Even though it has practically no blood or gore, Funny Games is one of the most violent and disturbing films that I have ever seen. It's a nauseatingly disturbing and sickening film that simultaneously revels in violence and deconstructs it. Simply put, two young men, Paul and Peter, capture a wealthy German family and proceed to torture and kill them. This isn't a snuff film, mind you. Paul and Peter move with the civility of Hannibal Lector as they toy with their victims. As I said, there is almost no blood or gore. In fact, almost all of the violence takes place off-screen. But it is the implication of violence, the disturbing knowledge of what might, what is, and what has happened that makes Funny Games so difficult to watch. I could go on about how director Michael Haneke breaks the fourth wall and deliberately side-steps cinematic conventions. But I am more fascinated by this film's sheer visceral power. Ten minutes of this film does more to scare and unnerve than almost any slasher or mainstream horror film of the last two decades. I have seen thousands of films. Many of them were bloody, violent, disturbing, and even perverse. Yet Funny Games sits comfortably near the top of all of them in terms of terror. THAT is worthy of admiration. Not bad for a European art film director, eh?
9/10
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