Funny Games
Trailer
In this provocative and brutal thriller from director Michael Haneke, a vacationing family gets an unexpected visit from two deeply disturbed young men. Over one long night their idyllic holiday turns nightmarish as they are subjected to unimaginable terrors and struggle to stay alive.
Remade from his own acclaimed 1997 film, "Funny Games" is written and directed by Michael Haneke ("Caché"), and stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet and Devon Gearhart.
The vacation begins with Anna, George and their son Georgie on their way to their summer home. The neighbors, Fred and Eva, are already there. They make a date to play golf the next morning. It's a perfect day.
Anna begins to make dinner, while her husband and son are busy with the newly renovated sailboat. Suddenly, Anna finds herself face to face with a polite young man, the neighbors' guest Peter, who has come to ask for some eggs because Eva has run out. Anna is about to give Peter the eggs, but hesitates. How did he get onto their property? Peter explains that there's a hole in the fence - Fred showed it to him.
Things seem strange from the beginning. Soon, violence erupts. The thriller follows the rules of its genre, providing the deliverance that allows the audience to feel comfortable watching the film.
Michael Haneke began to explore his favorite subject, violence and the media, with the original 1997 film, Funny Games, and revisits it here with the same eye.
Haneke's trilogy (The Seventh Continent - 1989; Benny's Video - 1992; 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance - 1994), particularly Benny's Video, exposes the consequences of the media's portrayal of violence. Funny Games subverts the genre to allow audiences to observe that violence, and making them complicit by forcing them to see their own role through a series of emotional and analytical episodes.
Released on DVD 28th July 2008
CAST
Naomi Watts.....Anna
Tim Roth......George
Michael Pitt.....Paul
Brady Corbet.....Peter
Devon Gearhart...Georgie
Boyd Gaines......Fred
Siobhan Fallon.....Betsy
Robert Lupone.....Fred
Linda Moran......Eva
Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Boyd Gaines, Siobhan Fallon, Robert Lupone, Linda Moran