... you can learn from:
Funny Games (1997)
Georg: Why are you doing this to us?Paul: Why not?
Today is the 15th anniversary of Michael Haneke's original German language Funny Games - it played the Cannes film festival on this day in 1997. Happy birthday, traumatic movie!
I don't remember when I actually saw it - it wouldn't have been until I was in college; it was probably around 1999 or 2000, I would guess. It disturbed me tremendously at the time. It does feel dated now (and the American remake by Haneke himself felt dated by the time he got it out ten years later) with its preachy moral certitude, but it contains really truly fine performances from Ulrich Mühe and Susanne Lothar as the terrorized couple and really truly chillingly empty ones from Arno Frisch and Frank Glering as the terrorizers. And it still manages to make my insides feel about fifty pounds heavier as Haneke slashes out any and every possibility of purposefulness, of reason, of sanity, until all that's left is this abyss of frustrating smirking futility. Good times for the whole family!
I don't remember when I actually saw it - it wouldn't have been until I was in college; it was probably around 1999 or 2000, I would guess. It disturbed me tremendously at the time. It does feel dated now (and the American remake by Haneke himself felt dated by the time he got it out ten years later) with its preachy moral certitude, but it contains really truly fine performances from Ulrich Mühe and Susanne Lothar as the terrorized couple and really truly chillingly empty ones from Arno Frisch and Frank Glering as the terrorizers. And it still manages to make my insides feel about fifty pounds heavier as Haneke slashes out any and every possibility of purposefulness, of reason, of sanity, until all that's left is this abyss of frustrating smirking futility. Good times for the whole family!
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6 comments:
Someone's sucking off Haneke this week? I like it.
Which Funny Games is better?
I first saw it on the Sundance channel (or IFC) late one night. I'd never heard of it, and didn't know what I was in for.
It was 2 hours of I-can't-keep-watching-this and did-they-really-do-do-that? Riveting film!
anon 1:58 - that's a tough question - I'm inclined to say the first one but then that's the one I saw first; I think it's one of those cases (like Ring vs Ringu) where people prefer the first one they saw. I do think the impact of the American version was dulled by ten years so it seemed behind its time when it came out in 2007, but I also think Naomi Watts and Tim Roth are amazing in it.
It's possible we've just got more used to violence and senseless killing in the world. But I caught the original late night years ago on Sundance or IFC, couldn't stop watching it although every fiber in my body said turn it off. I couldn't sleep afterward and thought about it for days and told friends about it. The remake just had no similar affect at all. At least for me.
I just need to say that I really don't see how it's dated. I actually think it's as relevant as it ever was.
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