Film Review: Funny Games

About Funny Games (1997)Anna (Susan Lothar) and Georg Schober (Ulrich Mühe) arrive with their son, Georgie, at their lakeside holiday home. Through their neighbour, Fred, they meet Paul (Arno Frisch) and his friend Peter (Frank Giering). However, once inside Anna and Georg’s house, Peter and Paul begin to torture them, betting that in twenty-four hours they and Georgie will be dead. When Georgie manages to escape to Fred’s house, he discovers that the neighbor and his wife have already been murdered: it seems that Paul and Peter are serious about continuing their ‘game’ to the finish.

Starring: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering, Stefan Clapczynski

Directed by: Michael Haneke

Runtime: 108 minutes

Studio: Kino Video

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Review: Funny Games 

Michael Haneke’s controversial film, Funny Games, is not one for the faint hearted. German couple Georg (Ulrich Muhe), Anna (Susanne Lothar) and their son Georgie (Stefan Clapczynski) head for their lake house in Austria for what should be a pleasant family holiday. However, their break turns into a nightmare when two young men Paul (Arno Frisch) and Peter (Frank Giering) visit and once inside the lake house they take the family hostage and subject them to the funny games of the title.

This is a tense and cruel film but notably the violence inflicted on the family takes place off-screen. Paul is first introduced by a neighbor Fred (Christoph Bantzer) and is said to be the son of a friend. Paul and Peter later return to the family lake house in what seems innocent enough circumstances. Peter asks to borrow some eggs only to drop four, then the family dog frightens him and another four are dropped. While in the kitchen he clumsily knocks Anna’s phone into a sink full of water. Anna is now uncomfortable and asks the men to leave. Georg intervenes and when the family refuse to give the two men the last of their eggs things turn violent. Georg is struck with a golf club and has his leg broken. The family are then seated together in the living room where Peter is mostly silent, gorging on the family’s food while the assertive Paul leads proceedings.

The acting in Funny Games is very good and although the violence is restricted this will still be hard for many people to watch. The suffering inflicted on the family does not stop at the adults. Their son is a victim as well. One of the worst moments is when Georgie has a cushion cover put over his head while Anna is forced to undress. The film cleverly plays with the conventions of a thriller. A few times Paul speaks directly to the audience, the almost omniscient participant in the film. He compares events to how thrillers tend to go and is very much the spokesman for the message Haneke tries to convey in his film. There is no hope in Funny Games. Brace yourself for an unhappy but clever conclusion. Paul holds all the aces, especially when one turn of events displeases him and he wants to change it. What does he do? Simple, he gets the TV remote, pauses, then rewinds the film to change things. This is tough on the audience watching Paul cheat but it is a memorable moment all the same. Tense and often unpleasant, there is something still striking about this film throughout that makes it hard to stop watching.

Funny Games is a fascinating but controversial film that will divide audiences. Despite the on-screen violence being minimal, this is not a film for the fainthearted and  many may find it too difficult to watch. The film’s clever mockery of many conventions are the high points and beneath what seems an excuse to shock audiences is a deep message discussed between Paul and Peter at the end about the fine line between fiction and reality especially when violence is conveyed. Movie audiences often watch films that depict varying degrees of violence but we don’t look away. With Funny Games some will look away, but others will see it through to the end.

Verdict: 5/5

(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)

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