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, German, and English and has worked in television and theatre. He also teaches film direction at the
Film Academy Vienna.
Haneke's first films were his "glaciation" trilogy, consisting of ''
The Seventh Continent'' (1989), ''
Benny's Video'' (1992), and ''
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance'' (1994), each of which depict a "coldly bureaucratic society in which genuine human relationships have been supplanted by a deep-seated collective malaise" and explore "the relationship among
consumerism
Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...
, violence, mass media, and contemporary alienation". He went on to win the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
's
Grand Prix for ''
The Piano Teacher'' (2001) as well as its twice, for ''
The White Ribbon'' (2009) and ''
Amour'' (2012), the latter of which received five
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations and won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
. He also directed ''
Funny Games'' (1997) and
its 2007 remake, ''
Code Unknown'' (2000), ''
Time of the Wolf'' (2003), ''
Caché'' (2005), and ''
Happy End'' (2017).
Early life and education
Haneke is the son of German actor and director and Austrian actress . His stepfather, the composer , later married the mother of actor
Christoph Waltz. Haneke was raised in the city of
Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Haneke showed a strong interest in literature and music, but as an adolescent developed a "downright contempt for any form of school". During this period of his life, he has later described himself as a "rebel". He had ambitions of becoming an actor in his youth, later abandoning these plans after failing an entrance examination at the
Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. He later attended the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
to study
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
. Not a committed student, he would spend most of his time attending local movie theatres. After leaving university, he began working odd jobs, before working as an editor and dramaturge at the southwestern German television station
Südwestfunk from 1967 to 1970, a time during which he also worked as a film critic. He made his debut as a television director in 1974.
Career
1974–1988: Early work in television
Haneke started his career directing numerous television projects. He made his debut as a writer and director with the 1974 television movie ''After Liverpool'' starring and . The project originally started as a radio play. He then directed two more television films, ''Three Paths to the Lake'' (1976), about a war photo journalist who faces a moral crisis when she is forced to examine the implications of her work, and another telefilm ''Sperrmüll'' (1976). In 1979 he directed two episodes of ''Lemminge'' followed by ''Variation – oder Daß es Utopien gibt, weiß ich selber!'' (1983). In 1986 he directed ''Fraulein: A German Melodrama'' which was described as Haneke's answer to
Fassbinder's ''
The Marriage of Maria Braun''. Haneke wanted to make a film about German history that doesn't drown in self-pity and yet still attracts the public". A few years later he would make the experimental tele-documentary film ''Nachruf für einen Mörder'' about a young Austrian who provoked a hideous bloodbath in Vienna.
1989–1997: Rise to prominence
Haneke's feature film debut was 1989's ''
The Seventh Continent'', which served to trace out the violent and bold style that would bloom in later years. The film chronicles the last years of an Austrian family played by
Birgit Doll and Dieter Berner.
Peter Bradshaw of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' described the film as a "masterpiece". Despite being shortlisted for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
it wasn't nominated. Three years later he directed the controversial
psychological horror
Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...
film ''
Benny's Video'' (1992). The film premiered at the
1992 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews. It later won the
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
Award at the
European Film Awards
The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...
. The film showed at the
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...
where Stephen Holden of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' praised the performances and Haneke writing, "The film makes strong, if heavy-handed, points about the confusing effects of television violence". His third film in the trilogy is entitled, ''
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance'' (1994),
Manohla Dargis's
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
called it an "icy-cool study of violence both mediated and horribly real", adding "For Mr. Haneke, the point seems less that evil is commonplace than that we don't engage with it as thinking, actively moral beings. We slurp our soup while
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
burns on the boob tube."
In 1997 he directed the television film ''
The Castle'' (1997). The project is based on the
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...
's
novel of the same name. The film starred
Ulrich Mühe and
Susanne Lothar. It premiered at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
. Also that year he directed the feature film ''
Funny Games'' (1997). The plot involves two young men who hold a family hostage and
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
them with
sadistic games in their vacation home. The film premiered at the
1997 Cannes Film Festival
The 50th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 18 May 1997. French actress Isabelle Adjani served as jury president for the main competition. Jeanne Moreau hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Iran ...
. David Rooney of ''
Variety'' wrote about his continuation of the examination of violence writing, "Haneke is clearly more interested in the implications of violence than the acts themselves, and the psychological wallop they pack is strengthened by having most of the physical and emotional carnage played off-camera".
2000–2009: Breakthrough and acclaim
He directed the French film ''
Code Unknown'' (2000) starring
Juliette Binoche. The film revolves around separate storylines which weave and intersect with each other. The film is inspired by the life of the French novelist and
war reporter Olivier Weber
Olivier Weber (born 1958) is a French writer, novelist and reporter at large, known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been a war correspondent for twenty-five years, especially in Central Asia, Africa, Middle ...
. The film screened at the
2000 Cannes Film Festival. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' praised Haneke "as a skillful, minutely observant filmmaker who trusts his audience to be able to put two and two together" but adds "Unfortunately, he'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." Haneke has directed a number of stage productions in German, which include works by
Strindberg,
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
, and
Heinrich von Kleist in Berlin, Munich and Vienna.
Haneke achieved great success with the critically acclaimed French film ''
The Piano Teacher'' (2001). The film starred
Isabelle Huppert as a sexually repressed piano teacher who soon becomes involved with a younger man. The film tackles subjects such as
masochism,
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
,
incest
Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...
,
sexual repression,
sexual violence
Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
, and the relationships between men and women. It premiered at the
2001 Cannes Film Festival
The 54th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 20 May 2001. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was named Jury President for the main competition. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti won the ''Palme d'Or'' for the drama film '' The Son's ...
where it received rapturous reviews. It won the prestigious
Grand Prize at the festival and also won its stars,
Benoît Magimel and Huppert the
Best Actor and
Actress
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
awards.
David Denby of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' wrote, "Haneke avoids the
sensationalism
In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...
of movie shockers, even high-class shockers like
Hitchcock's ''
Psycho'' and
Polanski's ''
Repulsion''. There are no expressionist moments in ''The Piano Teacher''—no scenes of longing, no soft-focus dreams or cinematic dreck". Denby concluded, "
he filmis a seriously scandalous work, beautifully made, and it deserves a sizable audience that might argue over it, appreciate it—even hate it."
A few years later he directed the
dystopian
A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
drama ''
Time of the Wolf'' (2003) starring Huppert. The film revolves around a family trying to find their way after a global cataclysm. The film received positive reviews with Scott Foundas of ''
Variety Magazine'' writing, "Haneke demonstrates profound insight into the essence of human behavior when all humility is pared away, raw panic and despair are the order of the day, and man becomes more like wolf than man." In 2005 Haneke reunited with
Juliette Binoche in the
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...
''
Caché'' after she expressed interest in working with him. Haneke frequently worked with real-life couple
Ulrich Mühe and
Susanne Lothar – thrice each. The film opened the
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
Belgian filmmakers D ...
to positive reviews. The film involves themes of
collective guilt,
collective memory
Collective memory is the shared pool of memories, knowledge and information of a social group that is significantly associated with the group's identity. The English phrase "collective memory" and the equivalent French phrase "la mémoire collect ...
and
colonialism
Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
. He incorporated stories of the
Paris massacre of 1961
The Paris massacre of 1961 (also called the 17 October 1961 massacre in France) was the mass killing of Algerians who were living in Paris by the French National Police. It occurred on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War (1954–62). Under ...
into the film. Haneke won the
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director
The Best Director Award () is an award presented annually at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival. ...
for the film. It was also included in the
BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
In 2006 he gave his debut as an
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
director, staging
Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
'' for the
Opéra National de Paris at
Palais Garnier
The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...
when the theater's general manager was
Gerard Mortier. With his next film ''
The White Ribbon'' (2009) Haneke chose to shoot in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
and in Germany. The film is set in 1913 and deals with strange incidents in a small town in
Northern Germany
Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...
, depicting an
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
,
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
-like atmosphere, where children are subjected to rigid rules and suffer harsh punishments, and where strange deaths occur. The film premiered at the
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as jury president for the main competition. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...
and won his first . It later won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and earned two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for
Best International Feature Film and
Best Cinematography losing to ''
The Secret in Their Eyes'' (2009) from
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and ''
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
'' (2009). Critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
described the film as "visual
ymasterful" adding, "His films are like parables, teaching that bad things sometimes happen simply because they...happen. The universe laughs at man's laws and does what it will."
2012–present

In 2012, Haneke directed ''
Amour'' starring
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-World War II, war era. He starred in m ...
,
Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert. The film revolves around an elderly couple aging together. The film premiered at the
2012 Cannes Film Festival and received the , Haneke's second. Ella Tayor of
NPR praised the film describing it as "Touching and tragic" adding "Haneke implicates us in the full range of human capacity". The film also earned the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
with Haneke earning
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations for
Best Director and
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
, the later nominations being the first of his career.
In 2012, he was to direct ''
Così fan tutte
(''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...
'' for the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
. This production had originally been commissioned by
Jürgen Flimm for the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
2009, but Haneke had to resign due to an illness preventing him from preparing the work. Haneke realized this production at Madrid's
Teatro Real in 2013. In 2013, he was the subject of the documentary film ''
Michael H – Profession: Director''.
That year, Haneke won the
Prince of Asturias Award
The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...
for the arts.
In 2017, for his twelfth film, ''
Happy End'' Haneke reunited with Trintignant and Huppert. The film also starred
Mathieu Kassovitz and
Toby Jones
Toby Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 ...
. The film centers around a
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
French family dealing with a series of setbacks and crises. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the
70th Cannes Film Festival. The film received respectable reviews. Alissa Wilkinson of ''
Vox'' described it as a commentary on "the
European refugee crisis and the pitfalls of
privilege". Wilkinson added, " challenges its audience to pay attention to put together the story, then, is as much an aesthetic statement about how to watch a movie as a political one. We have to observe and see what's in the background. And that's just what the family at the center of the movie doesn't do, and what makes them civilized monsters — a proclivity they pass on through generations."
Haneke says that films should offer viewers more space for imagination and self-reflection. Films that have too much detail and moral clarity, Haneke says, are used for mindless consumption by their viewers. Haneke teaches film direction at the
Film Academy Vienna. One of his students there was director
Katharina Mückstein.
Style and reception
Haneke is known for directing films which are often unsentimental and uses disturbing imagery to explore social critiques on issues such as
class
Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
,
race,
gender
Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
, and
violence
Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...
. The
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
showcased his films in 2007 adding that they feature themes "of
alienation and social collapse; the
exploitation and consumption of violence; the
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
family as the incubator of fascistic impulse;
individual responsibility
In philosophy, moral responsibility is the status of morally deserving praise, blame, reward, or punishment for an act or omission in accordance with one's moral obligations. Deciding what (if anything) counts as "morally obligatory" is a pr ...
and
collective guilt; and the ethics of the
photographic image". He is also known for his use of the
long take
In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take, continuous shot, or oner) is Shot (filmmaking), shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera mov ...
rather than relying on
quick edits or fast-paced editing. Haneke prefers to let his scenes unfold slowly, allowing the audience to fully experience the tension and emotion of each moment. This creates a sense of intimacy for the audience to draw them into a scene. He also uses static shots, ambiguous endings, meta-narratives, and silence. Haneke also has collaborated with
Isabelle Huppert and
Juliette Binoche on numerous films.
Favourite films
In 2012, Haneke participated in the ''
Sight & Sound'' poll and submitted these films as his favorite.
* ''
Au hasard Balthazar'' by Robert Bresson (France, 1966)
* ''
Lancelot of the Lake'' by Robert Bresson (France, 1974)
* ''
Mirror
A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...
'' by Andrei Tarkovsky (USSR, 1975)
* ''
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' by Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italy, 1975)
* ''
The Exterminating Angel'' by Luis Buñuel (Mexico, 1962)
* ''
The Gold Rush
''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his The Tramp, Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray (actor), Tom Murray, Henry Ber ...
'' by Charlie Chaplin (USA, 1925)
* ''
Psycho'' by Alfred Hitchcock (USA, 1960)
* ''
A Woman Under the Influence'' by John Cassavetes (USA, 1974)
* ''
Germany Year Zero'' by Roberto Rossellini (Italy, 1948)
* ''
L'Eclisse
''L'Eclisse'' () is a 1962 romantic drama film co-written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Alain Delon and Monica Vitti, with Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone, and Louis Seigner. Filmed on location in Rome and Verona, the story ...
'' by Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy, 1962)
In June 2024, Haneke's list of all-time favorite films was published on .
He lists more than 100 films, quoting several works by directors
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
(''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
,
Through a Glass Darkly,
Winter Light,
The Silence,
Scenes from a Marriage'') and
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including s ...
(''
Where Is the Friend's House?,
Through the Olive Trees
''Through the Olive Trees'' () is a 1994 Iranian drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. The final part of Kiarostami's Koker trilogy, the plot, set in earthquake-ravaged Northern Iran, revolves a ...
,
And Life Goes On,
Taste of Cherry,
The Wind Will Carry Us'').
Filmography
Feature films
Television
Short films
* ''
Lumière and Company'' (1995) (segment "Michael Haneke/Vienne")
Awards and nominations
His
directorial debut, ''
The Seventh Continent'', won the Bronze Leopard at the
Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
in 1989. He later won the
Grand Prix at the
2001 Cannes Film Festival
The 54th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 20 May 2001. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was named Jury President for the main competition. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti won the ''Palme d'Or'' for the drama film '' The Son's ...
for ''
The Piano Teacher'' and the
Best Director Award for ''
Caché'' at the
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
Belgian filmmakers D ...
. He subsequently directed the
2007 remake of his controversial 1997 film
''Funny Games''.
At the
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as jury president for the main competition. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...
, his film ''
The White Ribbon'' won the , and at the
67th Golden Globe Awards the film won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2012, his film ''
Amour'' premiered and competed at the
2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film would go on to win the , making it his second win of the prestigious award in three years; this made him the seventh director to have won it twice and the only Austrian director to have accomplished this.
The film received five
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nominations, including
Best Picture,
Best Director,
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
, and
Best Actress in a Leading Role for
Emmanuelle Riva; it won in the category of
Best Foreign Language Film.
In 2013, Haneke won the
Prince of Asturias Award
The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...
for the arts. His twelfth and most recent film, ''
Happy End'', was nominated for the at the
2017 Cannes Film Festival
The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing cerem ...
.
Bibliography
* Catherine Wheatley: ''Michael Haneke's Cinema: The Ethic of the Image'', New York: Berghahn Books, 2009,
review* ''Michael Haneke''. Special Issue of ''Modern Austrian Literature''. 43.2, 2010.
* Alexander D. Ornella / Stefanie Knauss (ed.): ''Fascinatingly Disturbing. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Michael Haneke's Cinema'', Eugene, Pickwick, 2010, .
* ''A Companion to Michael Haneke.'' Germany: Wiley, 2010.
*
Fatima Naqvi, ''Trügerische Vertrautheit: Filme von Michael Haneke/ Deceptive Familiarity: Films by Michael Haneke'', Synema, Wien, 2010.
* Wheatley, Catherine. ''Michael Haneke's Cinema: The Ethic of the Image.'' United Kingdom: Berghahn Books, 2013.
* Grundmann, Roy, Fatima Naqvi, and Colin Root. ''Michael Haneke: Interviews''. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2020.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haneke, Michael
1942 births
Living people
Austrian film critics
Austrian film directors
Austrian opera directors
Austrian television directors
Austrian theatre directors
Austrian screenwriters
Best Director César Award winners
Best Director German Film Award winners
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners
Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Directors of Palme d'Or winners
European Film Award for Best Director winners
European Film Award for Best Screenwriter winners
Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award
Film directors from Munich
French-language film directors
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Georges Delerue Award winners
Austrian male screenwriters
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
People from Wiener Neustadt
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
University of Vienna alumni