Movie - Funny Games from Michael Haneke

                                                   

A few days ago I was in the mood for a 90's film, so I went to the Cannes Film Festival website to find something to watch. Funny Games was on my watchlist already, and as a thriller fan, I gave it a go. I saw the original movie, from 1997, but there's a 2007 American remake from the same director. 

Georg and Anna, an Austrian couple, go on vacation with their young son Georgie and their dog to a lakeside cottage. There, they meet their friends, Fred and Eva, who have two young adults as guests, Peter and Paul, dressed in white and wearing gloves. 

While her husband and son are outside preparing the boat and Anna is making dinner, Peter knocks on her door asking for four eggs for Eva. Anna pleasantly gives him the eggs, but Peter accidentally drops them on the floor and asks for more. Eventually Paul arrives at the house and because of their resistance to leave, Anna starts feeling nervous and tells the boys to go away. 

When Georg and their son arrive, Georg also insists that they should go and there's when the mind games began. Georg is hit with a golf club in his leg and the family is imprisoned in their own house. Peter and Paul play sadistic games with the victims, creating a true atmosphere of panic which is very well portrayed by the actors.

This is not an easy movie to watch. It's not fast-paced at all - most of the scenes are super slow and the whole interaction between the characters made me feel uncomfortable. But I guess the point of this story is a critique to modern-day violence. The long scenes are suspenseful and there's a cool unexpected twist at the end.
Rate: 4/5