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Funny Games U.S.
R3 - Hong Kong - First Distributors Review written by and copyright: Stevie McCleary & Noor Razzak (25th May 2009). |
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The Film
 I thought this was going to be a movie about Scattergories and Jenga... Awkward. This version of "Funny Games" is a shot-for-shot remake of writer/director Michael Haneke’s 1997 film of the same name, and he also helms this American remake. The intriguing part about this film is that it is several things, and I believe none of those things is entertainment. It is, on the surface, a torture film. And at heart it is an experiment; a strange pact with the audience to take part in a journey of difficult decisions, leaving all sense of control behind. The creator has a background in psychology and that has prompted both versions of his film. Apparently, while watching the original film, it was supposed to be a good thing if you stopped watching – it shows you don’t need the film. And those who continue to watch are the ones who need to…to teach them the reality of torture and violence. This is what I’ve managed to glean from interviews and the film itself – a film where it often rewrites its own rules to show you that you, the viewer, do have no control. At a moment where we may cheer, the film takes it away. And at times, the film addresses us personally; asking us what we think is going to happen. And who’s side we are on. Thing is – I had to watch the whole thing, although I would have happily turned it off. As it was, considering the length of time it spent with long takes designed to wear you down with the hopelessness of it all, I’ll admit I contently forwarded past of lot of it. The film is unrelenting and bleak – a fascinating combination, as it truly works as an experiment. But like I said, this is not entertainment. And you get its point early on. An upper class family is taken hostage by two off-putting young men. Tim Roth and Naomi Watts give us our white bread parents, and their son is played by Devon Gearhart who most certainly had a difficult role here. Our game loving psychopaths are played by Michael Pitt (has he ever played a normal person?) and Brady Corbet. Although they are genuinely unnerving throughout, they are more catalysts for the experiment that we, the viewer, are experiencing, rather than serial killers with motive. The concept of reality and fiction is played with thusly, and it is an interesting gambit. The actors do give it their all, and admirably so. What a difficult task this was. And, I would imagine, a thankless one in the eyes of many a film critic. This is a type of film that tends to get scorned by reviewers, and the actors tend to not have the performance mentioned, rather just their integrity for taking a role that assaults the senses so much. None of this is to say that the film is merely gory. A large section of the disturbing moments are played out off screen and yet are still rather chilling. The entire set-up of the film is chilling, to be honest. And that makes it a difficult piece to comment on – for it is not merely about the plot or themes. It is a concept film, discussing our understanding of reality versus fiction, and our idea of safety from harm in those opposing situations. In a film that contently breaks the forth wall when it serves its needs, there is no safe seat for a viewer (or reviewer) to comment from. And when it comes to the choice to recommend this film or not…one hits a snag. Because I don’t want to. Maybe it is worth watching and perhaps not. And I can’t decide (which, in the film, would probably have gotten me killed) what stance to take, no matter how long I give it thought. I cannot fathom whether this movie works or falls flat regarding its mission statement. The only thing I can devise is that it would be different for every person. Brilliant or horrid? It may just be both. So. The decision is yours. Make your own choice. But if you’re of a gentle disposition you may want to avoid funny games called “Cat in a Bag” or “The Loving Wife”. Stay in for a fun night of Scattergories instead. However, if your morbid interest just got peaked due to those game titles, and now you have a tiny voice wanting to watch just so you can find out… I’d say it’s the right call. But you’ve been warned.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, this transfer looks fairly good although there are a couple of problems. The film's colors are accurately monotone, there's a lot of white in the film's production design and the white balance looks good. Grain is present but not distracting, skin tones look good and natural and shadow detail is consistent. Overall the image is nice and clean, the only problem I had with this image is that it looks a bit flat and uninteresting, there's also some minor compression artefacts that spotted as well.
Audio
Two audio tracks are present here in English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround as well as English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track. Aside from the film's opening, closing moments and the use of the aggressive music from punk band Naked City the soundtrack is fairly front heavy for a 5.1 mix. The film is mainly dialogue based with the use of ambient sound to fill in the rest of the 5.1 sound space. it's a competent sound mix but doesn't really impress. Subtitles are included in Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional and English.
Extras
The only extras on this disc are a couple of bonus trailers for: - "I Served The King of England" which runs for 2 minutes 36 seconds. - "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" which runs for 1 minute 7 seconds.
Packaging
This disc is packaged in an amaray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
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