After having seen The Piano Teacher, which is a deeply unsettling film, I just knew I had to watch Michael Haneke’sFunny Games as well. The film opens with a family underway to vacation in their holiday lake house. Georg and Anna play a game in which they play classical songs to each other and the other must guess what song it is, which serves as entertainment for their son, Schorschi. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the funny games to be played, evident from the disturbing heavy metal that intrudes on the calm classical music. When two polite-seeming young men turn up at their lake house with no intention of leaving, the family are forcefully catapulted into playing along with their sadistic games.
Sensitive viewers should be warned: This is not an easily digestible film, it is dark and disturbing. So steer clear of this if you fear it might linger too long in your conscious or subconscious mind. I can see why the film was so controversial, especially seeing that it was released in 1997. I viewed the film in 2006, but fear I have been so bombarded with violent filmic images the last couple of years, that I have become somewhat desensitised against violence and the film was not so shocking as originally intended. But I think this confirms what Haneke actually tried to say with Funny Games, for it polemicises against violent entertainment and the representation of violence in films. Just like Paul and Peter play games with the holiday trio, so too the directors of violent films often play games with their viewers. They psyche up their audiences so much as to root for the “goodies” killing the “baddies” and succeed in making their viewers voyeurs of and accomplices to the violence portrayed on screen. The viewers become consumers of the violent entertainment.
The film especially reminds me of Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers(1994) in that Stone aims to show the viewer how powerful the media (television news, newspapers, films, etc.) is in inciting people to become consumers of sensationalist violence.
The film also addresses the issue of why people do bad things. When people do cruel things to other people or animals, one often wonders what happened in their childhood or during their lives to make them act out in such ways. What is quite disturbing is that sometimes there is nothing external to blame it on. Some people have a good upbringing or good lives, but seem to be inherently cruel. That makes sadistic violence even more incomprehensible and unsettling. Haneke said anyone who leaves whilst watching the film does not need it, and that anyone who stays, does. Why do I need to see disturbing films such as The Piano Teacher and Funny Games? Well, I am not one of those people that believe that ignorance is bliss. Living such a standard life, one often forgets what darkness lurks in the secular world. I do not want to be blind to these things. I want to understand the human psyche better and sometimes I want to know what unthinkable things people do, for I do not want to be naïve to the cruelty that people are capable of. Watching such films makes me question things and ponder issues. It inspires me even more to stay sane in this world where morals seem to be decaying day by day, and to clutch to it with every fibre of my being.
SPOILER WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM!
The film is postmodern in that it reminds the viewer that he/she is watching a fictional film. The director also manipulates and plays with the audience. When Paul turns back to wink at the camera whilst letting Ana play a game of hot potato searching for their murdered dog, the viewer is not sure whether Paul turns back to wink at Peter, or whether he turns back to wink at us, the viewer. As the film progresses, the viewer gets clarity on this when Paul turns to the camera to address the viewer directly and when he grabs the remote control to rewind Peter being shot. Even with the spoiler warning, I do not want to say too much, for I want to leave it to the viewer to decide what to make of the film.
INFO
Genre: Thriller
Running time: 108 min
Country: Austria
Language: German/French with English subtitles
Director: Michael Haneke
Writing credits: Michael Haneke
Producers: Veit Heiduschka
Cinematographer: Jürgen Jürges
Editor: Andreas Prochaska
Main Cast:
Anna – Susanne Lothar
Georg – Ulrich Mühe
Schorschi – Stefan Clapczynski
Paul – Arno Frisch
Peter – Frank Giering
