Review of Funny Games (1997) by Adam S — 27 Nov 2008

This film delivers incredibly good suspense and leaves you dreading what the family are going to be subjected to next. The surreal sense of breaking the fourth wall and the distortion of reality within the film gives it great direction and at times it feels like the film is talking to you directly. The acting is great - especially Arno Frisch as Paul who really made the character whole - with zero sense of remorse or seemingly any sense of right or wrong. Overall however, this choice of interacting with the audience really shows us how we as spectators subject ourselves to violence within the media.

Almost daily we watch Hollywood movies with huge kill counts and we think nothing of it. What's so different with 100 bad guys being blown to pieces and 3 family members ultimately having a similar fate?

Overall, shocking, compelling and nearing brilliance. Michael Haneke has really given us something to think about.