IMDb > Benny's Video (1992)

Benny's Video (1992) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   2,462 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Michael Haneke (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Benny's Video on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
4 March 1993 (Netherlands) more
Genre:
Plot:
A story about a boy called Benny, who watches violent movies, including a home-made video of a pig being slaughtered. Soon after, Benny loses his mind and kills a girl and films the murder with his video camera. | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
Cold eye of the camera more (24 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Benny's Video (France) [fr]
Bennyn video (Finland) [fi]
El vídeo de Benny (Spain) [es]
To video tou Benny (Greece) (TV title) [el]
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Runtime:
105 min
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Second part of Michael Haneke's "Glaciation Trilogy" also including Der siebente Kontinent (1989) and 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994). more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When Benny leaves the phone booth in Egypt, the cameraman is visible in multiple window reflections. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in 24 Wirklichkeiten in der Sekunde (2005) more

FAQ

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Cold eye of the camera, 13 November 2009
7/10
Author: Framescourer from London, UK

A relentlessly humourless, quietly accusing and sad portrait of the modern bourgeoisie. Benny is a normal teenager. That's a very important thing to acknowledge, throughout the film. His monosyllabism and deadpan, expression-void face are familiar to us. Haneke is clearly tying this (and the rather muted content of his life, not to mention the drab palette of the production design) to his parents emotional absence and the substitute excitement he gets from media - videos and music.

So the story turns in a violent moment although Benny's attempts to assimilate his actions are dysfunctional (he can't bring himself to speak to his friends about it and largely carries on as normal). Seen in these terms the terse performance of Arno Frisch is ideal for Haneke, super acting. Ulrich Mühe's father is also a fine understated study of an intelligent adult boxed in by incomprehension. Angela Winkler as Benny's mother really comes into her own during a brief trip to Egypt, the one moment of respite in the film, where the cracks of despair are almost a relief from the stifling focus on the second hand image.

The film rotates about two short moments - the pivotal violent act and Benny's father's question to the boy about it 'Why did you do it?' 'I wanted to know what it would feel like'. Classically for Haneke, both act and response are rather equivocal although we understand that the boy's social disassociation within a complacent, bourgeois lifestyle has germinated catastrophe. A well-made, strongly moral but cheerless film. 7/10

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