- Actors: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering, Stefan Clapczynski
- Directors: Michael Haneke
- Writers: Michael Haneke
- Producers: Veit Heiduschka
- Format: PAL
- Language German
- Subtitles: English
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.77:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Tartan
- DVD Release Date: 19 Feb 2001
- Run Time: 108 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000056Q9S
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 83,923 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
Product details |
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
It is impossible to have a neutral opinion about the Austrian thriller Funny Games--a movie so relentless in its ability to shock that it gained pariah status on the film festival circuit in 1997. In the warped tradition of A Clockwork Orange, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Blue Velvet, this is a film--directed with electrifying audacity by Munich-born Michael Haneke--that addresses the controversy of screen violence by making the viewer as guilty as the Leopold and Loeb-like killers who terrorise a young family of three during their summer vacation. They arrive as friendly neighbours, seducing the family with phoney congeniality, but soon Funny Games reveals its devious strategy, turning savage and appalling ... and completely captivating for those who can endure the terror. There's actually less violence than you'd see in a typical American horror flick such as Scream, but Haneke's forceful staging effectively fulfils his agenda of viewer complicity; we vividly experience this doomed family's fate and feel helpless to save them. So helpless, in fact, that Haneke dares to offer a hint of respite by giving a victim the upper hand, only to "replay" the same scene with the darkest of outcomes. Funny Games is guaranteed to outrage some viewers with its manipulative schemes, but there's no denying the film's visceral impact, generated by Haneke's expert handling of a superior cast. Don't even think of allowing anyone under age 18 to watch this film; all others should proceed with caution. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Special Features
Full Screen
DVD 5
German
Region 0
Dolby Digital German
Dolby Digital
Theatrical Trailer
Director Interview
Star And Director Filmographies
Scene Selection
Film Review
English
DVD 5
German
Region 0
Dolby Digital German
Dolby Digital
Theatrical Trailer
Director Interview
Star And Director Filmographies
Scene Selection
Film Review
English
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The first time I caught this on TV, I hated it. And yet couldn't stop watching it. The film scared the hell out of me. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it.
Yet, days later I found myself still thinking about it. Normally I forget films very quickly, but this one was not fading away. I eventually realised that there was something brilliant about that film.
The brilliance was the way the two guys were portrayed, they are 'evil' and yet seem so normal. They are completely detached emotionally from their actions and seem to feel no empathy at all with their victims. There is no reason for them to kill, no rational explanation. They don't even seem to derive any sadistic pleasure from it.
The way the action is filmed - with the bad guy at one point winking at you, the viewer - helps increase this sense of unease as you are forced by the director to identify with the bad guy and participate (vicariously) in the mental torture inflicted on the victims.
I think that's why the film is so powerful. There's none of that cheap Hollywood gore+blood nonsense. The fear generated is psychological. You are not identifying with the victim and running away with them, you become the accomplice of the killer.
Very, very potent.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Austrian Michael Haneke probably knows more about psychology and psychic violence than any other film director. 'Funny Games' was nominated in Cannes for a very good reason: This movie goes beyond the viewer's 'defences'.
The story itself is seems quite plain: A family on vacation at a pittoresque mountain river/lake meet two very polite young men, Paul and Peter. But from that point the absolute horror begins to develop. No matter how hard the family tries to percieve a motive behind the two men's torturous behaviour, they simply cannot understand it, because Paul and Peter are bright and intelligent. Moreover, they understand the family's situation much better, but they're not affected the slightest about it. Instead, they carry on with their polite facade. At one point the mother asks the two men why they're being so cruel. Their reply comes quickly: 'Why not'?
Actually, there is very little on-scrren violence, but you sense the pain, horror and frustration so much stronger than in ordinary violent films because Haneke succeeds in the difficult task of portraying psychical violence.
'Funny Games' has been compared to 'A Clockwork Orange', but Haneke, in contrast to Kubrick, operates with a fully realistic setting and terribly realistic characters, which makes the helplessness and horror much more relevant(!!!)
The story itself is seems quite plain: A family on vacation at a pittoresque mountain river/lake meet two very polite young men, Paul and Peter. But from that point the absolute horror begins to develop. No matter how hard the family tries to percieve a motive behind the two men's torturous behaviour, they simply cannot understand it, because Paul and Peter are bright and intelligent. Moreover, they understand the family's situation much better, but they're not affected the slightest about it. Instead, they carry on with their polite facade. At one point the mother asks the two men why they're being so cruel. Their reply comes quickly: 'Why not'?
Actually, there is very little on-scrren violence, but you sense the pain, horror and frustration so much stronger than in ordinary violent films because Haneke succeeds in the difficult task of portraying psychical violence.
'Funny Games' has been compared to 'A Clockwork Orange', but Haneke, in contrast to Kubrick, operates with a fully realistic setting and terribly realistic characters, which makes the helplessness and horror much more relevant(!!!)
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
...but it's not a film for everyone.
I remember watching this late night on TV. The introduction gave the usual warnings about 'scariness'. No film has ever frightened me before, but this did. It's hard to categorise this film; not a horror, not really a thriller. But it is one of the best psychological thrillers since Hitchcock.
It is a film for those of us who know what lurks at the back of our minds, hidden just from view. You are unlikely to 'love' this film, but you may hate it. Ambivalence is not an option!
The DVD quality is pretty good, although nothing special. The extras are very dull and the English subtitles cannot be turned off.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Arresting and draining
I thought I was having a bad few days, but I found watching this film oddly cathartic. It breezes along like a middle-class family drama and then suddenly you find yourself in a... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2009 by William Cohen
Life changing?
If you are a fan of the extreme psychological genre as I am, this film holds nothing new or inventive. Read more
Published on 16 April 2007 by C. Hardy
If you like to think for yourself.........you might like this film.
Allowng myself to trust the director,(having been mightily impressed by Cache) belief was suspended. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by G. L. Levy
brilliance
i found funny games to be a lot lot better than hanekes other well known film 'hidden.' I was genuinely gripped throughout the film and some moments leave you feeling slightly... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2006 by Ms. E. L. Hargreaves
Silly
Michael Haneke once stated that the intention behind 'Funny Games' was that, if you couldn't watch it all the way through, then you didn't need to. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2006 by lexo1941
The games we humans play
The first time I ever viewed this movie I had the good fortune of catching a short introduction by the always excellent Mark Kermode. Read more
Published on 9 April 2004 by oswald
A truly psychological experience!
It took a lot of persuasion to get me to sit and watch this film. I had heard it was great but just didn't fancy it, thought it would be an overly arty, overly graphic and overly... Read more
Published on 25 July 2003
Pretentious rubbish
So, what is this supposed to be? Some kind of criticism of movie violence? Couldn't be, as there is very little violence in it, and what there is, is hardly typical of... Read more
Published on 22 July 2002
Superb
Extremely well crafted and uncompromising, the violence often daringly heightened through its very absence. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2001
In the league of 'Man Bites Dog'
A horrific yet non violent look into the minds of psychotic killers, however this film is rather enjoyable to watch and easy on the eye, it loses or the plastic and cliched views... Read more
Published on 11 April 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
