Michael Haneke

Code Unknown

Code Unknown

One of the world’s most influential and provocative filmmakers, the Oscar–winning Austrian director Michael Haneke diagnoses the social maladies of contemporary Europe with devastating precision and artistry. His drama Code Unknown, the first of his many films made in France, may be his most inspired work. Composed almost entirely of brilliantly shot, single-take vignettes focusing on characters connected to one seemingly minor incident on a Paris street, Haneke’s film—with an outstanding international cast headlined by Juliette Binoche—is a revelatory examination of racial inequality and the failure of communication in an increasingly diverse modern landscape.

Film Info

  • France
  • 2000
  • 117 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • French
  • Spine #780

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 2K digital transfer, approved by director Michael Haneke, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Haneke
  • Introduction by Haneke from 2001
  • Filming Haneke, a 2000 making-of documentary featuring interviews with Haneke, actor Juliette Binoche, and producer Marin Karmitz, as well as on-set footage of cast and crew
  • Interview from 2001 in which Haneke discusses the filming of the boulevard sequences
  • New interview with film scholar Roy Grundmann
  • Teasers
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Nick James

    New cover by Nessim Higson

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 2K digital transfer, approved by director Michael Haneke, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Haneke
  • Introduction by Haneke from 2001
  • Filming Haneke, a 2000 making-of documentary featuring interviews with Haneke, actor Juliette Binoche, and producer Marin Karmitz, as well as on-set footage of cast and crew
  • Interview from 2001 in which Haneke discusses the filming of the boulevard sequences
  • New interview with film scholar Roy Grundmann
  • Teasers
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Nick James

    New cover by Nessim Higson
Code Unknown
Cast
Juliette Binoche
Anne
Thierry Neuvic
Georges
Sepp Bierbichler
The farmer
Alexandre Hamidi
Jean
Hélène Diarra
Aminate
Ona Lu Yenke
Amadou
Djibril Kouyaté
The father
Guessi Diakite-Goumdo
Salimata
Gheorghiu Luminiţa
Maria
Crenguta Hariton Stoica
Irina
Bob Nicolescu
Dragos
Bruno Todeschini
Pierre
Paulus Manker
Perrin
Didier Flamand
The director
Walide Afkir
The young Arab
Maurice Bénichou
The old Arab
Carlo Brandt
Henri
Philippe Demarle
Paul
Marc Duret
The policeman
Arsinée Khanjian
Francine
Florence Loiret
Amadou’s friend
Nathalie Richard
Mathilde
Andrée Tainsy
Mrs. Becker
Credits
Director
Michael Haneke
Executive producer
Yvon Crenn
Produced by
Marin Karmitz
Produced by
Alain Sarde
Director of photography
Jürgen Jürges
Music
Giba Gonçalves
Edited by
Karin Hartusch
Edited by
Nadine Muse
Edited by
Andreas Prochaska
Sound
Jean-Pierre Laforce
Sound
Guillaume Sciama
Costume design
Françoise Clavel
Set design
Emmanuel de Chauvigny
Assistant director
Alain Olivieri

Current

Michael Haneke on the Storyboarding of Code Unknown
Michael Haneke on the Storyboarding of Code Unknown
Michael Haneke’s 2000 drama Code Unknown is a formalist masterwork—its narrative, about a group of characters whose lives become entwined by an incident on the streets of Paris, unfolding almost entirely within a series of single-take vignettes. …
Code Unknown: Eurovisions
Code Unknown: Eurovisions

Michael Haneke’s politically prescient drama explores the tenuous, uneasy connections between inhabitants of a globally interwoven Europe.

By Nick James

Train Ride to Hell: A Shocking Encounter in Code Unknown

One Scene

Train Ride to Hell: A Shocking Encounter in Code Unknown

The director of Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest examines the violence and unexpected humanism in one of Michael Haneke’s most unnerving long takes.

By Sean Durkin

The Author’s Signature: A Conversation with Michael Haneke
The Author’s Signature: A Conversation with Michael Haneke

The great Austrian filmmaker spoke with us about his early experiences falling in love with cinema and the films that have shaped his singular aesthetic.

By Hillary Weston

Ruben Östlund’s Top 10
Ruben Östlund’s Top 10

Ruben Östlund is the director of the acclaimed films Force Majeure and The Square, the latter of which won the Palme d’Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.