Funny Games (1997) / Funny Games U.S. (2007)

Funny Games – Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic “games” with one another for their own amusement.

I originally posted this review back in August, and only a couple of people read it. I feel the movie deserves a little more attention now a few more people stop by my site, so I present to you my original review with bigger images and all (I hope I got them all!) the rookie spelling mistakes fixed! Enjoy version 2.0!

The original Funny Games is a 1997 Austrian psychological thriller directed and written by Michael Haneke. Ten years later Haneke made a shot-for-shot remake of its predecessor, albeit in English and set in the United States with different actors and it was titled Funny Games U.S.

As both films are shot for shot almost identical, the plots for both are as follows with just the cast and language obviously being the difference. Funny Games begins with a wealthy German family – Georg (Ulrich Mühe), his wife Anna (Susanne Lothar – who sadly died last year), their son Schorschi (Stefan Clapczynski), and their dog Rolfi – arriving at their Austrian lake house. They spot their next-door neighbor Fred (Christoph Bantzer) accompanied by two young Viennese men, Peter (Frank Giering) and Paul (Arno Frisch), one of whom Fred introduces as the son of a friend while paying a visit. The two men begin imposing themselves on the family’s courtesy, and in the process destroy their phone and ruin all their eggs. Eventually a frustrated Anna demands that the men leave, asking Georg to eject them from the premises. Paul kills Rolfi, Peter breaks Georg’s leg with the latter’s golf club, and the two men take the family hostage, forcing them to participate in a number of sadistic games in order to stay alive.

Funny Games U.S. is made up of more recognisable faces to anyone outside of Germany. George Farber is played by the great Tim Roth, with his wife Ann played by Naomi Watts. Their son Georgie is played by a young actor named Devon Gearhart. Finally the young tormenters in this version are played by Brady Corbet as Peter and Michael Pitt as Paul. For me the 2007 version was much better acted out and slightly more believable than the original (also in a shallow way the people were better to look at). I just felt more for Roth & Watts, they had an innocence and believability to their characters and I found it harder to watch things unravel for their family than in the original. At the same time, the Peter & Paul in the remake were far creepier, as both Corbet & Pitt carried off the menace and charm better than the young guys in the 1997 version. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the acting in the original, but the father didn’t really grab me and I felt he was the weak link, along with the fat tormentor who was really outshone by his partner who carried off his role excellently.

They are strange movies and the director takes some very bold steps in his making of them. The films frequently blur the line between fiction and reality, especially highlighting the act of observation. The character Paul (only him, never Peter for some reason) breaks the fourth wall throughout the films and addresses the camera on numerous occasions. As he directs Anna to look for her dead dog, he turns, winks, and smirks at the camera. When he asks the family to bet on their survival, he turns to the camera and asks the audience whether they will bet as well. All they have to do is survive past 9pm the next day. In a move that I have never seen before, at one point Paul uses a remote control to rewind the film to change the outcome of a certain event. I was amazed the first time I saw this, and rather than feel cheated like I know some viewers did, I had to applaud the director for doing something so unique and controversial.

Funny Games director Michael Haneke has actually stated that the films were not intended to be horror films. He says he wanted to make a message about violence in the media by making an incredibly violent, but otherwise pointless movie. He also felt that people shouldn’t enjoy his movies, and if they did they missed the point. Whilst there is some violence, the films actually feature very little graphic violence and almost all of the death and mutilation occurs off-screen. Even so, the scenes are very unsettling to watch given the subject matter, and at times the tension becomes almost unbearable.

Minor spoilers lay ahead…………….

The films are not without their flaws. To me there seemed to be a really good chance to end it all very quickly, as at the beginning both families are introduced to one of their tormentors whilst the other is busy. It seemed a good time to try something. Even with the initial slap scene, could the father not have tried more? But then there would be no fun in that, and ultimately no film. Plus, as Paul continues to address us viewers and throw out red herrings, I got the feeling the films, whether fact or fiction or alternate reality, depending on your views after the discussion on the boat, the end result was never in question.

Another thing that is done differently in these movies is the ten minute or so continuous take, where there is really nothing going on and hardly any talking, but in the context of the event which has just happened it ties in and doesn’t feel out-of-place or get annoying. Another very ambitious move on behalf of the director, but again he isn’t making the film for people to enjoy, rather he wants us to sit up and take notice at the violent world we live in.

The movies are almost without a soundtrack. At the beginning of the film the families play a classical music guessing game. As soon as the credits hit, the music abruptly changes to a loud, obnoxious and angry style of music. This sudden shift represents the chaos and insanity that is to come. We get this loud music again at the end of the films, but other than that, there’s no soundtrack.

All in all, much to the directors disappointment, I really liked both versions of Funny Games. Whilst I felt Funny Games U.S. looked better and was acted out by a higher quality cast, the original still hit all the right notes and they were both truly terrifying films, with a relatively simple premise but different on so many levels. I doubt you will have seen many films as bleak and menacing, or as full of tension with some incredible characters and a dark, dark tone to it as Funny Games. With a superb story and plenty of red herrings and almost unbearable scenes, both versions of Funny Games demand to be seen and really show other home invasion movies such as The Strangers how to do this kind of terror. Not for the faint hearted, or those who frequently worry about people invading their house, but a very worthwhile and emotional watch whilst at the very least offering  something a little different.

If I did half scores I would give the original 6.5 and the remake a 7, but I don’t so an equal 7 seems fair.

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on May 9, 2013

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