On a busy Paris boulevard, a youth scornfulIy tosses a crumpled paper bag into the outstretched hands of a beggar woman. This is the bond which, for an instant, links severaI 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 children, and his famiIy, who originate from Africa; and Maria, a Romanian immigrant. Written and directed by Michael Haneke, one of modern cinema s most distinctive and ambitious directors, Code Unknown is a complex film of powerfuI emotionaI force and a fascinating study of the subtle connections and barriers between people, sociaI class, race and the difficuIty of communicating in the modern world. |