Funny Games
By
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Pure terror. See this movie!

My weekly column, "The Devil's Hammer," is posted every Monday. The Devil's Hammer on FTB. If you would like to be included on my distribution list for a weekly preview, just email me at masauu@aol.com.

Michael Haneke's remake of his 1997 film is pure tension. I always complain about stupid victims; here, the victims are mature and privileged. Their arrogance %u2013 bad things don't happen to people with a Long Island Sound summer mansion %u2013 infuriates the viewer. These people cannot imagine anything bad ever happening to them. It's their downfall.

Haneke's slow pace is frustrating and excruciating. Why are Anna (Naomi Watts) and George Farber (Tim Roth) so passive? It has got to be that certain things %u2013 like a home invasion by psychopaths in tennis whites %u2013 are not part of their reality.

We know it and its tough, at least in the beginning before the mayhem goes over the top, to sympathize with the couple. In fact, neither Anna nor George lift a finger to help themselves. There is no Will To Live. Why should they have to fight these intruders? They are rich! They know Handel from Mozart.

German director/writer Michael Haneke presents a subtly frightening experience that American audiences haven't seen before. It's slow and deliberate. Except for some foolishness by the victims %u2013 don't bother to pick up a knife but keep blow-drying the wet cell phone - Haneke's style and the harrowing ending makes this the most chilling, best movie I've seen so far this year.

However, I've non-stop read Scott Smith's The Ruins and, if the movie is anything like the book, "Funny Games" might not hold first place for long.

We meet the Farber family, including son Georgie (Devon Gearhart), driving to their gated, exclusive summer retreat on Long Island Sound. The sailing boat is hitched to the car. They are playing "guess the classical music piece."

They are eating quiche and drinking a vintage white wine.
On the path to their house, they pass their neighbor with two young male guests in tennis whites. The young men look highly presentable but their neighbor seems weird.

George asks his neighbor to help him launch the boat. The neighbor brings over one of his "guests" Paul (Michael Pitt). The other "guest", Peter (Brady Corbet), goes to the house and tells Anna her neighbor needs to borrow some eggs.
I devotedly watch "The Dog Whisperer" even though I do not have, and never owned, a dog. George is not a "pack leader". The Farber dog does what he wants. He barks uncontrollably. He is not even house-broken. I'm not surprised George is ineffective dealing with Paul and Peter.

With both Peter and then Paul invading their rarified "space" and not leaving, George makes an uncharacteristic move %u2013 he slaps Paul. Wielding one of George's prize golf clubs, Paul cripples him.

Game on!

That's a sign of what's to come, but Anna and George passively go along. The kid stays put and cries. I would have screamed, "Run, Forest, Run!"

Paul and Peter are not hasty psychopaths. They don't even want to mess the carpet. They are not after money. So what is George and Anna's plan? They keep begging to be let go. There are tears. There are kisses goodbye.

After the film, I turned to my husband and said: "I won't expect a long kiss goodbye and a vow of love. Go get help or kill the bastards! Fast!"

Michael Pitt, finally with his hair not hiding his face, is fantastic. I loved him in "The Dreamers" and "Last Days". He hits the right tone between sweet, non-offensive and deadly sociopath. Haneke's script leaves Roth, as Pitt's character rightly calls him, "a pussy." Watts, as an Executive Producer, is given more to do but "Funny Games" is Haneke's showcase. This is a film where you see the director's intent, his hand, and his point of view.

Victoria Alexander lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and answers every email. You can contact Victoria directly at masauu@aol.com.

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