Response To Caché: The Use Of Silence In Horror Film

My initial response to Caché was that it was an incredibly suspenseful film with an unsatisfying ending. The film was able to project its suspense by doing something that isn’t seen in many films. Caché omitted the use of extra diegetic sound. By doing this the viewer is left with silence. This is something that the audience is not used to experiencing. Horror films have been known to capitalize on the use of silence, but never to this extent. Generally, horror films use silence only to follow it with something comparable to a blood-curdling scream. However, Caché defied the rule. It had silence, after silence, after silence always leaving the audience waiting on the edge of their seat, never validating the audience's fear that the
Laurent family is actually in danger. The pinnacle of this is the end scene that explains nothing. Only showing Pierrot, and Majid’s son talking with one another. An ending that leaves everything to the imagination. The largest emotional response that I received from the scene in which Majid slits his own throat.
As well, this shot was the most impressive to me simply because it had a large amount of focus centered on Majid. The unprovoked suicide of Majid comes out of nowhere, and graphically displays his death with a large spray of blood across the wall, and then he falls to the ground. Nothing in the shot implied that he would kill himself. Even the lighting suggested that it was going to be a relatively pleasant scene. Only his last words being something along the lines of, I didn’t make the tapes, and I wanted you to be here for this, hint that something is about to happen. The scene raised so many questions in an instant I was left speechless with my hand covering my mouth. I got the feeling that the Seine River massacre of 1961 was supposed to be a major underlying theme. However as I was unfamiliar with the event I had to elucidate what had happened. After sometime on Wikipedia, I found out that this was an event that mirrored the actions of Georges and Majid. Both were atrocious deeds that were denied for some 40 years, and when admitted were greatly understated regarding the severity of the incident. I believe that this specific event has too much in common with the film to simply be coincidental, and that the director wanted raise
awareness. My favorite sequence in the film was a montage sequence. It was utilized during one of the videos that was being fast forwarded. Where it removed the volume from the scene, and then start quickly jumping between the characters faces. All together the shot was incredibly short but was visually stimulating in a realistic film, and showed a progression of time.