March 14, 2008
Everyone's talking about "Funny Games"
The buzz began a couple months ago - but now the movie is out, and the chatter about it is everywhere. I've been reading the reviews - and this one, in particular, is a stunner. Such a good writer.
Reading all the reviews have been fascinating. If you're interested in hearing what various American critics are saying about Funny Games, there's a compilation of links here at House Next Door. And here is Fernando F. Croce's review on THND. Excellent writing.
Here's Dana Steves at Slate.
It's very very rare that I am happy when something fails. But in this case I'm happy. I feel like he's being called on his bullshit. I feel the same way about Lars von Trier's work - which disgusts me and, on occasion, throws me into a rage (like here)... a strange response for me to have - but there you have it. It's not that Lars von Trier's movies are upsetting or that I feel confronted by them ... It's that I can smell the fucking bullshit from down the block. He's a phony. So count me a kindred spirit of Holden Caulfield's then. Give me a blatant ASSHOLE over a phony baloney any day of the week.
I still think that the poster for Funny Games is one of the best movie posters I've ever seen. I didn't know what it was, hadn't heard anything about it - but one glimpse of it in a coming attractions area of a local cineplex - made me stop in my tracks. Literally. I stopped and stared. It's beautiful, it's evocative, it tells you NOTHING about the movie itself, it's vaguely disturbing - but what an image. It's art.
