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| Confrontation in Cache (L) & The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (R) |
In my opinion, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is essentially Haneke’s Cache without the socially conscious/historical/racial angle. Plus, it’s darkly comical whereas Cache isn’t funny at all. But even with those differences – the films are still similar in the same way that Passolini’s Teorema is to Ozon’s Sitcom. Sitcom is a loose remake of Teorema. Ozon made quite a few obvious changes like using a rat as the Trojan horse instead of Terrence Stamp (Teorema), but the basic story remains the same in Sitcom.
Actually, all four films (Teorema, Sitcom, Cache & The Killing Of A Sacred Deer) are cut from the same cloth in that they’re all about an outside entity bringing a family’s skeletons & dirty secrets out in to the open.
In Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos focused on the part of the story that involves the loss of a father. Fatherhood is a huge part of both Cache & Sacred Deer (there’s also a sub-plot involving class as the two opposing families in each movie are on opposite ends of the class spectrum). For those of you that haven’t seen Sacred Deer – Martin (Barry Keoghan)’s father died on the operating table at the hands of Dr. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell), and is seeking revenge because he feels Steven is responsible for his father’s death. In Cache, Majid's son (this character isn’t given a name in the credits) is seeking a similar form of revenge. Majid's son blames George - his father’s former foster brother - for his father’s hard life. True – Majid's son (Cache) grew up with his father, while Martin’s father died prior to the events in Sacred Deer, but midway in to Cache *SPOILER* Majid takes his own life (something that is also hung over George’s head).
From a visual/thematic standpoint - the similarities are un-debatable...
Both film have a very similar father/son relationship (the sons in both films even look alike)
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
There’s an underlying theme of; “attack on the upper class”. Early on in both movies we get the happy families sitting around the dinner table. This is the last time we see both families happy & undisturbed...
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
As we've already established - both Martin (Sacred Deer) and Majid's son (Cache) are motivated by revenge...
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
Both films end somewhat open & unresolved…
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| Cache / The Killing Of A Sacred Deer |
There are also indescribable comparisons that can be made in that the overall tone/ambiance in both films are incredibly similar (the exception being that Cache doesn't have any funny moments). It should be noted that when Yorgos Lanthimos exploded on the scene with Dogtooth, he was compared to Haneke quite a bit.
Perhaps I have too much time on my hands or perhaps I'm on to something with this comparison. What do you all think?
