows and doesn't show.  I like how it reveals things by panning, tilting, dollying and generally by moving.  I do see a purpose in handheld from time to time, but mostly I find it lazy.

It's been a while since I've seen "Code Unknown" but as I said, I liked it when I first saw it.  I enjoyed it.  And it got me thinking a bit.  Again the composition was good, and the long takes were impressive.  They really get you into the moment.  And I like how the director purposely takes you out of those moments from time to time.

It is a French film, with characters who speak French, as well as other characters who speak other different languages.  Part of this leads to miscommunication and misunderstanding.  I don't remember the exact stories or plots at this point.  I'm not sure what prompted me to rewatch it again at this point.  It was probably another Haneke film that I just watched.  I do know that he died recently.  Oh wait, after googalizing it, I see that he is still alive.  So who just died?  In any case, I was probably just thinking of one of his films like "Funny Games" or something.  Or maybe I saw a movie with too much handheld camera and missed his style.  And then I just happened to see this title and put it on.  It's also possible I thought of it because my son is has been studying French in high school.

In any case, this time around when I watched it, I actually did not have subtitles available.  So I watched "Code Unknown" with no subtitles.  So the actual languages and conversations were actually unknown to me.  There is barely any English.  I think the only thing I understood was a reference to a quote from John F. Kennedy, Jr. in which he says, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."  Without the languages being transcoded for me, it was more mysterious and and curious what was going on.  I actually liked it.  I liked trying to figure out what was going on without understanding the dialogue.