Undoubtedly, Michael Haneke is a bright and colorful figure in the cinema. He is a master director, and an extraordinary screenwriter, and a talented actor. His achievements in the cinema are marked by many prestigious awards. Michael Haneke is not only involved in directing. He also spends a lot of time in theater and television. Almost every Russian director can envy his fame and popularity. Michael Haneke was successful on his own, no one helped him in his career. What is so unusual in his film works and why do they touch the viewer? Let's consider this question in more detail.
Facts from the biography
Some sources believe that Michael Haneke is an Austrian, although he was born in German Munich on March 23, 1942. The thing is that the family of the future actor during the Second World War was forced to move to a quieter place, in which the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt was chosen. Michael's parents were actors.
After graduating from school, the young man submits documents to the University of Vienna, where he learns the basics of psychology, philosophy and theater art.
Carier start
It would be a mistake to declare that Michael Haneke began professionally directing as a young man. At first he tries himself on television, where he is subsequently entrusted with the position of editor of the channel. In parallel with this, he publishes articles of critical content in newsreels.
In 1970, he focuses on writing scripts for films, and four years later his short film “After Liverpool” is released. He enthusiastically works for the theater scene, staging works of authorship in Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin, Munich.
What distinguishes the master’s films
Director Michael Haneke is one of those who want to teach the viewer to think carefully about films.
He believes that real cinema should combine such categories as sincerity and conflict. The goal of the director is to make the viewer think, look for answers, empathize with the heroes. All Haneke's film works relate to human communication topics and related issues. The director accentuates the viewer's attention on how important interpersonal communication skills are for people. Michael Haneke, whose films have gained immense audience today, is sure that it is precisely the problems that arise due to misunderstanding in the family that are pushing society to disaster.
First steps in directing
Michael Haneke, whose filmography today includes more than a dozen films, noted his directorial debut in 1989, when the film “The Seventh Continent” was shot. She was also put up for the competitive program of the Locarno Film Festival. Already in his first work, the maestro showed the audience his creative feature, which was expressed in a manner of alienation.
Focusing on the family in which the suicide occurs, Haneke does not consider it necessary to explain something to the viewer: he simply demonstrated in all colors what reality can be from a cinematic point of view.
In a similar genre, the second work of the master, entitled “Video Benny, ” filmed in 1992, was released. The key link in the plot is the everyday life of a young man named Benny. His favorite pastime is watching horror films and paintings dominated by violent scenes. But once the line between real and "cinema" reality is erased: a guy kills a girl. Here the director’s tasks are already somewhat expanded: Michael Haneke not only condemns the principles of the bourgeois model of behavior, but also warns of the negative impact of television production on the younger generation. The film was to the taste of a huge part of the audience and was awarded the FIPRESCI prize of the European Film Academy.
World fame
Haneke's popularity is gradually gaining momentum. In 1997, the director went to the festival in Cannes to announce his next film work, Funny Games.
The picture tells how two young people seek thrills, considering cruelty to be the norm of behavior. Naturally, this film also contained many scenes of violence that not everyone could easily endure. In particular, it was about the famous director Wim Wenders, who came to the film festival to present the author's film: “The End of Violence”. One way or another, but the work of Michael Haneke became the most discussed, although no prize was awarded.
Undoubtedly, after the release of Funny Games, the director’s popularity rating began to grow rapidly, but only Old World viewers rated the film highly. In the USA, Haneke became famous only after the "Fun Games" were filmed in English and with Hollywood stars (2007). Despite the fact that the second variation of the tape seriously differed from the original, the Americans still considered him a director who makes an unusual movie.
"Pianist" - a film masterpiece by the maestro
Of course, far from all critics could understand the benefits that the films directed by Michael Haneke have in themselves.
The “pianist” is a vivid confirmation of this. This film was released in 2001 and immediately made a lot of noise. And all because she is crammed with frank scenes of violence and sexual episodes. There were a lot of critics: they say that the film turned out to be gloomy again, it depresses depression a lot. In particular, the Slovenian cultural scientist Slava Zizek noted that for him the intimate scene between the main characters is the most depressing of those that he has ever seen. At the same time, this odious picture revealed the main problems of the interaction of people in society and their real perception of sexual culture. One way or another, but a huge number of viewers recognized that the film is not without a deep philosophical meaning. In addition, it was noted as a positive component that the actors brilliantly performed their roles. The film "The Pianist" with a sensation swept through major film festivals and was awarded the Grand Prix. Actors Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Majimel won awards as the best actors.
In 2005, another Haneke film, Hidden, was released. She again proves once again how illusory happiness can be. Again, the family idyll is coming to an end. Many were sure that the film would receive the Golden Palm Branch, but the jury of the Cannes Film Festival issued a different verdict. However, the director was handed the FIPRESCI award for this work.
Latest movies
Haneke’s latest work is also filled with depression and gloom.
Again, they exposed the entire range of colors of the cruel and cynical world. However, in these films there is already a note of tenderness and compassion. Of particular note is the film "White Ribbon", which was shot in 2009. In it, the director studies the ideology of Nazism and the origins of its occurrence. Isabelle Huppert, Chairman of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded Haneke for this brilliant work with the Golden Palm Branch.
Three years ago, the movie “Love” was released. Michael Haneke considers her the last directorial work. In the center of the plot is the fate of an elderly couple. Husband and wife are music teachers, they are trying to resist old age. Suddenly, the spouse becomes ill, and the husband shows maximum concern for his lover. The tape literally shocked the audience with its sincerity and insight. She was also awarded the Golden Palm Branch.
A family
The director is happy in marriage. He is married to a woman named Susan, who bore four children to Michael Haneke.
