Review of Funny Games (1997) by Pau G — 18 Aug 2009

First of all, the acting of Susanne Lothar is absolutely stunning, and as usual I liked Ulrich Mühe so so much... But there is much more than that. The music for instance, which is all we have at the beginning and which goes from Haendel to John Zorn with no transition, expressing the way German(ic) culture can switch from perfect refinement to pure brutality (the parallel with the Nazi times is unavoidable here, esp.

if we consider Hanneke is Austrian). The frequent disjunction between image and sound is also great, allowing suggestion more than graphic plainess to express violence and horror. Similarly, the contrast between words and acts is frightening, reminding the spectator of both the nazi atrocities and the horrors of De Sade perpetrated by very refined people : the two youngsters are so very polite, even using French from time to time as proof of their upper-class background.

But ultimately, what makes that movie so interesting and disturbing is the dialogue Paul is having directly with the spectator, addressing the camera to emphasize on the fact this is a fiction, a movie, a game of which the viewer is the accomplice.

And to that extent, Hanneke predicted (and went beyond) the long series of scary/slasher movies that emerged in the years 2000 in which everybody or almost dies at the end, in which horror and death are gratuitous and unavoidable: contrary to 'In Cold Blood' and the massacre of a whole family by two psychopaths, there is no truth to look for, no explanation, no redemption, just pure show, pure entertainment (however disturbing), just a funny game.

..