The Note
What was written on the note that Ann was so affected by? Did I miss this? Who wrote it? Or is this more of Haneke's mystery storyline?
shareI just saw this movie, and I don't think the contents of the note are ever revealed, except for the phrase Ann mentions at the grocery store...something about a desperate girl or something....I can't remember the exact phrase now.
It occurred to me this could have been the deaf girl pantomiming something dark/eery in the film's opening scene where none of the kids can guess what she's doing. This is just conjecture on my part, but the idea fits the film's structure. It seems this may be the girl who dies, too, since Ann and the elderly neighbor (whom she discusses the note with) both attend a funeral for "Francine."
Yes, it is unclear who actually authored the note, but it is written from the perspective of the deaf girl from the opening scene who lives in Anne's building and is physically abused at home. [The ambiguity is whether the elderly neighbor or another adult actually wrote it in order to get Anne to do something or whether the girl herself wrote it--probably the former.] Later, the elderly neighbor and Anne attend this girl's funeral.
In part, I think Haneke's using this storyline to comment on the consequences of inaction. Anne's partner tells her that she needs to take action/make decisions for herself, but really his job is all about being a voyeur to violence and oppression while doing nothing to prevent them. Note also the scene on the subway where no one, even Anne herself, does anything to defend Anne against the Arab man harassing her [until the very end of the scene]. Also, the young man who *does* make a humanitarian intervention in the film--the black man who accosts Jean for disrespecting the begging woman--lands himself in jail and gets the woman deported. All interesting stuff...
WOW!!!!!!!! Very enlightening. You have opened my eyes even more on this movie. Thank you so much.
What I am looking for now is is the ending the beginning or is the beginning actually the beginning?
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great insights meg9justin. just finished watching the film and had not really focused on this theme running through the film. especially what you mention about the boyfriend and his job.
i guess taking action is a risk. to help another you have to be prepared to be ngaively effected as well. just like the blackguy, or the guy who stood up to the kid in the subway.
one interesting note. im sure many of you noticed that the guy who helps anne on the train is the guy who plays majid in cache. anyone notice the kid harrassing her on the train is played by the guy who plays majid's son in cache? i like the actors he uses and i like how he typically uses them in many of his films. binoche was great in code unknown
another thing about the note. i dont believe that we are to know who wrote the note. there is no diffinitive answer, but there are a few hints and we can try and decidw who we think wrote it.
I believe there are only 2 options. as anne said, a little girl wouldnt refer to herself as a defensless child. so i think she's out.
It could have been written by the old woman. i think this is possible based on the way she denied she wrote the note. its the type of thing she would want to do anonymously, after all it seems she was ratting out the parents of the girl. i was a bit confused tho. was she the grandmother and living in the same apartment as the girl and the parents? or was she another neighbor who knew of the abuse happening. i dont believe she greeted the parents as she left the funeral like anne did. i think her crying as she leaves the funeral with anne could be a sign of regret that she didnt say anyhting , or perhaps regret that she did try and get soemone else to step in (anne) but nothing was done about it. or perhaps she just didnt try to stop it herself.
The other option I think is that Haneke sent the note to anne. spoiler for cache ahead!! Just like in cache when george walks out of his front door when dinner guests are over nd he looks down and sees the tape left. anne in code unknown looks down in the same way and finds the note. the language used 'defenseless little girl' sound like it could be haneke making a call to action. asking anne to step in and save the little girl. again he seems to like the idea of using a message from, it would seem, no one to be a catalyst for events in his films. it reminds me of a maguffin of sorts. it is the object that is used to create tension and inspire the emotion and action of the films characters. only in his case the object used to evoke action is almost dropped in as if by an invisible hand, which is his own. i think its pure genious personally.
Thats a brilliant observation!
Really interesting, good shout!!
"Its time to Kick Ass and Chew Bubble Bum....and I'm all outta gum"
Yes really good observation.
In the end, it could be Haneke, it could be the old lady, the girl herself etc... The ambiguity is used here i think to put the accent on the note itself. who cares who wrote it ? what matters is its content : it confirmed what Anne was witnessing, screams etc. Up to that point she could avoid it, pretend not to hear it, or that the girl was crying like every kid does, because she hurt herself, or was moody etc.. Trying to convince herself that the situation wasn't alarming. But getting this note, whoever wrote it, was proof of what she feared and gave her all the elements to judge and decide whether to act on it or not. She chose not to. The note is a way of having her confronts her morality.
I didn't make the connection that the girl being abused upstairs was the deaf girls. What in the film hints at this? Is it just her pantomimes at the beginning of the film or are there other hints?
shareThere isn't . The film is a hodgepodge and it's up to you to make something up in order to make sense of very little.
shareThank you for sharing these insights.
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