‘Surveillance cinema’ has become as ubiquitous as the technology which is used to track our every move. Films such as Michael Haneke’s Hidden (2005), Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006) and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning The Lives of Others (2007) exert a seductive appeal for the viewer. They play on what is routinely labelled ‘the post 9/11 climate of paranoia,’ make us ponder the significance of personal privacy, and sanction that most popular of contemporary vices: voyeurism.
But how should we read the vogue for films about people watching other people? As exploitation? Warning? Prophecy? Are we being presented with accurate portrayals of our panoptical world of CCTV cameras, GPS tracking systems, shop registration plate recognition cameras, satellites and email interception? Or is something else going on?