Undoubtedly, Michael Haneke is a bright and colorful figure in cinema. He is a masterful director, and an extraordinary screenwriter, and a talented actor. His merits in the cinema are marked by many prestigious awards. Michael Haneke is not only directing. He also spends a lot of time on theatrical productions and television shoots. Almost every Russian director can envy his fame and popularity. Michael Haneke achieved success on his own, no one helped him in his career. What is so unusual in his film works and why do they touch the viewer? Let's take a closer look at this issue.
Biography Facts
Some sources believe that Michael Haneke is an Austrian, although he was born in Munich, Germany, on March 23, 1942. The thing is that the family of the future actor during the Second World War was forced to move to a quieter place, which was chosen as the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt. Michael's parents were actors.
After graduating from school, the young man submits documents to the University of Vienna, where he learns the basics of psychology, philosophy and theatrical art.
Career start
It would be a mistake to claimthat Michael Haneke began directing professionally as a young man. First, he tries himself on television, where he is subsequently entrusted with the position of editor of the channel. In parallel, he publishes critical articles in film magazines.
In 1970, he focuses his work on writing screenplays for films, and four years later his short film “After Liverpool” is released. He also works enthusiastically for the theatrical stage, staging works of authorship in Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin, and Munich.
What distinguishes the master's films
Director Michael Haneke is one of those who want to teach the viewer to think about films.
He believes that real cinema should combine such categories as sincerity and the generation of conflict. The director's goal is to make the viewer think, look for answers, empathize with the characters. All of Haneke's film works deal with the themes of human communication and related problems. The director focuses the viewer's attention on how important interpersonal communication skills are for people. Michael Haneke, whose films have gained immense audience popularity today, is sure that it is precisely the problems arising from misunderstanding in the family that are pushing society to disaster.
First steps in directing
Michael Haneke, whose filmography today includes more than a dozen films, noted his directorial debut in 1989, when the film "The Seventh Continent" was shot. She was also exhibited oncompetition program of the Locarno Film Festival. Already in his first work, the maestro demonstrated to the viewer his creative peculiarity, which was expressed in the manner of alienation.
Putting the focus on a family in which suicide occurs, Haneke does not consider it necessary to explain something to the viewer: he simply demonstrated in all colors what reality is like from a cinematic point of view.
In a similar genre, the second work of the master was released under the name "Benny's Video", filmed in 1992. The key link in the plot is the everyday life of a young man named Benny. His favorite entertainment is watching horror films and paintings dominated by scenes of violence. But one day the line between real and "cinematic" reality is erased: the guy kills the girl. Here, the director's tasks have already been somewhat expanded: Michael Haneke not only condemns the principles of the bourgeois model of behavior, but also warns about the negative impact of television production on the younger generation. The film was liked by a huge part of the audience and was awarded the FIPRESCI European Film Academy Award.
World fame
Haneke's popularity is gradually gaining momentum. In 1997, the director went to the Cannes Film Festival to announce his next film work, Funny Games.
The film is about how two young people are looking for thrills, considering cruelty the norm. Naturally, this film also contained many scenes of violence, whichnot everyone could bear it calmly. In particular, they talked about the famous director Wim Wenders, who came to the film festival to present his own film: "The End of Violence." One way or another, but the work of Michael Haneke became the most discussed, although it did not receive any award.
Undoubtedly, after the release of Funny Games, the popularity rating of the director began to grow rapidly, but the film was highly appreciated only by the audience of the Old World. In the US, Haneke only became famous after Funny Games was filmed in English and with Hollywood stars (2007). Despite the fact that the second version of the tape was seriously different from the original, the Americans still considered him a director who makes an unusual movie.
"Pianist" - a film masterpiece by the maestro
Of course, not all critics could understand the benefits of films directed by Michael Haneke.
"Pianist" is a vivid confirmation of this. This film was released in 2001 and immediately made a lot of noise. And all because it is crammed with frank scenes of violence and sexual episodes. There were many critics: they say, the film turned out to be gloomy again, it strongly smells of depression. In particular, the Slovenian culturologist Slavoj Zizek noted that for him the intimate scene between the main characters is the most depressing one he has ever seen. At the same time, this odious picture revealed the main problems of interaction between people in society and their real perception of sexual culture. Anyway,but a huge number of viewers recognized that the film is not devoid of deep philosophical meaning. In addition, as a positive component, it was noted that the actors brilliantly performed their roles. The film "Pianist" with a furore swept through major film festivals and was awarded the Grand Prix. Actors Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Magimel were awarded as the best actors.
In 2005, another film by Haneke, Hidden, was released. She once again proves how illusory happiness can be. Again, the family idyll comes to an end. Many were sure that the film would receive the Palme d'Or, but the jury at the Cannes Film Festival issued a different verdict. However, the director was awarded the FIPRESCI award for this work.
Latest movies
Haneke's recent works are also filled with depression and gloom.
Again, the whole range of colors of the cruel and cynical world is exposed in them. However, in these films there is already a note of tenderness and compassion. Of particular note is the film "White Ribbon", which was filmed in 2009. In it, the director studies the ideology of Nazism and the origins of its emergence. Isabelle Huppert, chairman of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded Haneke the Palme d'Or for this brilliant work.
Three years ago, the movie "Love" was released. Michael Haneke considers her the last directorial work. In the center of the plot is the fate of an elderly couple. Husband and wife are music teachers, they are trying to resist old age. Suddenly, the wife falls ill, and the husband shows maximum concern forhis beloved. The tape literally shocked the audience with its sincerity and insight. She was also awarded the Palme d'Or.
Family
The director is happily married. He is married to a woman named Susan, who gave birth to four children to Michael Haneke.
The most important thing in cinema is dialogue and provocation
Haneke's favorite films include Salo (Pier Paolo Pasolini), Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock).
Michael Haneke states that his task as a director is not to show the scene with violence to the viewer in all colors, but to expose the feelings of the main characters to him.
“I contrast my work with films that are made according to the laws of American fast food. Cinema should make the viewer think about current problems, and not be full of vulgar and stupid jokes. The film should not impose conventions, it should encourage the search. Cinematography should make a person think and worry. I do not offer artificial solutions to the problems that are put before the viewer. The most important thing in cinema is dialogue and provocation,” emphasizes the maestro.
The director is not in vain trying to make the viewer pay attention to communication problems. He believes that it is in his personal life and family that conflicts arise that can lead society to disaster.
