Next time you find yourself looking to define the word 'excruciating' look no further than the 1997 Michael Henke chiller Funny Games.
The story is a simple tale of two 'happy go lucky' young psychopaths who ingratiate themselves with a married couple and their son at a secluded vacation retreat and then go on to hold them hostage and terrorise them by playing - you guessed it - funny games. For the viewer the film is a cinematic endurance test of the darkest timbre, most of the violence takes place off-camera engaging your imagination in the process, which as you know is worse that anything a filmmaker can throw at you. Who knows better than yourself the thing that scares you the most?
Just as disturbing, is the ordinariness of the two intruders. Whereas Hannibal Lector or Clockwork Orange's Alex are intelligent, charismatic and (all killing aside) fun, these 'funny gamesters' are perfect examples of the brutality of the banal. Their games appear to come from a desire to avoid boredom or worse, from staring into the void where they're likely to come face to face with themselves. If it wasn't for the injurious consequences of their antics they would just as soon bore you to death instead.
For all the tricks and frustrations this film subjects you to, none of its horrors even comes close to the sheer mental disturbance of the ultra-white, ultra tight tennis shorts as worn by one of the tormentors. In terms of 'all time horrific movie moments', I'd put them right up there with the Exorcist's alternative use of the crucifix or Psycho's shower time etiquette. Be warned, these shorts are only to be viewed by those with a gut like a blacksmith's tool bag.
This is probably the only film that has ever been made that is literally asking the viewer "Why are you watching this?" Henke's movies generally deal with the extremes of human behaviour but Funny Games employs a series of knowing references to the fact that by witnessing this horror you are somehow complicit in it. The entire film seems to be challenging your continued involvement via explicit devices such as the characters talking about their actions in terms of film structure, and a 'rewind' sequence that will have you calling the Samaritans. Even in the final frame you are subconsciously accused of sharing the psyche of the tormentors by still watching; by which time it's too late and the funny game that has been played here is on you.
The story is a simple tale of two 'happy go lucky' young psychopaths who ingratiate themselves with a married couple and their son at a secluded vacation retreat and then go on to hold them hostage and terrorise them by playing - you guessed it - funny games. For the viewer the film is a cinematic endurance test of the darkest timbre, most of the violence takes place off-camera engaging your imagination in the process, which as you know is worse that anything a filmmaker can throw at you. Who knows better than yourself the thing that scares you the most?
Just as disturbing, is the ordinariness of the two intruders. Whereas Hannibal Lector or Clockwork Orange's Alex are intelligent, charismatic and (all killing aside) fun, these 'funny gamesters' are perfect examples of the brutality of the banal. Their games appear to come from a desire to avoid boredom or worse, from staring into the void where they're likely to come face to face with themselves. If it wasn't for the injurious consequences of their antics they would just as soon bore you to death instead.
For all the tricks and frustrations this film subjects you to, none of its horrors even comes close to the sheer mental disturbance of the ultra-white, ultra tight tennis shorts as worn by one of the tormentors. In terms of 'all time horrific movie moments', I'd put them right up there with the Exorcist's alternative use of the crucifix or Psycho's shower time etiquette. Be warned, these shorts are only to be viewed by those with a gut like a blacksmith's tool bag.
This is probably the only film that has ever been made that is literally asking the viewer "Why are you watching this?" Henke's movies generally deal with the extremes of human behaviour but Funny Games employs a series of knowing references to the fact that by witnessing this horror you are somehow complicit in it. The entire film seems to be challenging your continued involvement via explicit devices such as the characters talking about their actions in terms of film structure, and a 'rewind' sequence that will have you calling the Samaritans. Even in the final frame you are subconsciously accused of sharing the psyche of the tormentors by still watching; by which time it's too late and the funny game that has been played here is on you.