Funny Games (1997)

This is one of those movies that I don't think is nearly as innovative, disturbing, or deep as it thinks it is. I was actually excited for the US remake until I saw this. If it's going to be a shot for shot remake, the whole exercise seems kind of pointless.

Maybe it is not as innovative, disturbing or deep as YOU wanted it to be but it certainly qualifies in all three of those categories. I've seen the film more times then I can count and something new pops out at me EVERY time I see it. I would consider it lesser-Haneke up against LE TEMPS DU LOUP and CACHE, but that only means it is near-perfect instead of perfect.

I think it's awesome and funny that Haneke got the money to do the remake, but I doubt I'll watch it. I think I'd feel like I was missing the point of the film if I wanted to see it done all over again. I mean, in one way didn't the original itself imply you might as well start the thing over again if you were eager to see more?

I fucking love Funny Games for the simple reason that it made me feel ill with dread from the opening frame. Any movie that provokes such a response from me I have a great deal of admiration for.

I know, though, that Haneke would probably be repulsed by my love for his movie.

Honestly I thought this was pretty wretched. As someone else said, I was looking forward to the U.S. version until I saw this. Innovative and disturbing are about as far from my thoughts of this film as humanly imaginable. It's a shame, because I was actually looking forward to the American version.

Love the movie. Not sure how the remake will be, but this movie is wonderful. The "rewind" is one of my all time favorite movie moments.

SPOILER

































I really don't think it's brutal to kill someone who has killed your child. I understand what was trying to be conveyed by the scene, but I think the fact that it's one of the original murderers' death that is rewound and not one of the "innoncent" people's somewhat softens the impact of the message.

I was going to watch this last night since I Netflixed it, but was totally too tired. However, I saw the English language remake and think the shotgun scene is more of a point to let the audience know there's no way the family is going to win. You get this little feeling of happy vengeance, then it's all taken away in an instant.

The remake left my neck of the woods too quickly for me to catch, so I decided to watch the original after reading this thread. I probably shouldn't have read the thread. Since I was expecting all these moments you guys talked about, the film didn't get a chance to work on its own. D'oh. So my appreciation of the film was severly compromised.

Also, I found the two guys to be merely obnoxious. I wanted them to die because they were annoying, not because they were threatening.

I just saw this last night. I have to say, my relationship with it is complex right now. I hated it most of the time. By the time the end credits ran, and I turned it off, I still hated it. A couple of hours later, I started to think that it was actually pretty damn brilliant. I'm sticking with the latter analysis.

Yes, it was deeply unpleasant to sit through, and there were moments when I seriously wanted to turn it off, a reaction I have rarely had, and I sat through House of the Dead. I felt that it was pointless, wallowing in misery for no good reason. I guess the reason was just slow in coming to me.

I know nothing about Haneke, I've never seen another of his films. But if I had to venture a guess, I would imagine that he actually hates films like this, and is trying to make us question why we would sit through it, if not actually punish us for doing so. Every time the antagonist turns and speaks to the audience, we are incriminated in the tortures that the family is undergoing. The question "Why the hell would you want to sit through this?" is in every scene, and it's very intentional.

Incidentally, I seem to have a somewhat different take on the rewind scene than you guys do. It's not just a matter of the audience finding pleasure in watching a grisly death. Anna blowing away a tormentor is the moment of cathartic vengeance that we fully expect in this situation, the moment that allows us to sit through all the unpleasantness. We wait for it as if it justifies everything, and we feel better about ourselves because evil has been punished. But Haneke denies us this moment of closure. Sorry, but you came here to watch this sick shit, and you're not going to be excused. It's going to its only logical conclusion whether you like it or not.

I'll probably never watch this again, and I probably won't bother with the remake. But damn, I do admire it.

For anyone still interested in Funny Games (either version), it is the subject of my first CHUD blog.

(Please excuse the pimping!)

What the fiddlers fuck did I just watch?

I have to say I have never sat through a movie with a wide eyed, slack jawed expression. It was interesting but I got thrown out of the experience by the lack of emotion on the parents part after the son gets his head blown off. I wouldn't have remained that calm.

Quite. (Note: I saw the remake, not the original.)

I love that this thing is sitting on POP displays at Target.

The parents (especially the Father) are more vocally mournful in the Austrian version. Watts decided to go farther with the strong woman in a panic angle, and Roth went with the sorry heap angle. In the Austrian version, the Dad freaks out.

I didn't realize there was even that much variation. The trailer seemed to play up the idenical-ness of the remake.

Oh they are like 99.5% identical. Scary identical.

The only variations are some minor minor performance differences, and the first wink at the camera is blocked out a little different (better in the US version, IMO).

I'm curious to see the American version, but I can't imagine getting up the motivation to put myself through that again.

Well I've exhausted my opinions on both and their relationship to each other, but... if you've seen one, you've seen both. The reasons to see the American version are; if you've never seen it before, or you are really interested in re-watching it.

The '08 version is technically better and culturally fine-tuned to more effectively speak to the story's intended audience (American horror fans). If you've seen the Austrian version (and got it), then there is little reason to watch the remake.