“Film is 24 lies per second at the service of truth, or at the service of the attempt to find the truth,” – Michael Haneke

Join us in the celebration and discussion of Michael Haneke’s filmography. Curzon Film and Triskel Arts Centre present the second installment of an eight-film retrospective of Haneke’s films, the second four (AMOUR, BENNY’S VIDEO, HAPPY END and HIDDEN) being shown from Sun 27 – 30 July.

Jul 27 Amour (12A): In this is deeply emotional and profoundly moving film, we follow Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and her husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) through one of their last outings together before Anne becomes incapacitated as a result of an illness. Michael Haneke’s most sensitive film refuses to pull any punches in his depiction of the ageing process, but avoids sensation in favour of empathy.

Jul 28 Benny’s Video (18): Starring Arno Frisch, Angela Winkler, and Ulrich Mühe, this disturbing film tells the tale of young Benny, who commits an act of shocking violence in his parents’ empty apartment. We view Benny through the lens of his video camera and his television screen in this provocative and challenging piece, in which Haneke raises questions about voyeurism and violence – both actual and imagined.

Jul 29 Happy End (15A): This wonderful yet unsettling drama digs in to the relationships and realities of a family, the Laurents, during a family gathering. Haneke’s caustic drama asks the question; blood may be thicker than water, but is it enough to trump self-interest? We delve deep into the issues between parents, siblings, and in-laws, and it becomes clear that Haneke’s mission is to seek out the rot at the heart of middle-class family life in this brilliantly acted film.

Jul 30 Hidden (16): Our Michael Haneke Retrospective concludes with the eerie, gripping Hidden, which tells the story of Georges (Daniel Auteuil), a TV presenter who begins to receive packages with unsettling and invasive videos of himself and his family, unaware they had been stalked covertly. As the packages begin to arrive wrapped in disturbingly violent images, and sinister phone calls strike fear into his wife (Juliette Binoche), Georges spirals into paranoia and impulsiveness, convinced he knows who the sender is. Georges embarks on a journey to end this harassment, in the process revealing shocking and unpleasant truths about himself with unexpected consequences.