FUNNY GAMES U.S.A

FUNNY GAMES U.S.A

Funny Games U.S.A is a scene-by-scene remake, unusually undertaken by the writer/director of the original Funny Games, Michael Haneke, after a ten-year interim between the two projects. Revisiting and remaking the film is an unusual choice to make: the impact which the original film had must invariably have been affected by the fact that these sorts of 'ordeal horror' films now occupy a subgenre of their own. You might even argue that - dare I say it - they've quickly become as clichéd as the old-school slashers they replaced. That said, whatever the director's reasons for 'reimagining' his original work, this is a stylishly-executed and self-aware film which happily plays with the genre conventions it may well have helped to define.

From the outset, the unfortunate Farber family are presented as wealthy, leisured, but ultimately rather distant figures - distant from us and from each other. The film opens with a montage of the hallmarks of privilege: leafy suburbs, an audio library of classical music, an expensive car - towing a boat no less - but the family are not really introduced or named at this stage, and we only really uncover anything about them during their subsequent ordeal. After setting this moneyed scene, there is a sudden huge break from it - the film-proper begins with blood red block capitals for the credits and an incredible cacophony of noise to 'cleanse the palate' of all that classical music. My first thoughts at this stage were that the family were about to be offered up as some sort of blood sacrifice and, largely speaking, they are.

The family arrive at their country retreat at the Hamptons and, when a pair of odd, yet polite and well-spoken young men arrives on a neighbourly errand, we as the audience seem to feel the build-up of tension before the family do. Dad George (Tim Roth) and son Georgie (Devon Gearhart) are off on the boat, and at home Ann (Naomi Watts) just seems irritated. In a cleverly-handled sequence, psychopaths-in-waiting Paul (Michael Pitt) and Peter (Brady Corbet) manage to walk the line between farcical and menacing. The errand is to borrow eggs: this is a strangely twee way to gain access to someone's home in the first place, but after Peter manages to break eight eggs in a matter of minutes, you start to wonder if he has the wherewithal to intimidate anyone. It could all have descended into silliness at this stage, but Haneke is just toying with us - his choice of villains is deliberate and interesting. Peter and Paul are young, softly spoken, well-mannered and rather awkward. They're not omnipotent, and so they wrest control of the situation from the Farbers because the Farbers are unable to deal with the escalating strangeness of the situation. In effect, they act just as the majority of people would in their shoes, and Ann's 'why are you doing this?' question is just as deliberately left unanswered.

This is a superb performance from Watts, and the fact that's she's better known for the Ring and the King Kong remakes is a real shame: Haneke really puts her through her paces here and both in terms of screen time and quality of performance, this is her film; although Pitt and Corbet are also unsettlingly effective in their roles, Watts gives a dignified, believable performance. It feels unusual to see Tim Roth in what turns out to be a minor role, and although it's strange to see him on the receiving end of violence, he's competent as the (almost immediately-incapacitated) George.

This is a very slow and exacting film which sticks firmly with psychological horror. Violence is present but nearly always off-camera and depends on the reactions of other characters to demonstrate its nastiness to viewers. The mindless cruelty of Peter and Paul is offset against their casual chit-chat and this device - the contrast between everyday nicety and harrowing torment - is used again and again like a sledgehammer during the film. At times the tension moves from feeling unbearable to almost coming to a halt: in particular, a scene involving calling for help on a mobile phone set my teeth on edge - the prolonged attempt to make the soaked phone functional, trying again and again, over and over, with Roth's character even trying to dry it with a hairdryer before giving up is truly excruciating. Everything about the film, though, seems determined to toy with audience expectations. If there was any doubt whatsoever about this, then the 'remote control' scene - where Ann manages to blast Peter with a shotgun but Paul 'rewinds' the action with a remote control so that both men are intact and able to continue tormenting the family - shows a particularly knowing and ironic self-awareness about the nature of this film and the fact that it has an audience. This is also a nod to other films which feel they have to allow victims to 'win the day' - and there's none of that here in this neatly bleak and understated film which, remake or not, and whether you like this genre of film or not, deserves a lot of credit.

The listed DVD extras include the original theatrical trailer, some viral trailers and an interview with the director. This I would have liked to see - however, on my version of the DVD (Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment, Region 2) there do not appear to be any extras. What you do get, apart from a scene selection, is the choice between English 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound. The film is presented in good, crisp colour with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and has a running time of approximately 111 minutes.

Review by Keri O'Shea


 
Released by Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
Back