'Caché': Aesthetics of Dread and Collective Guilt

How do you remember the riots in your neighborhood? What's your memory of those dark hours of humanity? It depends on which side you were. Whether you were direct or indirect oppressed group or the oppressor, selects the images of your memory. On 17 October 1961, during the Algerian war, the French National Police attacked a demonstration of some 30,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians. After 37 years of denial and censorship of the press, in 1998 the French government finally acknowledged 40 deaths, although there are estimates of 100 to 300 victims. Death was due to heavy-handed beating by the police, as well as massive drownings, as police officers threw demonstrators in the river Seine.

'Caché' also known as 'Hidden', a 2005 psychological thriller directed by Micheal Haneke brings the issues of collective memory and collective guilt of French Society to the fore about the above mentioned incidents and the treatment of minorities in general. The film is about an upper class family who is frighten by the reception of surveillance videos of their house from unknown source. I would like to divide the film in two parts: the memories of the protagonist and the real events. I would like to talk about their literal and metaphorical implications separately. 

Let's begin with the notion of 'surveillance'. Institutional surveillance has become an import issue in the post-9/11 scenario. Fear is the most important aspect in allowing mass surveillance. Monitoring the citizens through surveillance and punishing the selected is becoming the norm. Surveillance is one of the most important weapons of modern Neo-fascist authorities. The surveillance used in the movie was not like pictures and short videos that is done by private detectives or friends for joking purposes. The videotapes were around two hours each, which implies modern-day 24/7 surveillance by security cameras and institutional authorities. Many-a-times, in the movie, there is very minimal distinction between the surveillance tape video and the reality, they merged into each other. The actual perpetrator of the videotapes has never been identified and it remained on the audience's guess which cinematic strategy implies the fact that no one is safe from surveillance as there is no specific agency doing surveillance on the protagonist. There can be multiple agencies doing surveillance on all of us; we can blame anyone for that as the protagonist - George - has blamed it on Majid - a surviving minority. One interpretation is that the Author - Haneke - himself sends the tapes to the protagonist to invoke the fear in him; the strategy in which our authorities are champion. Through various media, we, as citizens, get the constant surveillance tapes in terms of news, the sole purpose of which is to invoke and instill fear among us, so that we accept the government narrative.

Through the memories of George, we come to know about some background. Majid was a young boy, his parents used to serve at George's house. But, after their disappearance Gerorge's parents started thinking of adapting Majid. The young protagonist, George, becomes insecure of this idea and starts spreading lies against Majid and also frames him in killing the family rooster. Ultimately, Majid was detained. This entire scenario can be seen as a metaphor of the state. Majid is the minority; parents are the authority and George is the common citizen who is insecure of the minority's acceptance in the state. When George - the citizen - is under threat, he first sees Majid - the minority - as a potential perpetrator. 

George had a doubt on Majid and a tape arrives which leads him to the apartment of Majid. This tape strengthens George's hunch on Majid being perpetrator. Thus, this tape is primarily placed to direct citizen's brain to believe that minority is behind the crime. Both Majid and his son deny their any involvement in the videotape incidents. Once they were even arrested for the kidnapping of Pierrot, the son of George. But Pierrot comes home in the morning staying at his friend's place. The prejudice against the minority leads George (citizen) to believe that they are behind every crime in their life. 

The scene in which Majid commits suicide is very interesting one, especially when we consider the role of majority when minority was persecuted. Majid invites George at his apartment and once he arrives, Majid commits suicide by cutting his throat. What will you do if such thing happens in front of your eyes? You try to help; you call the police; you call the ambulance. But, George looks at dying Majid and leaves the apartment. One can find the analogy of Mob Lynching taking place in India from last some years; the citizens from the majority groups are silent. In every confronting sequence between George and Majid and/or his son, they have reiterated the fact that George, being a person from majority group and belonging to upper class, is more powerful and can harm the others any time. 

Such a sequence brings us to the question of Collective Conscience and Collective Guilt. What was the role of Majority when the 1961 Siene River incident took place? Their silence strengthen the fascist acts. Their denial of help to the oppressed made it an acceptable act. Their silence over the incident for more than 30 years allowed the authority to survive and ill-treat the minorities. 

If George and his family is not doing anything wrong, then why were they afraid and of what? The fear of unknown comes from guilt. What George did to Majid is that guilt, which made him believe that he is back for revenge; although Majid was completely incapable of thinking of any revenge. 

Haneke's masterful craft incorporates the issue of Guilt in a wonderful manner. He develops a metaphor that hurts deep in the conscience of the audience. The title 'Caché', is clearly a meta-theme for the movie. A movie that tries to bring forth something that is hidden, collective guilt of a society. In a democratic society, every act is a collective responsibility. For Arendt, collective guilt is a personal and self indulgent emotion; it is a call to action to take responsibility for the actions a government takes out in your name as a citizen. Democratic societies are turning into more and more fascist, and it is a high time that the individual citizen thinks about one's responsibility to ensure the safe and dignified life of fellow citizens. Collective responsibility comes from individual responsibility; as the collective guilt is a result of the actions of few.