Movie Review: Funny Games U.S.

The English remake of Funny Games (2007) (written and directed by Michael Haneke) is both vexing and maddening and one of its many goals is to make the audience feel unnaturally uncomfortable. With only a horrible punk rock song played throughout the movie, an opera song in the beginning and talking from a television in the background, the only real scare is the infrequent looks that Paul(Michael Pitt) gives to the camera and the well-mannered attitude that both boys carry. And the only reason for these two boys to torture this family is, well, just for the hell of it.

In the beginning, while driving to their quaint home in the middle of a wealthy town each member Ann (Naomi Watts) George (Tim Roth) and Gerogie (Devon Gearhart) cheerfully await their weeklong vacation that they think will be filled with sun and new family memories. While at their home preparing for the week’s events, they get a visit from a young man dressed in a white polo, black shorts, tennis shoes and white gloves named Peter (Brady Corbet), who politely asks for 4 eggs to bring back to their neighbors house. Unknown to the audience and Ann, this is where the torture starts. Throughout the rest of the film the boys begin to play “funny games” with each of the family members. They include “We bet that in, let’s say, i 12 hours, all 3 of you are going to be kaput, okay?”

Michael Haneke, who also made the first Funny Games, recreated each scene line for line, scene for scene, but instead the 1997 version was in German instead of English. His reasoning for making this movie was to show violence in society and how the media depicts it. His script is original and can be read as funny in some parts and also brings up issues in psychology and even philosophy.