Film: Funny Games
Release date: 25th May 2009
Certificate: 18
Running time: 104 mins
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
Genre: Horror/Drama/Crime/Thriller
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Austria
As you may have heard, this film is not an easy one to watch. Neither the more recent American remake, nor the twelve years that have passed since Funny Games was first released have diminished its impact. Some may instantly flinch at the mention of the word ‘torture’ and assume that this is the reason why people have cautioned against it. However, this is not Audition - and it certainly is not Hostel. What you’re getting here is what horror truly is. Michael Haneke here makes us contemplate what it means to display true malevolence on the screen. And he does so with such intelligence and restraint, it causes you to ask whether the outrage was necessary. From there on, you may be forced to ask whether we can make films as open and honest as we like, and whether or not there is any point to this medium at all. Hopefully, viewing Haneke’s film now will remind you that there most definitely is a point.
A family of three are greeted by blissful sunny weather at a lakeside holiday home, the location for what promises to be a relaxing, refreshing break. It is not long before this promise of tranquillity becomes disrupted, however. It is when the mother, Anna (Susanne Lothar), is in the kitchen that she meets Peter (Frank Giering), one half of the duo that will bring misery upon her and her family in the hours to come.
When Paul (Arno Frisch) enters, the three family members quickly become prisoners in their own home, subjected to unbearable treatment at the hands of apparently motiveless captors. Only resilience and cunning can be of any use to the family in escaping their torment…
In the introductory scene of this film, director Michael Haneke illustrates, with no ambiguity whatsoever, two of the primary themes that haunt this film throughout: manipulation and menace. As Georg (Ulrich Mühe) and Anna drive peacefully with their son along a road that winds through an idyllic mountain side, they are accompanied by the sound of gentle classical music that emanates from their in-car cassette player. As soon as we have become relaxed in the ambience of this moment, the peace is suddenly shattered by the cacophonous blaring of a John Zorn track. The viewer is jolted by the screaming and thrashing of this sonic pandemonium, before the words ‘Funny Games’ pounce onto the screen in a bloody shade of red.
The menace exuded from Haneke’s film begins once the sadistic duo of Peter and Paul take control of the holiday home, and remains intact until the terrifying ordeal is over. It is largely due to this inescapable menace that the film is such an arresting, harsh viewing experience. By occasionally leading his characters away from the main setting as the plot develops, thus extending and amplifying the terror and panic in suspenseful scenes, Funny Games displays familiar tropes of the horror genre. This notion is exemplified in other areas of the film, such as the unforgettable motif of the golf ball. With this in mind, the radical approach of Haneke in subverting horror genre conventions is tangible, taking the form of a minimalist aesthetic, long-takes, cutting away from violent acts and significant post-production techniques.
While the film works brilliantly as a genre piece, where the viewer elects not to engage so much with its cerebral content, it positively shines when viewed from an intellectual position. In this fashion, it can be fully received as the genuinely important work of cinema that it is. The manner in which Haneke communicates his message is certainly confrontational - blatantly manipulating his film and breaking the illusion of film being unadulterated reality delivered by an unseen creator. However, the filmmaker’s message about how violence is depicted on the screen, and how it is viewed, is articulated with very few depictions of violence itself. This is where the filmmaker should be really applauded. Incredibly, for a film where violence is such a key plot element due to it being the manner in which Peter and Paul control the captive family, barely a drop of blood is spilt. Furthermore, even when an act of violence is captured on the camera, the cinematography could be hardly less graphic. And still, the film is unbearably taut - perhaps because so much of it is based on the power of suggestion. That the filmmaker is able to keep us gripped so tightly utilising this restrained approach is demonstrative of his undeniable skill as a director.
Just as unexpected as this is the fact that, in the midst of this physical and psychological torment, the audience becomes a part of the game as well. It is possible that this is another reason - albeit a subconscious one - that the viewer is more aware of the violence that unfolds in that living room. As a consequence of the viewer becoming an accomplice to Peter and Paul’s heinous plans, Haneke questions the nature of audience reception. Further into the film, as the brutality increases and the once content, settled middle-class family become enfeebled to the point of being pitiful, the contrasting confidence and command over the situation that the antagonists provide may be preferable to some, thus reaffirming Haneke’s point about how a filmmaker can manipulate a viewer’s feelings.
Funny Games is largely reliant also on the efforts of its leading actors to carry each scene with conviction. All four leads all do this with merit, giving superb performances, from Giering and Frisch’s clinical delivery, to Mühe and Lothar’s devastating portrayals of trauma and suffering.
Simple yet complex, subtle yet overt, Funny Games is many things, but just a straightforward horror/thriller involving the theme of torture, it is not. This is a film that deserves your attention, and is guaranteed to get it, too. BN
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