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Funny Games (1998)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 9

Violent images and blunt audience provocation make up this nihilistic experiment from one of cinema's more difficult filmmakers.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 1

Violent images and blunt audience provocation make up this nihilistic experiment from one of cinema's more difficult filmmakers.

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User Ratings: 20,021

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Movie Info

A psychological thriller about an innocent family as they stumble upon a holiday in hell: Anna, George and their son arrive at their lovely lakeside home on vacation and meet a strange and demanding young man--a guest of their neighbors''--who turns out to have rather violent tendencies.

Unrated, 1 hr. 43 min.

Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Michael Haneke

Written By: Michael Haneke

In Theaters: Mar 11, 1998 Wide

On DVD: Oct 9, 2001

Attitude Films

Cast

Critic Reviews for Funny Games

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (10) | DVD (4)

This beautifully acted and paced German variant of Cape Fear ... is tricked out with a number of Brechtian devices to catch audiences in a voyeuristic trance.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Stephen Holden

New York Times

Top Critic

The basic puzzle is why this sophisticated director chose this tired formula.

January 1, 2000 Comment

Stanley Kauffmann

New Republic

Top Critic

The emotions of the victims are clear and complex -- their conflicts dominate our experience of the narrative as powerfully as all the devices telling us to look elsewhere for the movie's themes.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Tough film to sit through, but rewarding due to Haneke's skills in staging tension and real violence.

April 11, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

A sort of Austrian art-house Cape Fear by way of the new Cinema of Cruelty.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

| Comment

Rob Nelson

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Haneke's film doesn't invite audience exploration; it pummels them with preordained conclusions.

March 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Projection Booth

| Comment

Rob Humanick

Projection Booth

What Haneke has actually done is to satirize the complex relationship between the story and the audience. On that level it's a triumph.

March 13, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment (1)

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

Haneke has rational reasons for his movie's violence, but he still crosses lines more often than he justifies crossing them.

March 10, 2008 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Funny Games is the theme park ride for anyone wanting to experience what it must have been like for Catherine Martin to put the f***ing lotion in the basket.

May 3, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Haneke's snooty admonishments are disturbing because they're never self-critical.

May 3, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Um genial exerc�cio narrativo e de estilo que, ao mesmo tempo em que mant�m o espectador tenso, obriga-o a encarar a pr�pria fascina��o pela viol�ncia.

April 5, 2006 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

As a metaphysical experiment in sadism, Funny Games is endorsed by negative responses.

November 1, 2005 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You

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Rumsey Taylor

Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Haneke's film is a loathsome experiment in violence. Enter at your own risk.

October 27, 2005 Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

What happened to the good old fashioned insane killer?

October 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Chris Cabin

Filmcritic.com

...one sequence featuring the manipulation of time by a character undermines everything that came before it...

August 1, 2003 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Sadistic, insufferable, clever, and relentlessly compelling.

April 17, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Scouts

| Comment

David Sterritt

Film Scouts

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Audience Reviews for Funny Games

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I am a loser until I review this movie.

September 7, 2007

Bob Stinson

Super Reviewer

The 2004 DVD release of this film has an interview at the end with Michael Haneke that I think is essential. In it, he says that "People watch this film for as long as they have to." If you've never been the type to watch violent films, you'll turn this off right away... and if you're always watching them, you'll very

January 16, 2012