Films/DVD Asylum

Cache -- Drama drunk on barbituates . . .

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mr grits

(A)

My buddies, Auteuil and Binoche, struggle with a mystery that unfolds with the speed of a napping escargot. This is an actors movie, certainly not the writer or director's. The unfolding of the plot yields a brief, bad childhood experience that re-emerges after four decades of festering. Auteuil, as a child, bacame jealous of his parents intention of adopting an Arabic boy that led to him creating a situation making the adoption impossible. It all goes away until they are both immersed in middleage which starts with the appearance of mysterious tapes left on Auteiul and Binoche's doorstep.
The acting is great but the plot development is pure Van Winkle. If you enjoy watching glaciers move and paint dry this will is the one for you.

Ex nihilo, nihil fit . . .

Follow Ups:

A brilliant little French film which leaves a nice, creepy aftertaste. nt - tinear 09:58:45 07/04/06 (0)
f
Looks like Haneke fooled you more than once! - Victor Khomenko 06:20:29 07/02/06 (1)
After the Code - why did you bother with this one?
It was awful.
- The actors, I guess . . . won't be a third time. * - mr grits 10:47:47 07/02/06 (0)
  ..
  Ex nihilo, nihil fit . . .
Re: Cache -- Drama drunk on barbituates . . . - PhilJ 05:43:23 07/02/06 (8)
Did you follow the final scene? It is the one where (from a distance) we see a car at Auteuil's parents house and see a boy dragged away. Is this the scene of the Arabic boy being tossed out or is it Auteuil's son and the present time? The car looked older but I did not bother to back up and look for their car etc.
BTW I liked the dialogue between Binoche and Auteuil and found it an interesting character study. I thought he was a prick and his son was following his footsteps. Binoche was too innocent to deal with the tapes let alone being left in the dark by her husband.
I guess I like watching paint dry because it worked for me :^)
- The last scene was a flashback showing the young boy's trauma at being taken away from the estate . . . . - mr grits 10:52:50 07/02/06 (7)
  I think it served as an explanation as to how the Arab could have carried a grudge over so many decades. As Autieul explaned, he was so young he hardly remembered--which is true of human nature at that age. What I don't get is the Arab's son being so complicit in his father's smoldering anger.
  
  Ex nihilo, nihil fit . . .
  - But what about the VERY last scene? - TopPop 11:34:09 07/02/06 (1)
    The one in front of the school. The lack of camera movement makes it seem like another mystery tape. If so, there are three possibilities that I see:
    1) The Arab (Majid) was filming the tapes, and this was the last one before his... well... you know...
    2) The Arab's son was responsible for the tapes, and he plans to continue the bizarre stalking.
    3) Somebody else????
    I understood the movie better (especially the abrupt ending) after watching the director's commentary. He says that the film is about guilt, and how one deals with guilt. This particular movie was about Autieul's character's (Laurent) guilt, so it doesn't matter who was responsible for the tapes and pictures. If Majid was responsible, the audience might have wanted to partially forgive Laurent for his actions, but in the director's eyes, different cupabilities should be viewed and examined independently.
    Cheers,
    Chris
    
    "Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven."
    -Walter Savage Landor
    - Ah, to me the last scene was the "taking from the estate" . . . - mr grits 18:15:06 07/02/06 (0)
      I see your point. I was rather mystified but ready to watch the previews then be done with the disk. So, I just didn't get much from the school scene but I do see the posssibilities you listed.
      Maybe there will be Cache 2?
      
      Ex nihilo, nihil fit . . .
  - The film's basic presime of people having no ownership of their destinies is revolting - Victor Khomenko 11:08:16 07/02/06 (4)
    So the kid had something unfair done to him... wow... that's the reason to live like a pig?
    In the society where everything bad that happens to you is always someone else's fault such a message of course resonates strongly.
    - You and others, surprisingly, seem completely to have misunderstood. - tinear 19:01:33 07/02/06 (3)
      The film, quite simply, is about revenge, unfortutunately one of our most primitive instincts.
      If you think this is about one man and one incident I suggest you study up on the French treatment of the Algerians.
      - I don't recall seeing all those Belorussians living like pigs because of what the Germans did to them - Victor Khomenko 06:05:22 07/03/06 (2)
        
        In Reply to: You and others, surprisingly, seem completely to have misunderstood. posted by tinear on July 2, 2006 at 19:01:33:
        
        Well... they certainly lived poorly, but they never developed the victimhood complex simply because half of their country was burnt down and untold numbers of them machine gunned into ravines by the Germans.
        All that stuff about past collective crimes is something interesting from historical perspective, but has nothing at all to do with the individual lives.
        
        If you believe this, let's all shutup about the Jewish victimhood. nt - tinear 07:12:27 07/04/06 (1)
        
        In Reply to: I don't recall seeing all those Belorussians living like pigs because of what the Germans did to them posted by Victor Khomenko on July 3, 2006 at 06:05:22:
        
        as
        
        Jews built wonderful lives for themselves and a modern democratic society - Victor Khomenko 08:37:05 07/04/06 (0)
        
        In Reply to: If you believe this, let's all shutup about the Jewish victimhood. nt posted by tinear on July 4, 2006 at 07:12:27:
        
        You are looking for victimhood in the whoge neignborhood, buddy.
        Show me a Jew who lived like a pig because of the Holocaust. They go and become Nobel Prize winners instead.
        Your victim mentality is plain silly. Instead of giving those who promote it pat and blessing, you should object to it.

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