FUNNY GAMES

Anna (Susanne Lothar, THE CASTLE) and Georg (Ulrich Muhe, SNOWLAND) drive along a country road with their son, also called Georg. They listen to classical music as they make their way to their holiday home. As the credits commence, however, the classical music is replaced by the mad thrashing of the one and only John Zorn - proof positive that twisted times lie ahead!

Upon reaching their retreat, Anna and Georg acknowledge their neighbours and ask if they'll help unload Georg's boat later in the day. The neighbours are short with the couple, leaving Anna curious as to why - and who the two teenaged boys with them were.

The family start to unpack and settle into their holiday home. Within minutes the neighbour is at the door, and has brought along his new friend Paul (Arno Frisch, BENNY'S VIDEO) to help.

Meanwhile Anna calls her friends, inviting them over for a meal during the week. She's disturbed by young Peter (Frank Giering, THE CASTLE) at her door, saying he has been sent from next door to ask for eggs. Anna obliges, but the scene turns farcical as Peter keeps dropping the eggs, and even knocks her mobile phone into the sink "accidentally". Paul surfaces at the door and calms the situation, explaining that Peter is jumpy because he is scared of Anna's dog.

When Paul starts calling Peter "Tom", Anna's suspicions are aroused and she asks them politely to leave. When they don't, Georg returns to the house and suggests they should go because his wife is getting upset. But Paul will not leave without the eggs. Georg gives him a slap for his insolence. Bad move ... Paul makes handy use of Georg's golf club as things turn ugly for the unfortunate family.

FUNNY GAMES rarely lets up on the tension as the family are held hostage overnight and forced to play a series of cruel games (hot/cold game of searching for the dog; betting on their chances of survival; a traumatic variation of "kittie in the bag"). Peter and Paul keep changing their names throughout the ordeal, and constantly lie about their own backgrounds.

At times, Paul turns to the camera and addresses the viewer directly. He winks at us while forcing Anna to hunt down her dead pet and, as the brutality escalates, asks us if we think the family have had enough yet. It's a clever, manipulative device designed to raise questions about our perception of events. Suddenly, we are involved. We are beyond voyeurs - we are complicit with the aggressor.

FUNNY GAMES is even more unsettling in the issues it raises around the media's manipulation of violence. Throughout proceedings Peter and Paul refer to their acts as scenes from a film, and at one point even have a cultured discussion about the thin line between characters in a film and reality. Interesting filmic techniques are used too, such as Paul's aforementioned asides to the camera and a moment where a character grabs a remote control and rewinds events to change the outcome.

In addition to bold technique, a brave challenging script and the underlying social commentary on offer, FUNNY GAMES works largely due to fantastic performances. In particular, Lothar gives a heartbreaking turn as a genuinely terrified woman fighting to save her family against the odds. It's a riveting performance.

Director Michael Haneke has of course gone on to bigger things such as THE PIANO TEACHER and HIDDEN. But FUNNY GAMES remains an essential part of his profile, a dark and unsettling slice of hyper-realistic terror that works on levels both visceral and cerebral. It's interesting to note that almost all of the violence occurs offscreen, allowing instead for the viewer's imagination to paint painful pictures that match the deafening screams.

A cold, calculated and extremely well made film, FUNNY GAMES is not feel-good fare, but rather a thought-provoking essay on the impact of violence and how it is perceived - even those who deplore it's apparent immoral stance will sit it through to the end. Brilliant.

Tartan's Special Edition presents the film uncut in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 TVs. Images are sharp, bright and clear. The German stereo audio is an equally fine job, and there's easily readable removable English subtitles at the ready.

The film can be accessed via 12 chapters.

Extras are not as many as I would have hoped, considering the director's status these days. For a Special Edition all we get essentially is an 18 minute interview with Haneke. Spoken in French, removable English subtitles are available. Haneke discusses why he chose to reunite Muhe and Frisch from BENNY'S VIDEO, and his own take on how violence is portrayed in the movie.

A theatrical trailer is also offered, along with trailers for GUY X, PRIMER, THE PROPOSITION and BATTLE IN HEAVEN.

Sadly no commentary then, but still worth buying for the film alone. One of the best European movies of the 1990s.

Review by Stu Willis