Originally Posted by jackhammer

For Roygbiv:


I was asked a couple of weeks ago to review Funny Games and as I already owned the Austrian film for a few years I was more than happy to review. A backlog of reviews ensued (both musical and cinematic) and this was pushed back a little.

Tonight something fortuitous happened. The 'remake' that was a shot for shot remake by the same director and in English was being shown less than a year after it's release. This enabled me to not only review the film earlier than anticipated but also see the American version for the first time.

If you have never heard of FG here is a brief sypnosis. A middle class family of three are held hostage by two sociopaths in a rural area. Subjugation, humiliation and violence ensues yet the film(s) have a remarkable capacity for not showing much of this at all. It is one of the most suggestive films I have ever seen. Everything is suggested or shot after the fact yet it adds to the authenticity.

The film constantly questions the role of viewer and participant. Thare are many instances of the aggressor's asides directly to the camera that you don't quite know what context you should view the movie in.

With a mere 8-10 minutes to go, director Haneke pulls the rabbit out of the hat. A suquence so audacious that you are lost for speech. WTF? Totally unexpected and spellbindingly original. We could accuse this scene of manipulation and hypocrisy, but it's intentions are far more reaching in it's breadth and scope.

A film that has my utmost respect for questioning as many moral issues as it it does in raising them, Funny Games is the thinking man's Horror movie in whatever language you care to hear it in.