1. Michael Hanake

2. Films Michael Hanake is an Austrian film-maker and opera director whose films specialize in dark explorations of moral issues and break-downs in modern society. He is best known for the films Piano Teacher, White Ribbon, Cache, Bennys Video and Funny Games as well as his work as director on a staging of Mozarts opera Don Giovanni . He often works within the drama genre, dealing with issues of marital and family breakdowns. However, his films tend to break the mould of the conventional Hollywood drama : his narratives often end ambiguously or un- resolved to show the harsh realities of life itself. The stories he writes are often told through disjointed narratives, blurring real life scenarios with overtly dramatized fiction. This is partly due to his view that a viewers perceptions of reality are fragmentary Both his own film philosophy and his work are known for being highly critical of American cinema. He argues that As a film-maker, he is focused on telling the truth, often to the dislike of many within the industry. This approach is what makes his films so appealing, as he isnt afraid to show the harsher realities, even if that means breaking cinematic convention. 3. Inspiration As an aspiring film-maker, I find Hanakes ability to focus in on harsh realities inspiring in my own work. Watching his films has taught me a lot in terms of editing : his films show that you often dont need to cut away from a situation to reveal its full impact. The clip below is taken from Hanakes film Cache, and acts as one of the pinnacle moments in the film. Up until this point, Hanake slowly builds the narrative with subtle visual clues and motifs, allowing for this moment to have maximum unexpected impact. 4. As well as the previous example, another element of Hanakes work that has inspired me is his use of simple narratives to express deeper meanings. He often uses stereotyped characters that reflect different elements of French society. For instance, the names Anna and Georg are used to name married couples in his films, as a comment on the french middle classes. Cache, Anne and George are a middle class couple whose middle class lifestyle is interupted by a series of video-tapes being posted through their door. What makes this narrative so unique to Hanakes story-telling, is the way the narrative slowly builds in these early scenes. 5. Visual Style Hanakes visual style is an intriguing mixture of classic French cinema and modern cinema verite. He often uses wide angle shots to draw out the performances of his actors : rather than using regularly cut close ups Hanake allows all the action to take place in one shot. This allows for a closer and more intense atmosphere, making some of Hanakes films challenging to watch. He often works with cinematographer Christian Berger. Berger is known for having a dark visual style, which is evident in a lot of Hanakes earlier work. 6. Examples of Visual Style He is also known for shooting with extreme light contrasts, in order to highlight changes in character and mood. This is partly due to his collaborations with Christian Berger whose style is known for shooting in low light conditions. The shot from Bennys Video (top left), shows the pinnacle moment in which Bennys father attempts to intervene in his sons behaviour. By spotlighting Benny in this way, it leaves Bennys father in the dark, forcing the viewer to view him as insignificant. 7. Recent Work Despite his age, Hanake remains a prominent authority on film-making, teaching at the film academy in Vienna. His most recent film Amour became his first film to be recognized by the Academy Awards, perhaps due to its more conventional narrative. 8. My Cinematic Identity In terms of my own cinematic identity, Hanakes work has greatly inspired my sense of visual storytelling and narrative. His films have taught me that you do not always need a great deal of action or dialogue to tell a story. Sometimes, it is the restraint and subtlety of the visuals that can tell a story, something that I have always wanted to emulate in my own work. As a film-maker, I will try to develop my own cinematic style by thinking carefully about shot choices and lighting in order to create my own unique take on a narrative. In order to do this, I think it is important to know your personal visual tastes. Although I have a lot to develop in terms of visual idenitity, there are a few visual techniques that I prefer to use. For instance, I prefer to shoot a lot of extreme close ups in order to create a more intense atmosphere. Examples of this can be found below.