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Mood:
Disturbing Rough Suspenseful Tense Atmospheric Bleak Scary
Plot:
Hostages Murderous Pair Violence Spree Psychological Family in Danger Psychopath Crimes Danger more...
Genres:
Horror Thriller Foreign Crime Postmodernism
Time/Period:
20th Century 90s
Place:
Austria Indoors
Praise:
Award Winner Controversial
Style:
Twists and Turns
Attitudes:
Serious Realistic
Flag:
Violent Content

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Overview

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Funny Games, 1997

Starring: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Muhe

Directed by: Michael Haneke

Written by: Michael Haneke

Language: German, French, Italian

Country: Austria

Runtime: 108 min

MPAA Rating:

Rating:7.6

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Profile of Funny Games

The mood of Funny Games is disturbing, tense, and rough. The plot centers around a murderous pair, a family in danger, and a violence spree. It is a foreign, thriller, and horror movie. Stylistically, Funny Games involves twists and turns and is postmodernist. In approach, it is serious and realistic. It takes place, at least partly, indoors. Funny Games is set in Austria. It happens in the 1990s. The movie is known for being controversial and an award winner. Note that Funny Games includes violent content.

Summary of Funny Games

A powerfully graphic film (even though no violence is ever shown on the screen itself) about an Austrian family who goes on a country vacation and become the victims of two cold-blooded psychopaths who are out to torture them with their "funny games." Haneke's point, that fictional violence is as real as the real world's, is presented chillingly in this extremely well-acted, yet potentially offensive effort. Weak of stomach, beware.

Details

Language:	German, French, Italian
Country:	Austria
Release date:	October 1997
Runtime:	108 min

Cast and Crew See all

Susanne Lothar

as Anna

Ulrich Muhe

as Georg

Photos See all

Funny Games (1997)

Clips See all

Funny Games: Official Trailer

Critics Reviews See all

TV Guide

Haneke's approach is unnecessarily self-conscious: His characters literally wink at the camera and openly interrogate the audience, and the effect is much less effective and disruptively obvious. Full Review

|
by: Ken Fox

The New Yorker

This elegant and provocative film succeeds in disturbing the peace, as all serious art does; we emerge from it guilty voyeurs, shaken by what we've just witnessed and by our own helplessness to intervene. Full Review

|
by: Daphne Merkin

Users Reviews See all

6/10 okay

I'm inclined to rate this lower, but for some reason I just can't. As a movie, it's okay. As a movie that I heard was frightening, and disturbing, would stick with you and make you feel complicit in what happens---it's terrible. One Character breaks... Read and rate it

25.January.2012
|
by: Fluffymonkeyem
Fluffymonkeyem rated this movie6/10Okay

05.September.2010
|
by: ColumboFan
ColumboFan rated this movie0/10

I'm not sure I got out of this movie what director Michael Haneke had in mind. The synopsis for the (unseen by me) American version said he intended "Funny Games" as an indictment of the media's fascination with violence. Really? The FICTIONAL media? Does that include Shakespearean violence? Oedipus ripping out his eyeballs? Well, good luck there Haneke because I don't give a whit about fictional violence one way or the other and I sure don't want to indict anyone. I've seen some wonderful violent pictures and I've seen some awful pacifist pictures. What was interesting about this film was it's perverse upending of audience expectations. When Haneke is not winking to the camera, the weakest conceit of the film, his oddball shot selections and willful disregard for conventional plot mechanics make this a compelling thriller. You REALLY don't know what is going to happen next. There is a good scene where the camera stays on Susanne Lothars face while something terrible happens off screen. It's held very long, and it's uncomfortable, but watching her face is horrifying. There are quite a few shots that feel like that, and scenes that go on too long, but I didn't think they were pretentious. It gave the movie a realistic vibe, like it was showing you the stuff they leave out of typical horror movies. A broken leg STAYS broken and it's hard to move around with one. Toward the end there is a bizarre twist that's just downright goofy, like an episode of "Scrubs", but I suppose it fits with the deconstructive nature of the film. This movie is called "Funny Games" after all, and guess who those games are being played on? One guess. I didn't feel like indicting the media for their violent tendencies after this picture, so Haneke failed in that regard, but I did learn that when you shake up all the rules of the thriller genre, you can still end up with a very effective, disturbing film. 4 stars.

05.September.2010
|
by: ColumboFan

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