The odd thing about this film is how repulsed people are by it. Certainly it's a shocking brutal film but there have been few more restrained and less bloody films about the subject (especailly given that the subject has to be bloody) Funny Games shocks and horrifies people because of it's realism and naturalistic setting. Unlike the twitchy ranting performances we are used to seeing in movie serial killers, the two killers in funny games are normal, almost bland. The film is free of the moralizing and also of the exploitation we see in Natural born killers. (Spoiler soon!) the film does not dwell on violence it dwells on the psychological aspects of it which makes it much more disturbing. Consider when Georg's wife is forced to take off her top we do not see the usual flash of breasts that we expect from our slasher films. And when one of the killers shoots their son we merely see the blood splattered on the t.v. The camera is out of the room when the boy is shot. The ending is really frustrating but it's meant to be frustrating. The vengance which is stopped by the godlike hand of a remote control is ridiculous but it makes us aware of our own role in the films violence and brutality. And the ridiculousness in the tacked on vengeance that will make our sordid experience worthwile.
Review of Funny Games
