Code Unknown (2001)

CODE UNKNOWN tracks a series of events that unfold in like a chain reaction, all stemming from a minor event that brings the film's five characters together. Set in Paris, France, Anne (Juliette Binoche) is an actress whose boyfriend Georges (Thierry Neuvic) photographs the war in Kosovo. Georges' brother, Jean (Alexandre Hamidi), is looking for the entry code to Georges' apartment because he has decided he no longer wants work on his father's farm in the country and he is moving to Paris. The lives of these characters haphazardly interconnect with those of a Romanian immigrant begging on the street, Maria (Luminita Gheorghiu), and a deaf teacher of West African descent, Amadou (Ona Lu Yenke). With many twists and turns that draw the viewer into webs of family, nationality, culture, economics, and politics, CODE UNKNOWN is a splendidly complex drama with a nonsequential chronology from Austrian director Michael Haneke.