Funny Games

I am obsessed with the idea of watching a new movie. It's called FUNNY GAMES. when i first saw the trailer late last fall one thing came to mind - Alex from Clockwork Orange. If anyone has seen that little ditty you can imagine that FUNNY GAMES is not going to be a heartwarming redeeming movie with a happy ending. If I am right and the home invaders are little 'Alex clones' it will be the audience who is tortured. The great thing abut CLOCKWORK is that it's violence is so sadistic and so difficult to watch. Part of the reason it's difficult to watch is because it all seems so very plausible. You aren;t just watching the violence on screen you re experiencing it. You feel just a victimized and helpless as the victims. Nothing captures that more than the "singing in the rain" rape scene in CLOCKWORK. Thats what makes FUNNY GAMES so intriguing. We have all see then home invasion thriller before. But this looks different. It looks more sadistic, it looks and feels more real. and the twist - the invaders acknowledge the viewer throughout the film. Whether the director is trying to say something about how numb we are to cinematic violence or making a commentary on ignorance of rich people to the violence that occurs everyday doesn't matter. What matters is that the audience who goes into this film expecting a SAW like thrill will actually be the ones who feel violated once the film is done. They will experience violence and torture in a non-passive way and more than likely without the cathartic happy ending that makes it all OK.