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Code Unknown
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Code Unknown

Code Unknown

2000
Drama
1h 58m
Jean, a farm lad, wants to escape his silent father; he runs to Paris to his older brother, Georges, who's away covering the war in Kosovo. Angry, he throws a bag of half-eaten pastry into a beggar's lap. Amadou, a young Franco-African, berates him. The police arrive, arrest Amadou and deport the beggar. Georges's girlfriend Anne is upset; it colors her relationship with Georges when he returns from the war. Separate lives intersect for the one moment, around the pastry bag, and all are altered. (imdb)

Directed by:

Michael Haneke

Screenwriter:

Michael Haneke

Starring:

Juliette Binoche, Arsinée Khanjian, Marc Duret, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler, Alexandre Hamidi, Maimouna Hélène Diarra, Bruno Todeschini, Maurice Bénichou, Luminita Gheorghiu, Djibril Kouyaté

Genre:

Drama

Countries:

France, Germany, Romania

Languages:

English, French, Romanian, Malinka, French Sign Language
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Code Unknown

2000
Drama
1h 58m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 61.77% from 820 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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jeffvjeff_v
Rated 23 Feb 2010
94
99th
Michael Haneke's ensemble piece is deliberately choppy in its editing. It strives for an episodic feel and emphasizes that we are only going to see snippets of the lives of these characters. The film's story blossoms from an act in the first scene --each of the film's storylines follows the participants of this first scene, eventually providing a portrait of life in Paris at the turn of the millenium, and demonstrating that life is series of choices concerning involvement and non-involvement.
Rated 23 Feb 2010
bownBown
Rated 16 Nov 2009
84
71st
The first 15-20 minutes (up to Binoche talking to the camera) are as close to perfection as Haneke has filmed so far, and it was kind of a shame that the rest of the movie didn't live up to that. That being said, it's still a great flick, and possibly Haneke's magnum opus as far as portraying his usual themes go.
Rated 16 Nov 2009
sirrobbieSirRobbie
Rated 28 Aug 2010
80
81st
When I finish watching a Haneke movie I feel like the dumbest person on the planet, but in the same time I feel that someone out there treats me with respect.
Rated 28 Aug 2010
caimancaiman
Rated 25 Jul 2010
68
32nd
I enjoy being challenged by movies, I really do. But I have a limit. Watching Code Unknown is like playing a video game that's so difficult it's not even fun. I needed something, ANYTHING to grab hold of here, but the movie gave me nothing. Trying to appreciate the movie on any level was like grasping at strings. Maybe I need to give it another shot? Maybe, but I doubt I will anytime soon.
Rated 25 Jul 2010
sproostsproost
Rated 02 Oct 2023
75
79th
I recommend to watch the Criterion version with the (newest) interview by Haneke, which is very enlightening and interesting on the topics and technique that form this film. I agree with so much he says, it's no wonder i usually really like this work and Code Unknown is no different. However not everything is succesful - for instance the photographer's story felt a bit prodded in, something Haneke more or less confirms in the interview bc he got that part of the script from a friend
Rated 02 Oct 2023
vandelay1Vandelay1
Rated 24 May 2022
65
69th
good movie
Rated 24 May 2022
deaddillydeaddilly
Rated 14 Jun 2020
85
84th
I don't doubt that there is an absolute meaning behind the sequencing of this film. But I think it is precisely our inability to entirely "decode" this connectivity that properly communicates the thesis of the film. It is about the blind spots created in human exchanges and the futility of our communication systems. About the unseen influence we have on each other, sometimes leading to poetic coincidence and sometimes unimaginable suffering.
Rated 14 Jun 2020
brrrpbrrrp
Rated 19 Feb 2024
65
51st
Much in the same vein as 71 Fragments (etc.), so Haneke seems to have felt that the structure warranted further exploration. It's quite a good film, offering chances to consider potent moral quandaries, but it gets a little dreary. Perhaps the only scene that represents Haneke the provocateur is that in the train carriage nearer the end, which really is quite horrible.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
doyler29doyler29
Rated 08 Nov 2023
90
87th
I love this film. It's a deliberately frustrating experience. You come to expect a film will tell you what you need to know to follow it's narrative thread. The formal audaciousness of this film is thrilling, and many of the vignettes are suspenseful short films even in isolation.
Rated 08 Nov 2023
shockularSHOCKULAR
Rated 15 Jan 2023
56
16th
This is the first Haneke I've seen out of three that I didn't at least like. It has some moments and isn't bad, but it was just too impenetrable for me. I couldn't really get into any aspect of it other than some of the performances (Binoche, as always, is especially good), but it just feels so meandering and it never really felt grounded in any way. I had been told it's a difficult movie, so it had my full attention, but it always felt just out of my grasp.
Rated 15 Jan 2023
oskarhuoskarhu
Rated 25 May 2021
77
54th
The episodic nature of the film is both a strength and a weakness. Scattered scenes function as snippets of human action with meaning to them, but not sure I see how they work as a totality.
Rated 25 May 2021
karbonaichKarbonaich
Rated 15 May 2021
80
57th
w/ Büsra
Rated 15 May 2021
peyrinpeyrin
Rated 15 Jul 2020
60
32nd
Beginning to get the feeling that every Haneke is built on the same foundation, with only minor variations each time. This time, we start with the unexpected meeting and fan outwards into individual lives instead of the other way around. Definitely a bit easier to follow than his first two, since there's the anchor of a few established characters and an overarching multicultural bent to the whole thing.
Rated 15 Jul 2020
feublofeublo
Rated 13 Jun 2020
80
57th
The irony of it‘s subtle conclusions, that are very much the connecting realities of life's full circle. Without hesitation, Haneke manages to disturb an audience into empathy.
Rated 13 Jun 2020
syntheseizurSyntheseizur
Rated 25 Jul 2017
91
93rd
Haneke again investigates cinema's relationship to truth and reality, but with great care and subtlety. It's almost like a movie made by algorithm, with stray moments from a random set of lives captured and taken out of context. Haneke comments on how film editing complicates rather than simplifies the drama of real life, directs it into superficiality and censors it. Each vignette represents a different kind of story, but they remain incomplete, initiating a weird kind of narrative tension.
Rated 25 Jul 2017
francogonzoFrancoGonzo
Rated 21 Feb 2016
8
36th
Star Rating: ★★
Rated 21 Feb 2016
glm01glm01
Rated 02 Oct 2013
75
51st
75.000
Rated 02 Oct 2013
djrossdjross
Rated 18 Jul 2013
70
78th
Complicated exploration of disconnection in contemporary society, focusing on ethical dilemmas and the way they are frequently evaded. Several very good scenes, and Binoche is excellent as usual, but at times the film comes across as a bit too schematic, and at other times rather elusive. The puzzle-like character of the construction may invite repeat viewings, but whether this will result in a stronger impact is perhaps open to question. Certainly strives for admirable intellectual complexity.
Rated 18 Jul 2013
neonmanNeonman
Rated 04 Jul 2013
83
74th
A pretty simple telling of fractured narratives, but it's so endlessly fascinating. The acting and writing are naturalistic done well, which helps me keep engaged with these threads of stories that pass by and bounce off each other (I especially like it when this occurs within one shot). The cinematography is also terrifically engaging, there's so much detail in the shots you get lost in the nuances. It's an enduring, but rewarding watch.
Rated 04 Jul 2013
parcalihamparcaliham
Rated 19 May 2013
70
42nd
3 Mart 2013, istanbul modern & modern toplumun durumunu, post-modern bir sinema ile; birbirinden bagimsiz duran sekans, karakter ve hikayeleri, perspektif farkliliklari uzerinden birlestiren bir film. bu acidan, belki de bu film, babil kulesi hikayesinin, post-modern tezahürüdür.
Rated 19 May 2013
bolivarbolivar
Rated 13 Feb 2013
70
54th
haneke builds up great tension in the first half, or even whole, hour. but then it all just goes apart and I dont even know what to think of it. it feels a bit like a somewhat weak, but potent, first step towards the fantastic "caché" that would come later.
Rated 13 Feb 2013
nepetaNepeta
Rated 10 Jan 2013
80
68th
Of all the films I've seen from Haneke this is easily the one I find most challenging so much so that both times I've watched it I've had to take a break roughly half way through. And yet, I think I still like it quite a lot. There are numerous very striking scenes in the film, and though I find it frustrating I can't deny that I also find it oddly fascinating. At the very least I can say I would quite happily sit down and watch it again tomorrow, which has to say something about it.
Rated 10 Jan 2013
moraesfelipemoraesfelipe
Rated 02 Sep 2012
72
75th
It's a film about nothing -- or about how we think ordinary life might sound like nothing --, but this picture left me with mixed feelings for other reasons. I found some of the best shots of Haneke's career right here -- the first long take, the camera attacking Binoche, the pool sequence --, because this is really a masterful, incredibly directed film, but, as an achievement of storytelling, it seems repetitive. He's done it before (and better) in 71 Fragments.
Rated 02 Sep 2012
closedmouthclosedmouth
Rated 30 Jan 2012
90
89th
Not much to say, just another Haneke masterpiece.
Rated 30 Jan 2012
bofbof
Rated 16 Nov 2011
77
75th
I really need to watch more Haneke. Code Unknown is full of interesting stuff, with emotional and actual emigres bumping into each other in Paris. Every image loaded with symbolism and beautifully not at all tied together. Crash without the moral.
Rated 16 Nov 2011
ebelcEbelC
Rated 22 Oct 2011
40
18th
It really has some great scenes, but I felt most of them were just unnecesary, didn't have any real intention at all. Maybe I didn't understand at all Haneke's game, but anyway, I think I'm not that interested this time.
Rated 22 Oct 2011
dogubombDogubomb
Rated 08 May 2011
50
61st
Strong opening and title drop, shame the stupid DVD menu spoils you on it.
Rated 08 May 2011
slantmagSlantMag
Rated 08 Jan 2011
25
61st
"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." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 08 Jan 2011
frankhowleyFrankHowley
Rated 11 Oct 2010
65
41st
The opening sequence and the subway scene are fantastic.
Rated 11 Oct 2010
toddbolondzToddBolondz
Rated 26 Jul 2010
44
31st
There's a discrepancy right from the get-go: the code is known. How else does Binoche get into her apartment?
Rated 26 Jul 2010
rthornhillrthornhill
Rated 01 Apr 2010
75
12th
Binoche is a favorite actress of mine and she does a good job with what she is given as do the rest of the cast. The cutting to and from the various ministories is effective. The problem is you don't get to know the motivations of the characters. Too bad because some of them are interesting, but only to a point. Actually the movie as a whole is quite unentertaining and to me overrated as well. A code better left unknown...and unseen.
Rated 01 Apr 2010
muutanetmuutanet
Rated 08 Nov 2009
79
82nd
Very challenging and experimental study of discrimination. Movie was a collection of moments of life which never started from the beginning and never conclude, but the context join them together in a head of viewer. It's also a collection of seemingly non-moving and bursting emotions scenes (mostly the first one). Juliette Binoche made a touching role.
Rated 08 Nov 2009
cinemahellcinema_hell
Rated 10 Jun 2009
91
89th
It has a similar narrative structure of "71 Fragments...". Different persons, of various races and personalities, are connected after a tense situation... But unlike Iñarritu's crap, this is subtle and brilliant.
Rated 10 Jun 2009
richiodorichiodo
Rated 24 May 2009
96
98th
in a strange "code", but very interestin Film Haneke always have some good stuff
Rated 24 May 2009
eee_e
Rated 07 Mar 2009
60
64th
Very challenging and subversive film about discrimination. I need to see it again.
Rated 07 Mar 2009
manhattaManhatta
Rated 31 Dec 2007
86
71st
Much better then the very similar 'Crash'. It's slow, and it can be very frustrating. Still, there's some great scenes, and the brooding ending (even if it doesn't go anywhere exactly) was expertly done. Juliette Binoche freaked me out in her film within a film more than anything in Cache or Funny Games.
Rated 31 Dec 2007
leshiileshii
Rated 20 May 2007
21
4th
Absolutely awful. Pointless. Trite. Etc.
Rated 20 May 2007

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