Rating: 
Summary: So DISTURBING it's FUN...
Review: Director Michael Haneke's disturbing visions of a family vacation will stay with you long after seeing the movie. The unexpected cruelty is well played out leaving plenty to imagination. If you are interested in a movie with a happy ending, then this is the movie for you...YEAH RIGHT! I highly recommend this movie for all you twisted people out there.
Rating:
Summary: Frightening and brilliant !
Review: You thought The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House On The Left & I Spit On Your Grave were disturbing visions of violence. Funny Games (almost) beats the lot! Without much on-screen violence, Haneke's film deals with the after effects of terror and physical pain. It uses the same old stunts to get your heart pumping but unlike your average slasher, makes you feel for the victims . The acting is superb. What more can I say ? An amazing film I will never forget, even the sight of the opening credits make me shudder!
Rating:
Summary: A great german-austrian thriller
Review: A great thriller, which creates a lot of tension without any special effects.
Rating:
Summary: The most disturbing, and yet brilliant, film I've seen
Review: 'Funny Games' is absolutely shocking. Leaving the cinema, I was amazed to discover that my face was not bruised and swollen -- because the film really does seem to take the viewer hostage. It's cleverly put together (a little too postmodern for its own good at times) and is unforgettable. I saw it 5 months ago and can remember each and every scene. And I am still shocked whenever I recollect the switch from Classical to Hard Core Thrash music at the beginning of the film. Also, the pivotal scene of violence that takes place off-screen and then waits for the viewer to make sense of the carnage. Brilliant. Nearly every other film will seem shallow, pale, and insignificant in comparison.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, exciting and terrifying. A movie to think about.
Review: Put aside the fact that this is a German movie and subtitled. Within the first 15 minutes I was getting uncomfortable yet rivited with the characters and plot. This movie is chilling to the bone. Unsettling - yet you see none of the graphic horror - making the film even more disturbing. In general, a couple and their young son arrive at their vacation home in the German countryside. When guests of their neighbours arrive to borrow some eggs thats when the horror begins. Toying with the viewers mind, this movie makes no promise of a 'happy ending' or a 'hero's rescue'. It is true to life in the way that not all crimes are worthy of reason or excuse. 'Funny Games' is one of the better psychological thrillers I have seen since Roman Polanski's 'Repulsion'. Not a film to be taken lightly - it will have you thinking twice about being so generous with your egg supplies! Not one to miss.
Rating: 
Summary: And for the 4 millionth time, folks...
Review: "review" means "review," not telling the entire story of the film so you ruin it for someone who hasn't seen it. Why is this such a difficult concept? Please, pass it on...Anyway ... this is a highly disturbing, frustrating film for sure, with occasional flashes of brilliance. Forget the people who say it's gory; they were obviously watching another film. The visual violence is extremely minimal. There's more in some cartoons. But the IDEA of violence, the suggestion of it is quite another thing. Sort of a Eurotrash version of Hills Have Eyes, but with several major differences. Definitely not for kids or paranoid, excitable people. The only real flaw: the way too-extended "did the DVD jam?" real-time sequence. You'll know it when you see it.
Rating: 
Summary: You people must be cinematically sheltered
Review: Looking over these reviews, a curious viewer may feel inclined to prepare him/herself for the most harrowing cinematic experiance of our time. I assure you, there is no need. The film, though entertaining in its sociopathic wit, is not nearly so disturbing as these reviews imply. "Watch it if you Dare"? More like "Watch it if you Care" I'd say. A few things you should know before you invest your time
1) This movie bends many of the basic axioms of film-making, including the breaking of the fourth wall.
2) Every twist of fate, luck or misfortune favors these omnipotent Bad guys.
3) The ending is not "happy", but you won't lose sleep over it. 4)From the begining this movie is winking at you. Don't take it so seriously. I don't really think we are meant to care about this family of moronic suburbonites, anyway.
The inclusion of the audience, in the activity appears to have been incorporated for comic effect. This movie is more of a black comedy cum social commentary than anything else. Keep that in mind, and it will all make sense. I find it odd that we are more disturbed by Funny Games (which is purely ficticious and hypothetical) than by a film like Fargo, which makes a rather insensitive comedy out of a true, gruesome kidnapping/murder.
Rating:
Summary: Get ready to be manipulated.
Review: My first dip into the foreign film Genre was a French film entitled, "Betty Blue." Pretty soon I was hooked because of the more realistic story lines, i.e. The Vanishing. What I found most amazing about "Funny Games" and haven't heard mentioned is Haneke's apparent mockery of the typical thriller formula that Hollywood is so fond of, i.e. tension-release. This is what makes Hollywood fare predictable. The scene that was described as "one of the victims getting the upper hand" and then having it taken away was executed to eradicate the predictability that we, Americans, are to used to in the movies.The brilliant execution of the "remote control" scene was scathing. In addition, one of the "bad guys" pokes fun at plot implausibility, implying that we, the audience, want to see them win because that is in fact what would happen in reality. Haneke destroys each American movie cliché' by giving us hope, then crushing it
before it bears fruit. This movie is disturbing, manipulating, gut wrenching, real and depressing. It is not suited for the faint-hearted or lovers of the predictable thriller genre where the good guys always win.
Rating:
Summary: Homebrewer
Review: Just when I thought I had already seen all the forms of movie violence, Michael Haneke's "Funny games" shows up. Two friendly and ordinary looking young blokes dressed in white neat clothes turn out to be a pair of sick and perverted psychopaths and the sadistic molestation, tormenting, harassment and torturing of a perfectly innocent family gets started without even a tiny warning. Although we can't practically see even a one clear act of physical violence during the entire film and we spot hardly a drop of blood, "Funny games" is probably one of the most violent films there is. It's so overfilled with mental cruelty the pressuring anxiety grows up to be something highly enormous. For example when the torturer orders the desperate mother to undress, camera only concentrates on showing her agonized and painful crying face when she strips off.
At one point the other punk even looks straight at the camera and blinks his eye - inviting the staggered viewer to join this warped madness. There are certain rules in filmmaking that "Funny games" breaks and that's the sickest part of the film. We are all used to the facts like bad guys can never be the victorious ones. It's obvious the audience clearly feels sympathy for the helpless family but this time mentally ill and distorted thugs are still represented as the heroes. "Funny games" is a confusing, shocking, curious, strong and slow but very gripping film. Naturally repulsive, cruel, disgusting, frightful and sadistic but surprisingly good - most likely because it's something totally different. I can't really compare it to anything I've seen before because it's absolutely unique in its insanity. I can only recommend this to people who love to open new doors of insightful pleasures. Haneke's work has to be one of the ugliest movies ever (or could it be the prettiest movie ever)? You decide for yourself...
Rating:
Summary: Love it or hate it.
Review: This film will interact with you. Personally I loved it. It's gripping and original. It is not a simple snuff film. Haneke knows all too well how to direct and edit. Watch it, because it will make you feel, and that's pretty rare in modern filmmaking.
|
