Being-in-the-world and Being-with-others:

Heideggerian ontology in Michael Haneke’s Vergletscherung-trilogie

Abstract

In this paper I explore certain existential elements found in the work of Austrian director Michael Haneke by coupling Haneke’s first three films, his Vergletscherungtrilogie (comprising Der Siebente Kontinent, Benny’  Video and 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls), with the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, focussing specifically on his delineation of Dasein (Being). This analysis is configured around two elements of Heidegger’s philosophy of Being – Being as Being-inthe- world, and Being as Being-with-others. These delineations of Being are further analysed on three fronts. The first examines the role of the postmodern milieu in which Haneke’s work is situated, a world of hyper-technology and rampant consumerism. The second and third fronts of analysis elucidate two delineations of space (Being-in-the-world), and people (Being-with-others). The discussion thus centres on the way in which Heidegger’s ontology of Being is found in Haneke’s sketching of the public space and of greater society. The paper concludes with an analysis of Haneke’s treatment of the private space and the family unit.