Paris. A very busy boulevard. Someone throws a crumpled piece of paper into the outstretched hands of a beggar-woman. This is the bond which, for an instant, links the trajectories of several very different characters : Anne, a young actress, is on the threshold of making it in the cinema. Her boyfriend, Georges, is a war photographer, he is rarely in France. His father is a farmer. Georges' younger brother, Jean, has no interest in taking over the farm.

Amadou is a music teacher in an institute for deaf-mute children. His father, a taxi driver, originates from Africa. His little sister is deaf and it's because of her that Amadou has chosen his profession.

Maria comes from Romania and sends home the money she gets from begging. Having been deported, she goes back home to spend some time with her family before embarking on another humiliating journey to France.

What do they have in common, these characters and those whose path they cross?

Written and directed by Michael Haneke, one of modern cinema’s most distinctive and ambitious directors, Code Unknown is a complex film of powerful emotional force and a fascinating study of the subtle connections and barriers between people, social class, race and the difficulty of communicating in the modern world.