Hidden

Yesterday was the start of the end-of-year film binge. A wide range of festive treats were on offer including, fun-for-all-the-family romp, A Knight's Tale, and the watered down, but nevertheless enjoyable, film version of Alan Moore's story about a masked vigilatte terrorist, V for Vendetta. My choice...

Hidden, written and directed by Austrian filmmaking pofessor, Michael Haneke. Not exactly tradition Christmas fare, but highly recommended. The story takes what might have been a standard paranoid thiller premise - a middle class French couple start recieving survelliance style video tapes of themselves going about their lives - then uses that as a jumping off point.

Too many films strive for the intellectual gravitas of great literature by adopting literary tropes. Deapite the fact that a silver tongued narrator or florid prose are impossible to replicate on screen. And this is exactly where Hiden excels. Hidden is a film that undestands the language of cinema and is very happy playing in that particular sandbox, exploring ideas about the relationship between cameras and voyeuism, deception and perception; and ultimately, what is revealed and what remains hidden!

What I'll be watching: Oliver Twist, Channel Four, 6:30pm, Today. Roman Polanski's take on the classic Dickens tale.