Absolutely perfect in my humble opinion. It delivers an emotional impact like few other movies I have seen, and invites us to think about how casually we experience violence in contexts of film and (video) games.
It is so rare that I have difficulty watching a film due to its disturbing content, normally because I have such a difficult time suspending disbelief. While Funny Games doesn't show much in terms of graphic visuals, the emotions it elicits through suspense and suggestion are truly horrifying, perhaps the most horrifying I've ever experienced as an audience member.
To console myself, I looked up the actors via wikipedia and IMDB just to make sure they're all normal people, generally okay, at least alive, etc....well fuck me, 3 out of the 4 main actors have all died prematurely. I feel sick to my stomach right now.
This film is truly a curse and probably should have never been made. Though it is brilliant satire.
Possibly the most genuinely uncomfortable I've ever felt while watching a movie. That being said, I struggle to call it a "good" one. The message is incredibly heavy handed, and it likes to beat it into you senselessly. Once the initial point has been made, you get the feeling that there isn't quite enough intellectual meat on its bones to sustain t for the entire runtime.
I don't put this movie as high as other people, but I think it is worth watching.
One of the two (main) aspects I got out of it is the cinematography, it is good. I was surprised
When they ordered the woman to undress, the camera only showed her face.
I don't mind nudes in movies, but sometimes I've thought that not showing the entire body would be better for the intention of the scene.
The second aspect are the characters, I think it is very important to have good characters, so you can relate to them, or at least see the character more like a real person.
In this film I somewhat connected with the characters, because the writing and acting is pretty good. That's why you feel sorry for what happen for them.
What let me thinking is, if you already have good characters, what are you going to do with them, what’s the use/ objective for them
In this case the objective is to make them suffer.
I think it could have been more interesting (I get the message, but it is simple).
That's why the things I appreciate the more when watching it were the cinematography and the characters (being more aware of what you want to do with them) are the two things I learned from it.
Also, the movie has a lot of static shots, and most of the time I didn’t see the reason for those to be there, but I think they fit perfectly in the part
after the kid dies.
For me that was the best part of the movie, the acting there was genuinely great.
At last, the fact that one of the characters knows that he’s in a movie helps to deliver the message, but it also kept me from caring of what was happening (especially in last part).
Personally, I prefer The Seventh Continent (1989) (If you liked Funny Games, you should watch it), for me it was even more shocking, and in that case the movie goes deeper in it’s topics.
I don’t think it was bad, but I don’t quite like it. The concept is interesting, but it felt somewhat underdeveloped. Still, I haven't watched any other film quite like this one.
I like the way Michael Haneke explores motivations in movies. In The Seventh Continent, he was careful not to show any and let the events be unfathomable. In Funny Games, the schoolyard bullies who invade a family's lake house on their first day of vacation know they are horror-thriller film characters and relish the chance to play their role. Their motivation is to be in OUR service, then, and we're asked to consider our moral responsibility in entertainment built around pain and death. These moments are fleeting, but leave a mark. Otherwise, Funny Games is relentlessly intense torture porn, or rather torture erotica. We don't get exploitative money shots (whether in the sex or violence columns), but the torture, physical but more importantly psychological is brutal and real. Unbearably long shots of the family struggling with what's happening are more difficult to watch than gory kills. Susanne Lothar is particularly good as the mom who has more punch than her husband.
I feel really uncomfortable marking this as a "favorite". I think it's an undeniable masterpiece and an incredible film. But I will never, never, never watch it again. I saw the American remake and felt like I needed to see this one simply because it gets all the acclaim/checks. It loses NONE of its power or effectiveness knowing how it unfolds.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 30
badblokebob
The scariest thing about this movie is that it would seem Austria doesn't have an emergency services phone number that everyone knows.Honneth
Absolutely perfect in my humble opinion. It delivers an emotional impact like few other movies I have seen, and invites us to think about how casually we experience violence in contexts of film and (video) games.devilsadvocado
It is so rare that I have difficulty watching a film due to its disturbing content, normally because I have such a difficult time suspending disbelief. While Funny Games doesn't show much in terms of graphic visuals, the emotions it elicits through suspense and suggestion are truly horrifying, perhaps the most horrifying I've ever experienced as an audience member.To console myself, I looked up the actors via wikipedia and IMDB just to make sure they're all normal people, generally okay, at least alive, etc....well fuck me, 3 out of the 4 main actors have all died prematurely. I feel sick to my stomach right now.
This film is truly a curse and probably should have never been made. Though it is brilliant satire.
ansver
Hard and shocking... It really made me nervous from beginning till the end. I didn't expect this at all.Panunzio
Possibly the most genuinely uncomfortable I've ever felt while watching a movie. That being said, I struggle to call it a "good" one. The message is incredibly heavy handed, and it likes to beat it into you senselessly. Once the initial point has been made, you get the feeling that there isn't quite enough intellectual meat on its bones to sustain t for the entire runtime.Shidan
I don't put this movie as high as other people, but I think it is worth watching.One of the two (main) aspects I got out of it is the cinematography, it is good. I was surprised
The second aspect are the characters, I think it is very important to have good characters, so you can relate to them, or at least see the character more like a real person.
In this film I somewhat connected with the characters, because the writing and acting is pretty good. That's why you feel sorry for what happen for them.
What let me thinking is, if you already have good characters, what are you going to do with them, what’s the use/ objective for them
That's why the things I appreciate the more when watching it were the cinematography and the characters (being more aware of what you want to do with them) are the two things I learned from it.
Also, the movie has a lot of static shots, and most of the time I didn’t see the reason for those to be there, but I think they fit perfectly in the part
At last, the fact that one of the characters knows that he’s in a movie helps to deliver the message, but it also kept me from caring of what was happening (especially in last part).
Personally, I prefer The Seventh Continent (1989) (If you liked Funny Games, you should watch it), for me it was even more shocking, and in that case the movie goes deeper in it’s topics.
I don’t think it was bad, but I don’t quite like it. The concept is interesting, but it felt somewhat underdeveloped. Still, I haven't watched any other film quite like this one.
Matt Addis
Funny games proves you can have a highly disturbing film without hardly any gore or sexual perversion. It literally had me shakingSiskoid
I like the way Michael Haneke explores motivations in movies. In The Seventh Continent, he was careful not to show any and let the events be unfathomable. In Funny Games, the schoolyard bullies who invade a family's lake house on their first day of vacation know they are horror-thriller film characters and relish the chance to play their role. Their motivation is to be in OUR service, then, and we're asked to consider our moral responsibility in entertainment built around pain and death. These moments are fleeting, but leave a mark. Otherwise, Funny Games is relentlessly intense torture porn, or rather torture erotica. We don't get exploitative money shots (whether in the sex or violence columns), but the torture, physical but more importantly psychological is brutal and real. Unbearably long shots of the family struggling with what's happening are more difficult to watch than gory kills. Susanne Lothar is particularly good as the mom who has more punch than her husband.clydeumney
I feel really uncomfortable marking this as a "favorite". I think it's an undeniable masterpiece and an incredible film. But I will never, never, never watch it again. I saw the American remake and felt like I needed to see this one simply because it gets all the acclaim/checks. It loses NONE of its power or effectiveness knowing how it unfolds.kidijs
Just remembering how much I hated it is worrisome. Meaning I still hate Funny Games to the gut.Forrester
Not a 'funny' movie by any means. It's gripping, sick and suspenseful. It definitely made a big impression on me.heat_
Good movie but not the best of the director.chris714n
the hell of human-nature..catherinefrances
I am going to have nightmares.karinakremlin
The only movie which can be deemed truthfully scary. The disturbance radiating from it knows no boundaries.Showing items 1 – 15 of 30