Caché vs. Dirty Pretty Things

In response to Ryan's post, I too felt cheated from Haneke's film! It was very shocking to go form something as "Hollywood" and mainstream as Dirty Pretty Things to something as indie and realistic as Caché. Haneke works on multiple different levels for an intellectually engaged audience, while Dirty was much more direct in its approach. After a lot of thought, I finally figured that the tapes were actually being sent by the director to the protagonist. Isn't that META?! Yes! Haneke seems to have intertwined a fascinating criticism of his art form WITHIN his art form. He draws attention to the fact we are watching a film by showing the actors watching themselves. It's an omnipresent power hierarchy. Whoever controls the gaze has the power. In this way, Haneke seems to cast himself in the film. 

I feel they do very similar things by directing the audience's gaze to multicultural barriers and exploring the socioeconomic relations between minorities and the elite. However, it's interesting to note how stylistically distinct they are. Dirty Pretty Things seemed to tie everything neatly in a bow at the end while Caché deprived the audience of this satisfaction. In fact, Caché never truly ended. The credits just suddenly rolled! 

Which film was more effective for you? I think Dirty was much more enticing and emotionally captivating, but its seemed to detract from a critical eye. It's hard to step back and criticize the film when Okwe and Sanay were portrayed as idealistic heros. But George is easy to demonize in comparison. This allows for a much more balanced analysis. Caché was much more effective in highlighting the flaws of a traditional Hollywood film in contributing to a valuable academic debate. The both appeal on opposing levels to the audience. While I appreciate Caché's attempt to remove the emotional context, the deprivation left me unattached and disinterested. Although the style was much more realistic, I did not sympathize with the internal strife of the characters. Perhaps this is because I have become so accustomed to the classic Hollywood syntax that I couldn't construct an articulate intellectual perspective on Caché. The conditioning in Dirty was much more manipulative but much effective in moving the audience.

However, this is my personal opinion. I really respected what Hanecke did in Caché but I certainly wouldn't be able to employ this emotional detachment in my personal filmmaking. What do you guys think? What style of filmmaking is more effective for you? Do you think Haneke was the one sending the tapes?