Throughout the past 24 years, Michael Haneke has become one of the most revered filmmakers of modern times for his sparse, distant and heavy filmmaking. The new documentary by Yves Montemayeur "Michael H. Profession: Director" is an interesting, but general account of the director's professional career.
The documentary charts the auteur's body of work in reverse chronological order beginning with his most recent film "Amour" and ending with his debut "The Seventh Continent." The film opens with a scene from "Benny's Video" which shows a girl daring a boy to shoot a gun. The girl does not believe that he will do it but the boy does it anyway. The audience is subjected to hearing the piercing screams of the girl before the boy decides to shoot her three more times and kills her. The scene is trying and while the audience does not see the girl, her screams are more than sufficient to understand her pain. The opening scene sets the mood of the documentary and to Haneke's filmography. After the shocking opening sequence, the film cuts to Haneke talking straight to the camera and stating that he seeks truth in film. Afterward, the audience is treated to a tracking shot of Haneke acting out one of the scenes from "Amour". Throughout the documentary Haneke tells the viewer why he makes the films he does and at the same time shows his strict temperament and tyrannical character. However the interviews also reveal Haneke's passion and love for the art form.
Interviews with frequent collaborators Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche as well Jean-Louis Trintignant reveal his difficult working style with Binoche at one point stating that she wished Haneke would be more positive in his films. Even Trintignant said that it was not fun working with him and that his co-star Emanuelle Riva had a hard time coping with the role.
Monetmayeur also has access to multiple behind-the-scenes footage from working on many of the filmmaker's sets and making-of featurettes. The footage shows Haneke direct his actors with conviction, but also shows his fury and anger toward his crew when things do not go according to plan. At one point during the filming of "Amour," the crew is talking and Haneke begins to scream at them. The same is seen while filming "Code Unknown." While shooting a long dolly shot, one of the extras does not follow directions and Haneke stops shooting to yell at him.
Monetmayeur also includes location scouts with Haneke revealing his preparation process. He shows the director working with his cinematographer as he prepares to shoot his 2005 film "Cache." Haneke uses his camcorder to plan out the shots in each location as well as drawings to show the images he would like to see. Interestingly Montemayeur then chooses to show the final product of the film.
One of the interesting parts of this documentary is the fact that like Haneke's films, it is very austere, dry, and sparse. The film lacks any voiceover used in most documentaries and is completely objective. Additionally the use of music is scattered throughout and only used during the film clips.
Overall the film is a solid overview of Haneke's work and introduces audiences to his films. Whether the scenes will interest viewers to further invesitgate the auteur's work will be hard to say, but it is sure to tempt them nonetheless.
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