Austere Austrian auteur with an unfashionable belief in intellectual
cinema. His debut, The Seventh Continent, starts out like a routine
domestic drama, but turns halfway through into a compelling portrait
of a family destroying itself, piece by shattered piece. He became
notorious with Funny Games, not so much a violent film as a film about
violence and our desire to see it represented on screen. Code Unknown is
his best yet - a classic art movie rather a provocation - though some rate
The Piano Teacher, which has just won a hatful of prizes at Cannes, even
higher.
