Funny Games

While never seeing the original German version of "Funny Games", I've read that the American remake is a shot-for-shot remake effort.

Having seen this American remake version of "Funny Games", it's tough to 'review' because, let's face it, director Michael Haneke is more interested in manipulating his audience and prodding them with little regards to the characters he uses for such provocation in this film. Upon first glance, it does feel like torture porn (a la "Saw" franchise), but that's only half the equation to his film-making process, it's just the means to get where he wants to go. It's like he gets off by making a movie that elicit emotional responses from the audience to show them the 'truth' about where the viewer stands on the issue/theme at hand.

In other words, his movies are not about the characters in the film, but more about the viewers response to the film's thematic manipulations to procure whatever audience reactions that bubble to the surface during the viewing, like a cinematic litmus test of sorts. In this case, it's about innocent people (mom, dad, and young son) being pushed to their limits by 2 reprehensible young men who spend an evening terrorizing them at a summer home by the sea. What would you do to survive, and do the ends always justify the means? Unfortunately, the situation set up by Haneke just isn't as grey as it should be when going for the big carthartic moment for the viewer towards the end of the film.

Some may enjoy this sort of movie-making, but others will be turned off by it. You watch, you decide.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+