Funny games
I rarely do reviews of movies, but then again I rarely see a movie that keeps me tossing and turning in my sleep. Walking out of the theater I rolled my eyes and announced that "Funny Games", was the worst movie I had ever seen. Extreme violence shot in a picture perfect magazine way, for the sake of being violent. I saw no point to the movie, I sat through 2 hours of torture and felt an anxiety attack just waiting to ripple through my body. I knowingly paid to sit through this, and I think that is what hurts. That I paid $8 to sit in a room with complete strangers waiting to be entertained but instead felt brutally tortured and mind fucked.
I thought of getting up and leaving about a dozen times throughout the film, and I noticed the couple to my left doing the same. Instead I sat there, frozen, my eyes glued to the screen. Almost as if the movie was daring you to leave, daring you to prove that you in fact are not a masochist.
The movie has not left my thoughts since last night, and thinking over it, I'm beginning to think it was exactly what a movie should be. The director, Michael Haneke, proves what a master of his craft should be able to do to an audience. He had complete control over every thought and emotion that played through my head. The antagonist directly spoke to the camera, almost taunting you for holding onto the thought of someone in the film surviving.
Not having even seen a trailer of the film prior, the short synopsis I read simply stated, "An exploration of our violent society and how depictions of violence reflect and shape our culture". The director did exactly what was promised, the film causes you to think. Why am I watching this? Why am I so incredibly compelled to sit here through this torture-porn? I honestly can't answer why, and the only thing that comes to mind is this quote from the movie,
"Why don't you just kill us?"
"You shouldn't forget the importance of entertainment."
All in all, not a movie I would allow myself to endure a second time, but I will acknowledge it as a fucking brilliant work of art.
I thought of getting up and leaving about a dozen times throughout the film, and I noticed the couple to my left doing the same. Instead I sat there, frozen, my eyes glued to the screen. Almost as if the movie was daring you to leave, daring you to prove that you in fact are not a masochist.
The movie has not left my thoughts since last night, and thinking over it, I'm beginning to think it was exactly what a movie should be. The director, Michael Haneke, proves what a master of his craft should be able to do to an audience. He had complete control over every thought and emotion that played through my head. The antagonist directly spoke to the camera, almost taunting you for holding onto the thought of someone in the film surviving.
Not having even seen a trailer of the film prior, the short synopsis I read simply stated, "An exploration of our violent society and how depictions of violence reflect and shape our culture". The director did exactly what was promised, the film causes you to think. Why am I watching this? Why am I so incredibly compelled to sit here through this torture-porn? I honestly can't answer why, and the only thing that comes to mind is this quote from the movie,
"Why don't you just kill us?"
"You shouldn't forget the importance of entertainment."
All in all, not a movie I would allow myself to endure a second time, but I will acknowledge it as a fucking brilliant work of art.
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