Starring: Ulrich Mühe, Susanne Lothar, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
Directed by: Michael Haneke
Written by: Michael Haneke
Studio: Wega Film
Funny Games is an art(sy) film, no two tits about it. But it's also a horror film. Which is an awesome combination in my book. That being said, here is the usual disclaimer about such works: y'all might find dis hur movin' pick-ter two stooopafyin' for y'all ifa Larry the Cable Guy thinger's on yer Flix o' Net (unironically of course).
That aside, prima facie Funny Games is about a wealthy family (two parents, one son) who become the focus of a sadistic game orchestrated by two young adult men with nothing better to do. You can also view it as a precursor to torture porn movie (but by no means prototypical), since we get to see people suffer from psychological and bodily harm for more than half of the film. And, undeniably, you could at first walk away from this movie finding it confusingly implausible and nihilistic.
But that's not how to view the film, or not as I choose to in any case. This film, at its core, is an cinematic exploration (albeit atypical) of violent video games.
First, get out of your head that this film is about Georg, Anna and Georgie (the family) - if it is about them, then I ask, "Why don't we see any of them as they die? Just the aftermath or the act leading to, e.g. pushing a bound and gagged Anna into the pond?" No, this film isn't about the yuppies at all: it's about the character Paul, the handsome and confident psycho masterminding the deadly game.
That's not to say that Paul gets most of the screen time. Hell, I think he gets the least of any main character. Even so, Paul KNOWS what's going on when he's not around the family - he's that in control. In fact, Paul is beyond in total control of what occurs in the film (i.e. he masterminds the escapade and looks like he and his pitiful cohort Peter will finish the ENTIRE game before the authorities get word of it), he is also privy to the fact that he IS a character IN A FILM. Not only does he break the fourth wall by winking at the camera - a delicious play-on words since (from my understanding) a "wink" is a cue revealing to the audience that the characters are aware of their celluloidal nature - he at one point argues that they can't be done with this portion of the game (i.e. done with torturing Georg's family). His reasoning? Because the film has not yet reached the typical length of a feature film (the film hits the 90 minute mark exactly after he says this by the way).
All this so far points more to Funny Games as a metafictional treatment of film rather than that as well as a metaphor for gaming. What leads me to ultimately form this additional intrepretation is primarily due to two actions that Paul performs: one is his constant obsession with completing this portion of the game in time and, two, a weird sequence with a remote control.
Like in so many video games, the player must pay attention to a time deadline - think of a Starcraft mission or a bomb mission in a Tom Clancy game. The young men even give themselves an arbitrary deadline for 9 a.m. on the morning after they start fucking with the family to finish although we never find out if that particular time has any significance. Just an arbitrary restriction to create a sense of urgency - I feel like playing the 11th Hour now.
As for the action with the remote, Paul essentially uses it to REWIND the proceedings of one of the last scenes and reacts differently than he did originally, now anticipating a quick and deadly move of Anna. This whole turn back the clock and try again sequence, screams Max Payne or any other game that has goons or monsters or dildos around every corner. It's also important to note that Paul is the one to restart the scene since it is Peter that gets shot by Anna in a moment when the killers let their guard down: if Peter was the player, I imagine the film would be over then. Peter's just not in control enough to have such a responsibility, he's like the marine you need by your side in Halo when ambushing some Combat Forms because, shit, why should you do all the work?
It also goes without saying that this film has enough (implied) gory to appeal to the bloodlust we associate with video games. For instance, there's a scene where the camera focuses exclusively on the blood of the just murdered Georgie sprayed all over a television set (not to mention a racing match is being televised at the time, a gametype often found on console systems). Additionally, the killers, like in many first person shooters and adventure games, has a variety of weapons at their disposal for this portion of the game.
As a final point, I keep referring to the family's gruesome ordeal as a mere "portion" of Paul's game because at the end we learn that he intends to repeat the horror with another, well-to-do family living also on the lake. Like a level in Hexen or Quake 4 or Duke Nukem 2 (any video game really), what occurred in this film was only part of the experience, part of Paul's graphic entertainment.
Writing: Superb and scary.
Direction: Haneke's shots are often long and arduous, but purposeful in that we are forced to view each of the family members struggle with what's being done to them. The first time Paul breaks frame, we're confused; the last time, we anticipate it with a pit in our stomachs.
Acting: Everyone is great: seeing the family's plight evokes horror and empathy; seeing the killers infuses us with befuddlement and disgust.
Editing: Some of the scenes could have been a little shorter (the one with Georg struggling to get the phone to work in the kitchen comes to mind), but otherwise very finessed.
Sound: The audience is not spared any cries, screams, cracks and stabs.
Soundtrack/Score: A cacaphonous switch at the beginning between a classical symphony and a German hardcore song rightfully informs us that this ride will not be a light thriller.
Self-Awareness: Jarring at first, Haneke's use of a character ultimately aware of his existence in a movie reminds us of what kind of (global) culture prevades: one that gets entertainment out of witnessing the suffering of others.
A lot of critics panned this movie and it's americanized version. Well, I guess that means a lot of critics are fucking re-re's.
Overall rating: **** 1/2
~Ian
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