On a busy Paris bouIevard, a youth scornfuIly tosses a crumpIed paper bag into the outstretched hands of a beggar woman. This is the bond which, for an instant, Iinks several very different characters: Anne (Binoche), an actress; her war photographer boyfriend Georges; his farmer father and younger brother Jean, who, contrary to his father s wishes, has no interest in inheriting the farm; Amadou, a music teacher for deaf-mute chiIdren, and his family, who originate from Africa; and Maria, a Romanian immigrant. Written and directed by MichaeI Haneke, one of modern cinema s most distinctive and ambitious directors, Code Unknown is a complex film of powerfuI emotional force and a fascinating study of the subtIe connections and barriers between peopIe, social cIass, race and the difficulty of communicating in the modern worId. |