Sadism on Screen

So much for a fun night at the movies. I saw Michael Haneke's Funny Games a couple of nights ago and unfortunately for me, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. A shot-by-shot remake of his earlier German film of the same name, this Funny Games takes place in an idyllic gated vacation community in New England. The movie opens with a birds eye shot of the ill-fated protagonists' Land Rover as it travels down an empty highway, slyly tipping its hat to the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It's obvious that Haneke is a huge fan of Kubrick because allusions to his work can be found all over this movie. I found examples of the obvious influence--A Clockwork Orange--but also of Barry Lyndon in its stationary camera and extended time between cuts and 2001: A Space Odyssey in the sterile backgrounds and use of silence. However, the similarities don't stop at the film's appearance. Like Kubrick, Haneke delights in toying with his audience, taking a common genre and turning it on its head and in this case, leaving its audience feeling more ill than exhilarated. Funny Games is a commentary on American viewership and its seemingly bottomless appetite for violence, demonstrated by the success of the Saw and Hostel films, as well as countless others. These movies whip their audiences into adrenaline induced frenzies with lightning cuts, hot bodies, a rockin' score, and of course, to the sadistic delight of the audience, creative new methods of torture and violence that parade across the screen like show ponies at the county fair. While the above-mentioned focus on cramming into 100minutes as many new and perverse forms of violence as possible, Haneke's unique method of perversion is his long, drawn out portrayal of the suffering that follows the violence, forcing the audience to wallow in the victims' pain (inflicted mostly off screen), and feel bad about it in the bargain. Where's the blood? The guts? The head rush? Entertainment is reserved for Mr. Haneke alone and the joke is clearly on us, his hapless audience, the victims of his form of a moral spanking. When the film ended, I felt sick to my stomach. Like other horror movies currently in vogue, the villains meted out blows with zealous abandon, but instead of eating up their violent exploits, I found myself wanting to run to the bathroom.