''Code Unknown'' (french: Code inconnu : Récit incomplet de divers voyages) is a 2000 film directed by

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

. Most of the story occurs in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, France, where the fates of several characters intersect and connect. ''Code Unknown'' is composed of unedited long takes filmed in real time, cut only when the perspective within a scene changes from one character's to another's in the middle of the action. A special edition of the film was released on Blu-ray in 2015 by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

. The film is inspired by the life of the French novelist and war reporter Olivier Weber. ''Code Unknown'' is a co-production among

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

Plot

The film features several different storylines, all of which intersect periodically throughout the film. The film begins with a brief prologue. We see a young girl in a white room standing near a wall. She crouches near the wall, then stands. Then we see individual children each making a gesture in sign language for a single word. These alternate with the first girl shaking her head. The words include, for instance, Alone, Hiding place, Bad Conscience, Sad, Imprisoned. After the title is shown, the film's opening scene features a brief encounter with four of the main characters: Anne Laurent (

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

) is an actress working in Paris, and she walks briefly with her boyfriend's younger brother Jean. After they part, Jean throws a piece of garbage at Maria, a homeless woman sitting on the side of the road. Amadou, the child of Malian immigrants, witnesses this and confronts Jean. The two fight, and eventually Amadou and Maria are both taken to a police station for questioning. Amadou is released presumably shortly after, though we learn that he was held, beaten and shamed, but Maria is deported to her native Romania and she reconnects with her family there.

Cast

- Anne Laurent * Thierry Neuvic - Georges * Josef Bierbichler - The Farmer (as Sepp Bierbichler) * Alexandre Hamidi - Jean * Maimouna Hélène Diarra - Aminate * Ona Lu Yenke - Amadou *

Didier Flamand Didier Flamand (born 12 March 1947) is a French actor and theatre director. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows since 1973. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 film '' The Suspended Vocation''. Theater Filmography Actor ...

- The Director *

Djibril Kouyaté Djibril Kouyaté (Arabic: جبريل كوياتي born 1942), is a Malian filmmaker and actor. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed feature films such as ''The return of Tieman'', ''Tiefing'' and ''Walaha''. Personal life He ...

- The Father * Marc Duret - The Policeman * Luminița Gheorghiu - Maria * Crenguta Hariton - Irina (as Crenguta Hariton Stoica) * Aïssa Maïga - Black Girl with Blonde Hair

Reception

''Code Unknown'' holds a 74/100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, based on 13 critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports 75% approval among 51 critics, with an average score of 7/10. The site's consensus reads: "Though challengingly cryptic at times, ''Code Unknown'' still manages to resonate."

Accolades

''Code Unknown'' screened in competition at the

2000 Cannes Film Festival The 53rd Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2000 in film, 2000. French film director, screenwriter, and producer Luc Besson was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the cinema of Denmark, Danish film ''Dancer in the ...

. Cinematographer Jürges was nominated for the "Golden Frog" at the

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival dedicated to the celebration of cinematography and recognition of its creators, cinematographers. The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, ...

awards. The film received votes from two critics and four directors, including

Ruben Östlund Ruben Östlund (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his black comedic and satirical films '' Force Majeure'' (2014), '' The Square'' (2017) and '' Triangle of Sadness'' (2022), all of which received largely positive reviews a ...

, in the 2012 ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' polls of the world's greatest films.

References

External links

* * *
''Code Unknown: Eurovisions''
an essay by Nick James at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...