haneke on freedom

“Haneke’s obsessions converge in Caché‘s final scene, a chilling long take that’s the most enigmatic conclusion in recent movie memory. ‘Using a fixed shot means there’s one less form of manipulation – the manipulation of time,’ Haneke says. ‘I’ve always wanted to create the freedom one has when reading a book, where one has all the possibilities because you create all the images in your head.’ Resolutely cryptic, he refuses to decode the scene’s meaning: ‘About half the viewers see something and the other half don’t, and it works both ways.’ He adds, invoking his protagonist’s own mental journey, ‘We always fill the screen with our own experiences. Ultimately, what we see comes from inside us.’ ”

(David Ng interview of Michael Haneke)