Funny Games (1997)

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (writer)

Release Date:

11 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Ein Alptraum.

Plot:

Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.

Plot Keywords:

Vacation | Game | Violence | Dog | Lake

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Susanne Lothar	...	Anna
Ulrich Mühe	...	Georg
Arno Frisch	...	Paul
Frank Giering	...	Peter
Stefan Clapczynski	...	Schorschi
Doris Kunstmann	...	Gerda
Christoph Bantzer	...	Fred
Wolfgang Glück	...	Robert
Susanne Meneghel	...	Gerdas Schwester
Monika Zallinger	...	Eva

Directed by
Michael Haneke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Haneke		writer

Produced by
Veit Heiduschka	....	executive producer
Veit Heiduschka	....	producer

Cinematography by
Jürgen Jürges

Film Editing by
Andreas Prochaska

Production Design by
Christoph Kanter

Costume Design by
Lisy Christl

Makeup Department
Simone Bachl	....	assistant makeup artist
Waldemar Pokromski	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Helga Fuchs	....	executive in charge of production
Werner Reitmeier	....	production manager

Art Department
Karl Bech	....	set joiner
Janko Boskovic	....	set painter
Florian Peter Clodi	....	set joiner
Gerhard Dhor	....	set joiner
Peter Dörflinger	....	sculptor
Kurt Drahovzal	....	set painter
Peter Ecker	....	prop buyer
Christian Eder	....	set joiner
Frank Essler	....	set painter
Harald Hajmböck	....	set joiner
Kurt Jahn	....	set joiner
Peter Kreiller	....	set joiner
Peter Lenz	....	painter
Norbert Nagel	....	set joiner
Walter Nagel	....	set joiner
Joseph Rihs-Bacherl	....	set joiner
Rudolf Scheidl	....	set joiner
Werner Schweitzer	....	set joiner
Hans Wagner	....	indoors property
Peter Wenhardt	....	set painter

Sound Department
Walter Amann	....	sound
Bernhard Bamberger	....	sound editor
Hannes Eder	....	sound mixer
Peter Paschinger	....	sound assistant
Daniel Steinbach	....	sound assistant
Hans-Walter Kramski	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Bernhard Maisch	....	foley recordist (uncredited)
Andreas Schneider	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Danny Bellens	....	special effects
Willi Neuner	....	special effects
Mac Steinmeier	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Cania	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Danny Bellens	....	stunts
Willi Neuner	....	stunts
Mac Steinmeier	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Dopplinger	....	lighting equipment
Adi Essl	....	dolly grip
Stefan Gauss	....	lighting technician
Volker Gläser	....	second assistant camera
Susanne Habitzel	....	lighting technician
Bernd Karoly	....	lighting technician
Fritz Martan	....	grip
Peter Steuger	....	assistant camera
Walter Stöger	....	chief electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Katharina Nikl	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Michael Katz	....	post-production
Ulrike Lässer	....	post-production
Gabriele Uhl	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Andreas Djerdjev	....	property driver
Thomas Messer	....	property driver
Rudolf Schnogl	....	production driver
Gunther Stark	....	production driver

Other crew
Katharina Biró	....	script girl
Jessica Hausner	....	script girl
Philipp Kaiser	....	location manager
Wolfgang Knöpfler	....	production assistant
April Morley	....	dog instructor
Gabriela Schuster	....	production secretary
Alfred Strobl	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Austrian Film Institute (support)
• Wega Film
• Wiener Filmfinanzierungsfonds (support)
• Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) (support)

Distributors

• Arthaus (1998) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Atalanta Filmes (1998) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Attitude Films (1998) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner (1997) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Golem Distribución (1998) (Spain) (theatrical) (subtitled version)
• Kamras Film Group (1998) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kulturföreningen Kedjan (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Les Films du Paradoxe (1998) (France) (theatrical)
• Líder Films (1998) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Maywin Media (1999) (Estonia) (theatrical)
• Maywin Media (1999) (Latvia) (theatrical)
• Maywin Media (1999) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• Maywin Media (1999) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Stamm Film AG (1997) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Triangelfilm (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Föreningen FilmCentrum (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Homescreen (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Triangelfilm (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Animal Action  animals
• LISTO Videofilm  post-production
• Moviecam F.G. Bauer  camera equipment
• Rotorwing  Helicopter
• Tremens Tonstudio  sound studio

Also Known As:

Ölümcül oyunlar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Brincadeiras Perigosas (Portugal) [pt]
Funny Games (Finland) [fi]
Funny Games (Poland) [pl]
Funny Games (France) [fr]
Funny Games: juegos divertidos (Spain) [es]
Horas de terror (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Paraxena paihnidia (Greece) [el]
Violência Gratuita (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Austria

Language:

German | French | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Hungary:18 | Italy:T | Brazil:16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 (with warning) | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Atelier Rosenhügel, Vienna, Austria

Company:

Austrian Film Institute

Trivia:

Director Michael Haneke has said that he never intended 'Funny Games' to be a horror film. Instead his idea was to make a film with a moralistic comment about the influence of media violence on society. It's a subject that Haneke is quite passionate about.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Anna and Georg are driving in their car, a reflection of a microphone between the front seats can be seen on the window.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[subtitled version]
Anna: Björling... Suliotis?
Georg: Almost. Björling is easy.

Movie Connections:

References "Wetten, dass..?" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Hellraiser

Strangely captivating...

First things first, Michael Haneke HATES Quentin Tarantino's films. He hates the way violence and death are shown as being 'cool' - Cool gangsters executing their enemies whilst saying cool lines (And you will know, that my name is the Lord! etc,etc)with a cool song playing in the background. This is not how violence is in the real world, violence is a horrible fact of life, not a glamourous thing for youths to copy, and I think Haneke intended Funny Games to show it how it really is. I watched Funny Games without the slightest clue what the film was about, so I just had to sit back and take it as it comes. At first, I wasn't too impressed. I thought the scenes were too long and dragged out, yet at the same time, I felt a strange feeling of suspense. The incredibly long camera shots leave you that bored, that you think "Something bad is going to happen soon, I can tell...". The suspense also lasts right through the film 'til the very end. You don't want to watch it, but at the same time, you feel hypnotised by it.

I will not detail any events of the film, to save spoiling the atmosphere, but I will note one thing that people tend to be confused about:- "Why did the family let them into the house in the first place?" The two characters of Peter and Paul are let to walk all over the family because of one flaw in the bourgios psyche - 'The more polite a person is, the better a person they are.' This absurd way of thinking is played on by Peter and Paul and they obviously score, plus 'getting into the house without breaking in' is also one of their 'games'.For those who haven't seen the film, I definitely wouldn't recommend this for a night in with the parents/girlfriend, but I definitely would for people who want to see the difference between death and Tarantino-glam. Prepare for a highly suspenseful yet sickeningly violent, non-Hollywood, edge-of-the-seat piece of art. 8/10