The film's episodic structure finally proves maddening.
Code Unknown (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:26
Rotten:11
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: Though challengingly cryptic at times, Code Unknown still manages to resonate.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release:Nov 15, 2000 Limited
Synopsis: CODE UNKNOWN tracks a series of events that unfold in like a chain reaction, all stemming from a minor event that brings the film's five characters together. Set in Paris, France, Anne (Juliette... CODE UNKNOWN tracks a series of events that unfold in like a chain reaction, all stemming from a minor event that brings the film's five characters together. Set in Paris, France, Anne (Juliette Binoche) is an actress whose boyfriend Georges (Thierry Neuvic) photographs the war in Kosovo. Georges' brother, Jean (Alexandre Hamidi), is looking for the entry code to Georges' apartment because he has decided he no longer wants work on his father's farm in the country and he is moving to Paris. The lives of these characters haphazardly interconnect with those of a Romanian immigrant begging on the street, Maria (Luminita Gheorghiu), and a deaf teacher of West African descent, Amadou (Ona Lu Yenke). With many twists and turns that draw the viewer into webs of family, nationality, culture, economics, and politics, CODE UNKNOWN is a splendidly complex drama with a nonsequential chronology from Austrian director Michael Haneke. [More]
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Alexandre Hamidi, Luminita Gheorghiu
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Alexandre Hamidi, Luminita Gheorghiu, Ona Lu Yenke, Bob Nicolescu
Director: Michael Haneke
Director: Michael Haneke
Screenwriter: Michael Haneke
Producer: Alain Sarde, Marin Karmitz
Composer: Giba Goncalves
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Reviews for Code Unknown
It's a film that will constantly offer new twists and will live for years to come while most other films die away.
Too self-consciously obtuse, enigmatic and 'meaningful' for its own good, it demands far more than it gives back in return.
This film proves that hate is indeed both a mystery and a moron whose presence looms large in cities all over the world.
Even if it's a bit 'foreign' and arty, it's also consistently gripping, thoughtful, powerful stuff, assembled in an unusual way that catches us off guard and never preaches.
The most intellectually stimulating and emotionally provocative piece of European cinema of recent times.
Unfortunately, [Haneke's] often too cryptic, which leaves viewers still trying to make connections when they should already be reacting to the moral lessons implied by them.
This sliced and diced curio (think Manchevski's Before the Rain as directed by Godard) tackles entirely too much to ever really be about anything.
The wonderful Binoche ... hot-wires what could have been a coldly intellectual film.
It doesn’t endorse narrow-mindedness, but instead, uses it as a topic to illustrate just how brilliantly broad-minded filmmaking can be.
Though it's difficult to call the film a success, it's certainly beguiling.
While it alludes to themes concerning xenophobia, communication and social responsibility, ultimately the film amounts to little more than a collection of stark, uneven vignettes.
Manages to disturb, getting under your skin whether you want it to or not.
Code Unknown gets at the ache and angst of the human condition in ways that shiver with telling detail and the machinations of real life. It's powerful.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
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